NATIONAL PUBLIC SPEAKING COMPETITION

24 October 2019 Last Updated: 24 October 2019

The Conveners of the English-Speaking Union Ukraine have great pleasure in announcing the beginning of the National Public Speaking Competition 2019-2020.

The competition will run from 1 October, 2019 until 29 February, 2020.

The competition is open to students aged between 16 and 20 in full-time education at the time of the competition. Competitors must be passport holders of Ukraine and must have a valid foreign passport or travel document.

The winner of the National Public Speaking Competition will represent Ukraine in the International Public Speaking Competition that will be held in May 2020 in London.

Semi-Final Stage

To apply for the competition a student should:

send a filled in application form (in English and Ukrainian) by email to the address: [email protected]
Please, take the application form on the site http://esu-ua.cuspu.edu.ua
(Heading “Our Projects”, National Public Speaking Competition)
make a video presentation (in English) on the topic “Think globally, act locally”, save it on Youtube, and in the application form indicate the reference to it, send the application form by email to: [email protected]

Requirements for the video presentation:

Full length shot, formal style
resentation should be shot indoors, in one place, at one time in sequence
Presentation should last for 3 minutes
It is not allowed to use animation, pictures, accompanying music, any arranging and editing
Speakers may interpret the theme in any way they see it, but they should not use the theme as the title of the speech

The presentations, which do not meet the above mentioned requirements will not be taken into consideration.

The deadline for application forms and video presentations is 30 November, 2019.

The results will be announced on 29, December 2019 on the site http://esu-ua.cuspu.edu.ua and the semi-finalists will be invited to take part in the Final stage of the Competition, that will be held on 29 February, 2020 at America House, Kyiv.

Final Stage

1. Presentation of the prepared speech

The theme is “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced”.

Requirements for the prepared speech:

Speakers may interpret the theme in any way they see it, but they should not use the theme as the title of the speech.
In choosing their title, speakers should not be afraid to be provocative, hard-hitting or humorous.
Speakers must avoid speeches that are likely to be perceived as diplomatic or highly political.
Each speaker will be allocated 5 minutes. Judges may penalize speakers who overrun. Marks will be deducted for speeches which vary more than 45 seconds either side of 5 minutes.
Each speech will be followed by the questions from members of the audience and the judging panel.

2. Presentation of impromptu speech

Requirements for the impromptu speech:

Participants will receive their topics 10 minutes in advance of giving their speech.
Speakers may interpret the theme in any way they see it, but they should not use the theme as the title of the speech.
Speakers should not be afraid to be provocative, hard-hitting or humorous.