The Club Speech Contest

The contests rulebook is published each year. The easiest way to get the current version is to visit the Toastmasters International Contests Resource page.

You can also search for the rulebook by item number (1171) – and this holds true for many TI products – it is why they publish the reference. The book is published in several languages, and the results list may (prior to the International Convention) include older versions. This is because the contest held at Convention goes under the rules of the previous year as the World Championship ends the contest cycle.

However, the rulebook is not the whole story; the Speech Contests Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) list contains any rule changes necessary during the year. There are many FAQ lists – click here for the index to them. Please take care with links from the answers – at the time of writing, one of the answers referred to an out of date rulebook.

Outline scripts for the four main contests are under “District Documents” on  this page

As you’ll have seen from the contest rules, there are quite a few forms involved, and as long as you know the item number, you can search for them at www.toastmasters.org using that reference. “-ff” indicates a fillable form.

The following list is correct for the 2022-2023 contest year, with all forms being in PDF format. A suffix of “-ff” indicate the form is fillable online.

All contests:

510A   First Place Speech Contest Certificate-ff
510B   Second Place Speech Contest Certificate-ff
510C   Third Place Speech Contest Certificate-ff
510D   Speech Contest Participation Certificate-ff
510K   Speech Contest Certificates-FOR PRINT USE (note 1)
1168    Results Form-ff
1170   Judges Certifications of Eligibility and Code of Ethics-ff
1175   Time Record Sheet and Instructions for Timers-ff
1176   Counters Tally Sheet-ff
1182   Notification Contest Winner-ff
1183   Speaker’s Certification Eligibility and Originality-ff
1189   Speech Contestant Profile-ff

International Speech Contest

1172   International Speech Contest Judges Guide and Ballot-ff
1188   International Speech Contest Tiebreaking Judges Guide and Ballot-ff
1193   Region Quarterfinal Video Release-ff (note 2)

Speech Evaluation Contest

1177    Evaluation Contestant Notes-ff
1179    Evaluation Contest Judges Guide and Ballot-ff
1179A Evaluation Contest Tiebreaking Judges Guide and Ballot-ff

Humourous Speech Contest

1191    Humorous Speech Contest Judges Guide and Ballot-ff
1191A Humorous Speech Contest Tiebreaking Judges Guide and Ballot-ff

Table Topics Contest

1180    Table Topics Contest Judges Guide and Ballot-ff
1180A Table Topics Contest Tiebreaking Judges Guide and Ballot-ff

Tall Tales Speech Contest (note 3)

1181    Tall Tales Contest Judges Guide and Ballot-ff
1181A Tall Tales Contest Tiebreaking Judges Guide and Ballot-ff

NOTES:

(1) This is a combination of the four certificate types to allow all to be printed at once.
(2) Only used for the International Contest above District level – however any member who may be specifically filmed (i.e. not part of a general audience) should be advised. If necessary, have members complete a Video Release Form, which you can find here.
(3) Not an official contest in District 112 but may be run at club level or as an event.

The forms can  be downloaded individually by item number, but the easiest way to get them all is to download a “Speech Contest Kit”, which is a compressed (zip) file. This makes sure you have the current versions. Please see notes about online contests below.

To download a kit, go to the Toastmasters International website and search for “Speech Contest Kit”. All the kits are in the Resource Library:

International Speech Contest
Humourous Speech Contest
Speech Evaluation Contest
Table Topics Contest
Tall Tales Speech Contest

NOTE: All Toastmasters documents have a revision reference showing the year and month of publication. Please look for the “Rev. yy/mm” text to make sure you have the current version.

For online contests, fillable Judges ballots are available:

Evaluation Contest
International Speech Contest
Humourous Speech Contest
Table Topics Contest

Our District Zoom Master, Troy Smith, has put together a guide to what you need to know; you’ll find it on our District Documents page.

No special requirements from April 2022

With the removal of the special powers relating to COVID-19 , no action is needed in most cases. However, we recommend you check the guidelines provided on the NZ Government COVID-19 site.

COVID-19 is not the threat, to most, that it used to be – but it has not gone away. Also, some members will be more susceptible than others – please respect their concerns.

You need to be informed

As well as Government guidelines, please note that a link to advice from District is at the end of each page on our site. The intention is to ensure that our responses are as up to date as possible, and in line with those advised by Toastmasters International.

You are indoors in a public venue, so please take account of ventilation when setting the room layout.  As organiser, that decision is yours alone. Please take time to inform yourself from the COVID-19 site.