Toastmasters Italia

Humo­rous Speech is 5 to 7 minu­tes in length. Humo­rous spea­king, which must be sub­stan­tially ori­gi­nal. Any quo­ted mate­rial must be iden­ti­fied during the pre­sen­ta­tion. The speech must be a the­ma­tic in nature (ope­ning, body, and close) and not be an act or a mono­lo­gue. It should be “clean” humor; avoid objec­tio­na­ble lan­guage, anec­do­tes, and mate­rial. Vocal variety, gestu­res, and speech con­tent all play a part in a suc­ces­sful humo­rous speech.

JUDGING CRITERIA — HUMOROUS SPEECH CONTEST

Con­tent (55%)

• SPEECH DEVELOPMENT is the way the spea­ker puts ideas toge­ther so the audience can under­stand them. The speech is struc­tu­red around a pur­pose, and this struc­ture must include an ope­ning, body, and con­clu­sion. A good speech imme­dia­tely enga­ges the audience’s atten­tion and then moves for­ward toward a signi­fi­cant conclusion.This deve­lo­p­ment of the speech struc­ture is sup­por­ted by rele­vant exam­ples, illu­stra­tions, facts, and figu­res, deli­ve­red with such smoo­th­ness that they blend into the fra­mework of the speech to pre­sent the audience with a uni­fied whole.
• EFFECTIVENESS is mea­su­red in part by the audience’s recep­tion of the speech, but a large part is your sub­jec­tive jud­ge­ment of how the speech came across. You should ask your­self such que­stions as “Was I able to deter­mine the speaker’s pur­pose?” “Did the speech relate direc­tly to that pur­pose?” “Was the audience’s inte­rest held by the spea­ker?” “Was this speech sub­ject appro­priate for this par­ti­cu­lar audience?”
• SPEECH VALUE justi­fies the act of spea­king. The spea­ker has a respon­si­bi­lity to say some­thing mea­ning­ful and ori­gi­nal to the audience. The liste­ners should feel the spea­ker has made a con­tri­bu­tion to their thin­king. The ideas should be impor­tant ones, although this does not reclude a humo­rous pre­sen­ta­tion of them.
• AUDIENCE RESPONSE indi­ca­tes the level to which the spea­ker has affec­ted the emo­tions and response of the audience. An increa­sing level of inte­rest may be indi­ca­ted by redu­ced audience move­ment, grea­ter eye con­tact and laughter at appro­priate cues.

Deli­very (30%)

• PHYSICAL pre­sen­ta­tion of a speech car­ries part of the respon­si­bi­lity for effec­tive com­mu­ni­ca­tion. The speaker’s appea­rance should rein­force the speech, whe­ther pro­found, sad, humo­rous, or instruc­tio­nal. Body lan­guage should sup­port points through gestu­res, expres­sions, and body positioning.
• VOICE is the sound that car­ries the mes­sage. It should be fle­xi­ble, moving from one pitch level to ano­ther for empha­sis, and should have a variety of rate and volume. A good voice can be clearly heard and the words easily understood.
• MANNER is the indi­rect reve­la­tion of the speaker’s real self as the speech is deli­ve­red. The spea­ker should speak with enthu­siasm and assu­rance, sho­wing inte­rest in the audience and con­fi­dence in their reactions.

Lan­guage (15%)

• APPROPRIATENESS of lan­guage refers to the choice of words that relate to the speech pur­pose and to the par­ti­cu­lar audience hea­ring the speech. Lan­guage should pro­mote clear under­stan­ding of thoughts and should fit the occa­sion precisely.
• CORRECTNESS of lan­guage ensu­res that atten­tion will be direc­ted toward what the spea­ker says, not how it is said. Pro­per use of gram­mar and cor­rect pro­nun­cia­tion will show that the spea­ker is the master of the words being used.