Speech Contests

It’s Contest Time! Learn and find eveything you need to compete in, attend, or hold a speech contest.

Why Contests?

Speech contests are a Toastmasters tradition. Each year, we seek to identify and recognize members with outstanding public speaking skills, and ultimately award the title of “World Champion of Public Speaking” to one among our ranks. Besides being fun, it recognizes excellence, inspires our members, and draws attention to our organization.

How do contests work?

It all begins in the Club. Club contest winners (or nominees) advance to and compete in Area Contests.  Area winners advance to Division Contests, and Division winners to the District Contest. District Winners of the International Contest advance to International Levels, for a chance to compete in the World Championship of Public Speaking.

2025 Contest Events

The “International Speech” Contest is held every year. In addition to this, District 33 is holding a Table Topics Speech Contest.

This year the district speech contests will be held in the traditional in-person only format. Each contest is a completely separate event with its own contestants, judges, and so on. All contestants must be a paid member of a club in good standing, and there is an additional eligability requirement for the International Speech.

International Speech

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

This is the only event with the eligability requirement that contestants have completed levels 1 and 2 in Pathways, or earned a DTM award.

Table Topics Speech Contest

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

Other Types

These types of contests are not being held in District 33 this year.

Humorous

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

Tall Tales

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

Evaluation

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

Online

Contestants present a five- to seven-minute speech on any subject they choose while participating live and online from physically distant locations.

Prior Year Contests

For the record, here are the speech contests held by District 33 in pior years.

Year Contest Format / Note Links
2025
  • International
  • Table Topics
In Person
2024
  • International
  • Humorous
  • Spanish Humorous
Hybrid Results 2024
2023
  • International
  • Evaluation
  • Spanish (Int’l Format)
Hybrid Results 2023
2022
  • International
  • Tall Tales
  • Spanish Humorous
Virtual
2021
  • International
  • Humorous
Virtual
2020
  • International
  • Humorous
Virtual
2019
  • International
  • Tall Tales
2018
  • International
  • Table Topics
2017 Fall
  • Humorous
  • Evaluation
Final Fall Conference
2017 Spring
  • International

 

Note: All contests prior to 2020 were held “In Person”. Beginning in 2018, there was only one speech contest per year; previously there had been a fall contest also, held at the fall conference.