Category: contests

How can Toastmasters districts encourage clubs?

Posted on (Updated: )

trophyAlmost every district has their own local awards to encourage and recognize clubs to do their best (not coincidentally helping the district itself to be distinguished).  There are good ways and bad ways to do this though.

First, avoid competitive recognition, where there is only one winner. There are competitions where there’s a fixed threshold, and any number of winners (like the DCP, or the district recognition program since 2012), and then there’s competitions where there’s only one winner (or some fixed number of winners, like 3 or 10), and the rest get second place or nothing.  Clubs should compete against a fixed goal, or against their own past performance, not against other clubs.
 Continue reading “How can Toastmasters districts encourage clubs?” →

Toastmasters urban myths and legends

Posted on (Updated: )

myths bustedIt’s really interesting how certain “rules” get made and passed around, and eventually these myths are thought to be fact.  Here’s a few I’ve found.  These are all FALSE.  If someone tells you what’s below is required, they are incorrect, and I’ve included links where possible to the TI web site.  Many of these were gathered from a discussion on the Facebook members group. Continue reading “Toastmasters urban myths and legends” →

Absolute minimum for a Toastmasters speech contest?

Posted on (Updated: )

trophyHow do you hold a contest in a small club or area?  What’s the absolute minimum number of officials to run it, whether by the book, or just to be fair?  Does having just one contestant make a difference?

Club contests

The 2014 speech contest rulebook says a club contest needs:

  • contest chair
  • chief judge
  • at least five voting judges
  • tiebreaker judge
  • three counters
  • two timers

Continue reading “Absolute minimum for a Toastmasters speech contest?” →

Ideas for scheduling Toastmasters contests

Posted on (Updated: )

calendarI’ve seen a lot of different practices in districts around the world.  I’d like to share my experiences, and make some suggestions on what seems to work best for this tricky topic.

First, most district hold four contests a year, the maximum.  They have two in the August-November period, usually humorous and either table topics or evaluation, and then two in the February-May period, international (required) and then the other one from evaluation or table topics.

The nice thing about this pairing is you have one prepared speech (humorous or international), and then another contest that newer members are less afraid to try (table topics or evaluation).  Some districts swap in tall tales for humorous occasionally.  It also allows new Area Governors to get some practice before needing to run the more visible international contest. Continue reading “Ideas for scheduling Toastmasters contests” →

Does speaking order make a difference in Toastmasters contests?

Posted on (Updated: )

trophyThere are various opinions on this topic, and I researched it a few years ago, using old contest programs from division contests and higher.  With ten contests in a few days, and 88 contestants, the 2013 semi-finals and finals looked like a great opportunity to revisit this.

The data shows a decisive bias, speakers later in the order are more likely to win.  Out of 30 placings (1st/2nd/3rd in 9 semis plus the final), the average place in the speaking order was 60% of the way through.  If speaking order had no impact, this would be 50% (about the same as I found in my previous analysis). Continue reading “Does speaking order make a difference in Toastmasters contests?” →

Toastmasters Speech Contest Rulebook Change Summary, 2012 to 2013

Posted on (Updated: )

World Headquarters has released their annual revision to the Speech Contest Rulebook.  While changes are marked with a diamond in the text, there’s no indication of what the change is, and there’s no official summary of what’s different.

So I carefully compared the two editions and made my notes.  The changes most relevant to running a contest are:

  1. A member who INTENDS to compete may not serve as a judge (probably to cover club contests where the member hasn’t actually competed yet). Continue reading “Toastmasters Speech Contest Rulebook Change Summary, 2012 to 2013” →

Contest questions: What would YOU do?

Posted on (Updated: )

Contests are one of the easiest places to make a mistake — and yet, one of the most important events to get right, especially for members who are planning on becoming the World Champion of Public Speaking!  Here’s a few scenarios to think about.  What would YOU do?

Some of them have “right” answers per the rules, some have “right” answers per most peoples’ understanding of fairness … and some have no good answer at all.  Regardless, they are likely to start a good conversation at contest training.

Contest program & preparation

Do you include contestant names on the program?  Speech title?  Their club name and number?  Educational award level (like CC or DTM)?  Title (like club president or past district governor)?

Continue reading “Contest questions: What would YOU do?” →