District 57 Toastmasters Virtual Speech Contests 2021

[Superseded info kept for historic purpose, see District Chief Judge for latest.
Old links removed, use superseded resources at own risk – 2022-11-05 – WKL #PRM]

Update: 7 Feb 2021

Table of Contents

Introduction

Most Common Questions

District 57 Toastmasters Specific Information

Toastmasters International World Headquarters Resources

District 57 Toastmasters Specific Contest Resources

Contest Chairs/Contest Toastmasters (& District Officers) – [Link removed – 2022-11-05 – WKL #PRM]

Chief Judges –[Link removed – 2022-11-05 – WKL #PRM]

Voting Judges – [Link removed – 2022-11-05 – WKL #PRM]

Tiebreaking Judges – [Link removed – 2022-11-05 – WKL #PRM]

Ballot Counters – [Link removed – 2022-11-05 – WKL #PRM]

Timers – [Link removed – 2022-11-05 – WKL #PRM]

Sergeants-at-Arms – [Link removed – 2022-11-05 – WKL #PRM]

Contestants – [Link removed – 2022-11-05 – WKL #PRM]

Test Speakers – [Link removed – 2022-11-05 – WKL #PRM]

Resources from other Toastmasters Districts/Clubs – [Link removed – 2022-11-05 – WKL #PRM]

Zoom Skills – [Link removed – 2022-11-05 – WKL #PRM]

Change Log – [Link removed – 2022-11-05 – WKL #PRM]

Introduction

Speech contests are 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, and winners continue competing through the Area, Division and District levels. Winners of the District level International Speech Contest proceed to the Region Quarterfinals and the semifinals for a chance to take part in the World Championship of Public Speaking®

As the COVID-19 global pandemic continues, the Toastmasters International (TI) Board of Directors mandated all Districts conduct online Area-, Division-, and District-level speech contests for the 2020-2021 Toastmasters program year.  Each contestant participates from physically-distant locations, using equipment that contestants obtain themselves.

This is an exception to General Rules for all Toastmasters Speech Contests, 2. Eligibility, A., 9, which states, “Each contestant must be physically present to compete beyond the club level. Participation by audio, video, or other remote technology is not permitted beyond the club level. Other than this exception, the Speech Contest Rulebook must be followed as far as it is applicable.”

All contestants and contest officials must be present in real time for the contest and must use a webcam and microphone to ensure they are visible and audible while delivering their speech.

Most Common Questions

District 57 Toastmasters (D57TM) Specific Information

District 57 Toastmasters (D57TM) will host the Evaluation Speech and International Speech Contests for the 2021 contest cycle.  The District contests will be held on the Zoom video conferencing platform.

Areas Allowed to Send Two (2) Contestants

Per General Rules for All Toastmasters Speech Contests, Section 3. Selection Sequence, Subsection B, the following areas are allowed to send two (2) highest-placed, available (and qualified) contestants from each club within that area.

It was developed based on the following TI World HQ guidelines:

1. If an Area is “small” (4 or fewer clubs in GOOD STANDING), its clubs can send their 1st and 2nd place winners to the Area contest.
2. If an Area is “large” (5 or more clubs in GOOD STANDING), its clubs can only send their 1st place winners to the Area contest.
3. This rule is similar for the Division contests. If a Division is “small” (4 or fewer Areas), then each of its Areas can send their 1st and 2nd place winners to the Division contest. If it’s large (5 or more Areas), only the 1st place winners can attend.

The purpose of these guidelines is to manage contest size, to ensure each contest is not too big or small.  Again, please check the attached spreadsheet to see what your situation is, and let the District Chief Judge know if you have any questions!

Recognition for Area and Division Contest Winners

D57TM Trio has decided that contest recognition this year will be electronic only – no medals or plaques.  D57TM will not order or use any medals for any contest.

If anyone orders medals on their own, the expense will not be reimbursed.

Since all contests, including the district, will be online, no one will be able to walk across the stage, or be called to the front of the room, to be presented with a medal, plaque, certificate or any other recognition item.  We did not make this decision lightly, but just don’t think the logistics of sending out all those medals is worth it.

Instead, we will use certificates that the contest chair can show on screen when winners are announced, and emailed to the winner.  You can create your own certificates, or use the Toastmasters certificates, downloadable here:

https://www.toastmasters.org/resources/speech-contest-certificate-set

After you filled out and saved the information onto the respective PDF’s, convert them to image files that can be uploaded and displayed as virtual backgrounds on Zoom.

Either convert using a program locally (Adobe Acrobat DC or similar) or upload the PDF to convert online and download, example: https://www.adobe.com/acrobat/online/pdf-to-jpg.html. Whoever will be announcing the results (Contest Chairperson/Directors) should upload the resultant image files to own Zoom virtual backgrounds to display the certificates, similar to how a Timer displays the signal.

Toastmasters International World Headquarters Resources

Our District Leadership team and Chairs have worked hard to develop the resources below to ensure an excellent virtual contest experience.

Change Log