Contest Rules and Regulations – Preliminaries

The preliminary round will proceed in the following manner.

• A test speech of 5 to 7 minutes will be given to evaluate.
• After the speech 5 minutes will be given to take down notes.
• After 5 minutes except the 1st contestant, all the other contestants will be escorted out of the room. After each evaluation the next contestant will deliver his/her evaluation according to their contesting order.

One contestant is allowed to give a prepared speech according to the following rules.

1. Eligibility
   • Senior Category
     • The contestant may have no age limit.
     • He/she may represent any local University (Private or State), institute, school leavers, working people.
     • Toastmasters are not allowed to compete.
   • Junior Category
     • The contestant must be a school student. (They will be required to submit a valid document as proof they are current students of that school.)
     • Toastmasters are not allowed to compete.

2. Language
   • All evaluations must be done in English (No dialogues or any phrases can be expressed in other languages i.e. Sinhala, Tamil)
3. Evaluation Timings
   • The evaluation should be between 2 to 3 minutes.
   • The evaluator will be disqualified if the evaluation falls short of 1 minute & 30 seconds or it exceeds 3 minutes 30 seconds.
   • A green signal/card will be displayed at the 2nd minute and remain displayed for 30 seconds
   • A yellow/amber signal/card will be displayed at the 2 and half minute and remain displayed for 30 seconds
   • A red signal/card will be displayed at the 3rd minute and will remain on until the conclusion of the evaluation

IMPORTANT:

The red card will be kept displayed on until a evaluator finishes his/her evaluation. There will be no indication made to the contestant, in the event of disqualification.

It is the responsibility of the evaluator to finish a speech during the allotted time period as indicated above.

4. Use of Electronic Devices
   • The use of electronic devices and other electronic aids including visuals, slide projectors and charts will not be permitted.
5. Dress Code
   • All participants must be dressed in formal attire
6. Judges’ Decision
   • If a situation arises where 2 or more contestants have an equal number of points, the Tie-breaking judge will be involved in making the final decision.
7. Protests and Disqualifications
   • Protests are limited to eligibility and originality and shall only be lodged by voting judges and contestants. Any protest shall be lodged with the chief judge and/or contest chair prior to the announcement of the winner.
   • Before a contestant can be disqualified on the basis of originality, the contestants must be given an opportunity to respond to the voting judges. The majority of the voting judges must concur in the decision to disqualify.
   • The contest chair can disqualify a contestant on the basis of eligibility
   • Decision of the judges will be final.

NOTE:

• 20 contestants from each category will be selected from the preliminaries to compete at the semifinals of “enliven 2019” (speech evaluation contest)
• No reserves will be selected.
• All contestants must switch off their mobile phones, timing devices and other electronic devices upon entering the contest premises

Speech Evaluation Criteria

Speeches will be evaluated and judged on the basis of the following criteria.

• Analytical quality (40%)
  • Clear and focused
• Recommendations (30%)
  • Positive, specific and helpful
• Technique (15%)
  • Sympathetic, sensitive and motivational
• Summation (15%)
  • Concise and encouraging