Sparky’s Golden Speaker

2016 Rules

HOW TO ENTER

Go to Sparky’s Golden Speaker website and complete the online registration.

SPEECH CONTEST RULES

  1. This contest is open to all high schoolstudents.
  2. Each 3 person team must have a sponsor who is 18 years of age or older.
  3. Entrants must be residents of the state of Arizona.
  4. Speakers must attend the mentoring sessions in order to compete the next day.

Speaker mentoring will take place on Friday, November 4th, 2016 from 4:30-7:30pm

Sparky’s GoldenSpeaker competition will be November 5th, 2016 from 9:00-3:00pm

  1. Order of participation and assignments to judging room will be determined by the drawing of numbers.
  2. Each round, each team will choose a sealed box from the judging room. Each box will contain one topic, one research source, one presentation mode, and one random item (Sparky’s Surprise).
  3. Students will open their box, revealing the contents in the judging room in front of the judges. Students will write their names on the “box content” sheet and determine which group member will act as “researcher” or “organizer” or “presenter” and communicate their choices to the judges within 5 minutes of opening the box. Teams may not trade for a different box or ask judges for their input.
  4. Students will be escorted to the preparation room.They will have 20 minutes to gather their research, prepare their presentational aids, and practice delivery. The three person team must work independently from other teams in the preparation room and utilize all contents of their box. Students may not trade box contents with other teams.
  5. At the end of 20 minutes, teams will be escorted back to the judging room. No further notes, drawings, research, or preparation may happen once teams leave the preparation room.
  6. Contestants are to remain outside of the judging room until their turn to present to the judges. When the team is called, the designated “presenter” will then have up to 4 minutes to deliver their speech. The “researcher” and “organizer” will be present in the judging room and can assist in setting up any presentational aids but will not be able to participate in the delivery. Once the “presenter” enters the room, delivery must begin within 1 minute.
  7. Speeches must be at least three (3) minutes long and no longer than four (4) minutes. Failure to meet the time requirements will result in a deduction of (1) point for every 10 seconds over 4 minutes or under 3minutes. An official timekeeper will be designated in each room and will notify presenters when they reach 2 minutes 45 seconds, 3 minutes 15 seconds, and 3 minutes and 45 seconds. Students will be asked to stop when they reach the 4 minutes and 30 seconds.
  8. Contestants will be permitted to use notes during their speech.
  9. Speeches will be judged on the integration of topic, research, presentation and “Sparky’s” surprise, originalityof thought, organization, citations of sources, and speech delivery.

Scoring goes as follows:

Integration – 10 points

Utilized all four (4) itemsrepresented in their box

Cohesivelycombined all of the items in their box

Originality – 20 points

Strategically used of presentation aids and sources

Provided well-chosen details

Organization– 20 points

Presented information so that audience can follow line of reasoning

IncludedIntroduction/ Conclusion

Sources – 10 points

Cited sources in delivery

Used visual displays and/or multimedia to clarify message

Delivery – 30 points

Use of voice and expression

Appropriate Eye contact

Effective non-verbal communication

Usedappropriate language for topic

Vivid words

  1. After delivery, each team will take a 10 minute break. Afterwards, each team will return to a judging room and choose a box for the next of three rounds. Individual roles will shift. Each team member must take one turn as researcher, organizer, and presenter.
  1. The team with the highest overall score from each judging room after three rounds will advance to the finalist competition after lunch on Saturday, November 5th.

Finalist Competition

  1. Rounds will continue in the same format as the competition earlier in the day.
  1. Final scores will be determined by adding together the judges’ scores with the total audience votes at the end of each round.
  1. The team with the highest total numerical score after three rounds will be the overall winner.

Competition Awards

Each student member of the winning team will be awarded $200, and the school of the winning team will get to keep the traveling Golden Sparky Cup until next year’s competition.