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Sunday 27 November 2016

Rotary Youth Speaks Public Speaking Competition 2017

Information Pack for 2016 - 2017


Introduction

The Rotary Youth Speaks Competition is a well-established and successful competition organised and promoted by Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland.  It is a four stage competition which is designed to support and encourage the development of effective communication skills. Some stages may have more than one round.

Aims

                This competition aims to offer young people:

·       experience in speaking on a public platform as a member of a team
·       an incentive to formulate ideas on topical subjects
·       discipline in dealing with a topic in a limited time
·       the opportunity of learning and practising high standards of expression, presentation and appearance
·       impartial feedback and assessment of performance by experienced adjudicators

Who can take part?

The competition is open all schools and college communities including those that are home educated and any other young people’s community organisations, for example, community RotaKids, community Interact, Scout Groups, Girl Guides etc.

Each team will comprise of three students in full time education in two age groups:

Intermediate         11 to 13 years
Senior                    14 to 17 years


With the age qualifying date of 31 August 2016, it should be noted that some junior entrants may be 11, intermediate entrants 14 and senior entrants 18 at the time of some or all stages of the competitions (e.g. a competitor who is 17 on 31 August but turns 18 on 1  September is allowed to enter).

Students should enter the competition organised by the local Rotary club through their respective group, as detailed above.

Competitors, schools, colleges and other organisations can participate in a district that is outside of their boundary, but can only compete in one club or district.

The Four Stages of the Competition

Local Heats
                                               
The Mid Herts heat will be held at Dame Alice Owens School, Potters Bar on Thursday 19th Jan 2017 starting at 6pm.  If there are a large number of entries, it may be necessary to hold a second heat on the same evening at another local venue.  To enter, please complete copy and complete the entry form at the end of this post and email it to 
mike@mailord.co.uk or to midhertsrotary@ymail.com by Thursday 12th Jan 2017.

District Competitions

These are organised by Rotary between January and mid-February. There will District Semi-Finals followed by a District Final. Age group winners of the District Final are entered into a Regional Final.

Regional Finals                       

These are organised by Rotary between mid-February and March. Age group winners of regional finals are entered into the national final.

National Final
                                                               
This is organised by and held in Rotary District 1210. 

Dates for local heats, district finals and regional finals may have local variations. Interested parties should check dates with their local Rotary club.

Rotary does not fund expenses of the regional winners to attend the national final, but there may be support from a local Rotary club..

Competition Guidelines

Format
                                                               
Each team member takes on one of three roles: chairperson, speaker and vote of thanks. The team should be the same throughout the competition. In exceptional circumstances substitutions may be made, subject to the approval of the competition organiser.

Each team member is allocated a time in which to perform their role. The role of each team member is detailed in the procedure section below.

Judges                                                

Judges with appropriate skills appointed by Rotary will apply the judging criteria and provide feedback to all competitors and mentoring to winners. The judges will not discuss marks and their decision will be final.

A Rotarian will not be appointed as a judge for regional or national finals.

Judging Criteria                     

Chairperson’s management of the meeting                   25 points
Speaker’s ability to present and develop a topic
and ability to answer the question                                   50 points
                                         
Quality and courtesy of the vote of thanks                      25 points
 Team work                                                                           15 points

                                            Total      115 points

A judge’s score sheet which illustrates the points judges will be particularly looking at is provided at the end of this information pack.





The judges will deduct one point for each complete 15 seconds over the allocated time and one point for each complete 30 seconds under the allocated time. Points will not be deducted for time in answering the question.

Only in exceptional circumstances and at the sole discretion of the competition organiser, will correspondence or discussions be entered into following a competition.

Questioner
                                                               
The questioner, who shall not be one of the judges, will be appointed by the competition organiser. Speakers will be asked to respond to a question asked by the questioner

The questioner can be a Rotarian but not from a participating club.

Prizes                                                  

At all stages of the competition competitors will receive a certificate of participation.

After the judges have determined the result of the competition one or more judges will comment on their observations before announcing the result.

At the national finals, the winning intermediate and senior teams will receive the Rotary Challenge Trophy which may be held for one year. Each member of the winning, second and third teams will receive an individual award.

How to enter

To enter a local heat, interested parties should contact their local Rotary club via the club finder in the top right hand corner of the website rotarygbi.org. In case of difficulty please contact the national organiser Joyce Marston at youth-speaks@rotarygbi.org quoting the home address and the address of the school, college or other organisation.

Entrants need to complete the entry form at the end of this information pack and submit to the stage organiser at the time specified by the stage organiser.

Competition Procedure

Arrival                                  

Before each competition the competition organiser will conduct a draw to determine the order in which each team will make their presentation. The order will be notified to teams at the competition. If possible, teams will be given prior notice of the order. In unforeseen circumstances the organisers may have to adjust the order.

Arrangements

A master of ceremonies will invite each team in order of the draw, to come to the front or stage to make their presentation.

The team should be ushered into position by the chairperson who should sit down with the speaker on their right and the vote of thanks on their left. This is a team competition and each team member must conduct themselves so that they are attentive and listening to whichever of the team members is speaking. A reminder that the team MAY NOT use props or enter into a dramatic performance as this is a public speaking competition.

