Speech Contests

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They’re a Toastmasters tradition.

Each year thousands of Toastmasters compete in the Humorous, Evaluation, Tall Tales, Table Topics and International Speech contests.

Competition begins with club contests. Winners continue competing through the area, division, and district levels.

Each year, more than 30,000 Toastmasters compete in one or more of the following contests:

International Contest

Contestants present a five- to seven- minute speech on any subject they choose. All districts must conduct this contest.

The International competition has two additional levels compared to all the other contests — the semifinal and the World Championship of Public Speaking^®.

Contestants present a humorous speech that must be thematic in nature (opening, body, and close), not a monologue (series of one-liners).

Contestants observe a five-to seven-minute test speech and then present a two-to three-minute evaluation of the test speech.

Contestants present a speech on a topic that is highly-exaggerated and improbable in theme or plot.

An impromptu speech, all contestants are assigned the same topic, told to them when they are introduced by the contest chair.

These tutorials offer fundamental principles to help members understand speech contests:

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