This year I had the honour of judging a declamation for the third time alhamdolillah and thought it's about time I write a guide.
From a judge's perspective there are quite a number of things I see so very differently and truly understand why we were given the guidance we received as speakers.
THE TIME DURATION
As a speaker, I used to dislike the idea of having merely 3 minutes to speak. As a judge I would not have it otherwise. It is very difficult for a judge to listen to you for any longer than three minutes. The key is to prepare a speech that holds your audience and judge's attention, especially if your competitors are speaking on the same topic.
CONTENT
In the three minutes you have, whether in a debate or declamation, keep raising new points to support or go against the stance. it will be utterly boring if your speech is devoid of intelligent opinions. At the same time it is important to structure your speech well.
HOW YOU DELIVER
This makes the greatest impact on the the judge and also the audience. It is the only ground of judgement the audience and the judge both share. For this, clarity of voice, pronunciation, speed, body language, expression and emotion have to be dealt with justly. The content and style are usually the only two areas where a judge is able to mark you differently from your fellow competitors.
Of the competitions so far my fellow judges and I were to assign scores for body language, confidence, style, content and on one particular occasion timing as well. All the participants scored the same on confidence. The scores were similar for body language as well. the greatest variation came for style and content. That is where you truly compete with your fellows.
In the following posts of public speaking I will elaborate more on how to work on these.
WHERE DO YOU LOSE MARKS?
#1 Bad Pronunciation is the biggest turnoff. Watch good British movies of old classics or listen to Quaid-e-Azam's speech or observe accomplished speakers in your setting.
#2 Fake Accent. Everyone these days tries to "Americanise" their speech. People, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah studied in London and even lived there for quite sometime. How much of a British accent did he acquire? Barely any. His speeches gave us the very beautiful, educated Pakistani accent we have. Do listen to his speeches at the first chance you get.
#3 Repetition of points and over-usage of certain words. A healthy variation is what you should aim for.
From a judge's perspective there are quite a number of things I see so very differently and truly understand why we were given the guidance we received as speakers.
As a speaker, I used to dislike the idea of having merely 3 minutes to speak. As a judge I would not have it otherwise. It is very difficult for a judge to listen to you for any longer than three minutes. The key is to prepare a speech that holds your audience and judge's attention, especially if your competitors are speaking on the same topic.
CONTENT
In the three minutes you have, whether in a debate or declamation, keep raising new points to support or go against the stance. it will be utterly boring if your speech is devoid of intelligent opinions. At the same time it is important to structure your speech well.
HOW YOU DELIVER
This makes the greatest impact on the the judge and also the audience. It is the only ground of judgement the audience and the judge both share. For this, clarity of voice, pronunciation, speed, body language, expression and emotion have to be dealt with justly. The content and style are usually the only two areas where a judge is able to mark you differently from your fellow competitors.
Of the competitions so far my fellow judges and I were to assign scores for body language, confidence, style, content and on one particular occasion timing as well. All the participants scored the same on confidence. The scores were similar for body language as well. the greatest variation came for style and content. That is where you truly compete with your fellows.
In the following posts of public speaking I will elaborate more on how to work on these.
WHERE DO YOU LOSE MARKS?
#1 Bad Pronunciation is the biggest turnoff. Watch good British movies of old classics or listen to Quaid-e-Azam's speech or observe accomplished speakers in your setting.
#2 Fake Accent. Everyone these days tries to "Americanise" their speech. People, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah studied in London and even lived there for quite sometime. How much of a British accent did he acquire? Barely any. His speeches gave us the very beautiful, educated Pakistani accent we have. Do listen to his speeches at the first chance you get.
#3 Repetition of points and over-usage of certain words. A healthy variation is what you should aim for.
I do hope this proves helpful. In the coming public-speaking related posts I shall keep elaborating on more areas until then, take a gulp of self-confidence, find a platform and jump right in the ocean of public-speaking.
