Original Oratory Speaking Guidelines

Original Oratory 

Oratory is an event in which the student writes, memorizes, and then delivers a persuasive speech arising from his or her personal feeling and convictions, or a source of irritation about some problem. No specific restriction as to the type or oration is made. The oratory must be the original work of the participant and should reflect subjects that are timely and significant to our society. An orator is given free choice of subject and judged solely on the effectiveness of development and presentation. Orators are expected to research and speak intelligently, with a degree of originality, in an interesting manner, and with some profit to the audience, about a topic of significance. 

Time Limits The time limit is to be 7 minutes minimum and 10 minutes maximum. No notes are permitted during actual delivery. Not more than ten percent of the material (or 150 words) shall be quoted or paraphrased. Original oratories which have been largely paraphrased from previous oratories are ineligible. 

Please take some notes on the ballot, letting the speaker know what their strengths were and some constructive criticism to help them improve. The speaker should have good delivery, organization and analysis. Use the ballot as a rubric for judging. -The judge will rank the speakers 1-5, with 1“ being the best speaker and 5" being the least successful. If there are more than 5 speakers, please rank the rest of them 5. The judge will also give them a rating of S for Superior, E for Excellent, G for Good and F for Fair. Please be generous and remember that many of these students have never spoken in public before. All students can receive the rating of Superior, if they are all superior, same with excellent, good and fair.