A system of lights or coloured cards will be used to advise team members of time. Green will indicate start, amber will warn that the allocated time is coming to an end and red will indicate the end of allocated time.


Notes may be used. However their use should not be too obvious - simply reading written content will be reflected in the marks. Notes can be written on paper, card, tablet or iPad. If electronic media is used for this purpose it must only be

used as a reminder of the content of the speech and not as a prop or as a live means of presenting or sourcing information. Cards as prompts are better than A4 notes but ideally teams should deliver the presentation without either.

Items other than dress or the furniture provided are not permitted to be used as props. The use of props will be severely reflected in the judges’ marks. This includes power point.

Where venues would benefit from amplification, static microphones will be provided for team members to use. A sound test will be arranged prior to the start of the competition. If any team member fails to use the static microphones and their words are inaudible the judges will deduct marks.

The team members will perform their roles in the following order:

Chairperson      
When the team is ready the chairperson will stand. From this point on the chairperson is in control of the team’s performance until the performance is closed after the vote of thanks. The chairperson should briefly link the team’s presentations. There is no time penalty involved in this part of the chairperson’s role.

                                The chairperson has two minutes to welcome the audience and to introduce the speaker. The introduction should include the relevance or expertise of the speaker to the subject of their speech.

                                An amber light will indicate there are thirty seconds left of the allocated two minutes.

Speaker               
The speaker has six minutes to speak on their chosen subject. The speaker may choose any subject, subject to the approval of the organisers. Considerable discretion should be used in choosing the subject. Sensitive subjects such as party politics, race or religion should be avoided. The subject may change between stages.

                                An amber light will indicate there is one minute left of the allocated six minutes

Chairperson      
When the speaker has finished the chairperson will invite the questioner to ask a question

Speaker              
Before answering the question the speaker may seek clarification of the question via the chairperson. The speaker, who is the subject expert, may not consult about the question with other team members.

The speaker then has about two minutes to answer the question.

                                An amber light will indicate two minutes are drawing to a close and after the amber light speakers should bring their response to a conclusion.

                                Speakers are advised to respond spontaneously, without prepared sections, to obtain high marks from the judges.

Chairperson
When the speaker has finished answering the question, the chairman will introduce the proposer of the vote of thanks.

Vote of Thanks
The vote of thanks has two minutes to propose the vote of thanks.

The vote of thanks should remark on both the content of the speech and the response to the question. The audience should then be invited to show its appreciation of the speaker.

An amber light will indicate there are thirty seconds left of the allocated two minutes.


The student giving the vote of thanks is advised to respond spontaneously to the response to the question, without prepared sections, to obtain high marks from the judges.

Chairperson
After the vote of thanks and applause the chairperson will close the proceedings.

Results                                
After the judges have determined the result of the competition, one or more judges will comment on their observations before announcing the result.

Youth Competitions

The Rotary Youth Speaks competition is one of several competitions organised by Rotary International in Great Britain & Ireland for young people. The others are Young Chef, Young Musician, Young Photographer, Young Writer, Youth Speaks the Young Citizens Awards and the Technology Tournament. To find out more about these competitions and other opportunities please contact your local Rotary club, which can be found at rotarygbi.org. 

Working with Children   

Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland has adopted this statement of policy for working with children, the vulnerable and those with disability.

The needs and rights of the child, the elderly, the vulnerable and those with disability take priority. It is the duty of every Rotarian to safeguard to the best of their ability, the welfare of and prevent the physical, sexual or emotional abuse and neglect of all children, the elderly, persons with disability or otherwise vulnerable persons with whom they come into contact during their Rotarian duties.

Entry Form Details

Rotary in Great Britain and Ireland (RIBI) reserve the right to retain contact details within the terms of the Data Protection Act to enable RIBI to contact and keep in touch with them as part of the Alumni of Rotary and as future potential members.


The entry form below can be copied and pasted into a word processor document, completed and attached to your email.


Mid Herts Rotary Youth Speaks Entry Form 2016/17
Please read the information pack before completing this form clearly.  By signing this form you confirm you have read, understood and agreed to the contents of the information pack.  Please return this form to mike@mailord.co.uk or to midhertsrotary@ymail.com by Thursday 12th Jan 2017.

School/college/other organisation
Contact person
Email
Tel No
Chairperson’ Name
Age on 31 Aug 2016
Signature
Speaker’s Name
Age on 31 Aug 2016
Signature
Vote of Thanks’ Name
Age on 31 Aug 2016
Signature
Age category                                                                            (Intermediate/ Senior)
Title of topic
Sponsored by Rotary Club of
District
Contact Person
Email
Tel No

The parent(s), guardian(s), or carer(s) have given permission where necessary:
  a. for the named person to take part in and be identified in the competition (Yes/No)
  b. any entrant over 18 at the date of this competition should sign this entry form
  c. for photographic/video records to be taken and used for Rotary International in Great
      Britain and Ireland (RIBI) publicity purposes in printed, electronic and on-line formats
     (Yes/No)
  d. In signing this form the parent/guardian/carer gives permission for contact by RIBI,
      District and Club Public Relations Officers for public relations purposes (Yes/No)                                

School/College/Organisation Contact
Signature
Date

Not agreeing to c and d above does not preclude the individual from entering the competition 

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