Evaluation Contest
Rules
These rules apply to all Evaluation Contests, which are
conducted in English only. These rules may not be sup-planted or modified, and
no exceptions may be made.
1. PURPOSE
A. To encourage development of evaluation skiIls and to recognize the best
as encouragement to all.
B. To provide an opportunity
to learn by observing the more proficient evaluators
who have benefited from their Toastmasters
training.
2. SELECTION SEQUENCE
A. Each Club in good standing may select its Club
Evaluation Contest winner to compete in the Area contest. An alternate should
also be selected. The Area speech contest winner then proceeds to the Division
contest (if applicable). The Division winner then proceeds to the District
contest. Should an Area or Division con-test winner be unable to participate
in the next contest level, the highest placed available contestant will
advance to that level.
B. In those Areas with four assigned Clubs or less eight
weeks prior to the Area contest, Districts have the option to allow the two
highest placed available contestants from each
Club to compete in the Area contest. Should additional Clubs charter prior to
the Area contest, the two highest placed available contestants from each Club
may compete. In those Divisions with four assigned Areas or less, Districts
have the option to allow the two highest placed available contestants from
each Area to compete. In Districts with four assigned Divisions or less.
Districts have the option to allow the two highest placed available
contestants from each Division to participate in the District contest.
3. ELIGIBILITY
A. All Toastmasters who are members in good standing, in a
Club in good standing, are eligible to compete. New, dual, or reinstated members
must have dues current with Toastmasters International.
B. The following are ineligible to compete in this contest:
incumbent International Officers and Directors; District officers (Governor,
any Lieutenant Governor, Division Governor, Area
Governor, Secretary, Treasurer, or Public Relations Officer) whose terms
expire June 30; International Officer and Director candidates; Immediate Past
District Governors; District Officers or announced candidates for the term
beginning July 1 .
C. Toastmasters who are
members in more than one Club and who meet all other eligibility requirements
may compete in each Club contest in which membership in good standing is held.
However, should they win more than one Club Evaluation Contest, they can
represent only one of the Clubs at the Area level. No contestant can compete
in more than one Area Evaluation Contest, even if the two Areas are in
different Divisions or different Districts.
D. A contestant must be a
member in good standing of the Club, Area, Division, or District being
represented when competing in a speech contest at the next level.
E. Each contestant must
complete the Speaker's Certification of Eligibility and Originality (form
118.3) and submit it to the chief judge prior to the contest.
GENERAL PROCEDURE
A. A contest chairman, contest sergeant at arms, chief
judge, at least five judges, two counters, and two timers are appointed. These
appointments will be as far as is practical at Club levels, but required for
Area through to District and Regional levels of this contest.
B. Before the contest, contestants and the contest sergeant
at arms are briefed on the rules by the contest
chairman. Judges, counters, and timers are briefed
on their duties by the chief judge. Contestants will then draw for their
speaking position with the contest chairman.
C. It a contestant is absent from the briefing, the
alternate speaker, if present, may be included in place of the primary
contestant. When the contest Toastmaster is
introduced, it not present, the primary contestant is disqualified
and the alternate officially becomes the contestant.
Where the primary contestant arrives and makes
this known to the contest chairman and has all required paperwork in good
order prior to the introduction, and missed the briefing, disqualification
shall not occur and the primary contestant may speak in the drawn order, but
waives the opportunity of a briefing.
D. All contestants will speak from the same platform or area
designated by the contest chairman with prior knowledge
of all the judges and all the contestants. The contestants may speak from any
position within the designated area and are not limited
to standing at the lectern/podium.
1 . A lectern/podium will be available.
However, the use of the lectern/podium is optional.
2. If amplification is necessary, a lectern/podium
fixed-mounted microphone and a portable micro-phone should be made available,
if possible. It is suggested that the
fixed-mounted microphone be non directional. The selection and use of a
micro-phone is optional for each contestant.
3. All equipment will be available for contestants to
practice prior to the contest. Contestants are responsible for arranging their
preferred setup of the lectern/podium microphone and other equipment in a
quiet manner before being introduced by the Toastmaster.
E. At the beginning of this contest a five- to seven-minute
test speech will be presented. The test speech
should be either a contest-type
speech, or taken from one of the assignments in the basic Communication and
Leader-ship Program manual. Contestants may make prepara-tory notes during the
test speech using materials of their choice. It is recommended that at all
levels of the contest, the Toastmaster giving the test speech is not a member
of the same Club as any one of the contestants. The test speaker shall be
introduced by announcing the speaker's name, speech title, speech title, and
the speaker's name. Neither the manual project nor any objectives that the
speaker may have shall be made known to the contestants, judges, or audience.
F. At the conclusion of the test speech, all contestants
shall leave the room. They then have five minutes to prepare their evaluation
using materials of their choice. Timingand preparation supervision shall be
under the control of the contest sergeant at arms. Where this is not
practical, contestants will complete their five minute preparation in the same
room under the con-trol of the contest sergeant at arms.
G. After five minutes has elapsed no further preparation
shall be allowed and with the exception of the first contestant, who shall be
called back as first evaluator (where preparation is done in the same room
.with the exception of the first contestant, the others shall leave the room),
all others shall hand all written material to the contest sergeant at arms.
Preparation material shall be handed back to contestants as they are called
back to present their evaluation.
H. There will be one minute of silence between contes-tants,
during which the judges will mark their ballots.
I. Announcement of contest winners is final.
TIMING
A. Evaluations shall be from two to three minutes.
Contes-tants who speak less than one minute 30 seconds or more than three
minutes 30 seconds will be disqualified.
B. Timing will begin with the contestant's first definite
verbal or non-verbal communication with the audi-ence. This usually will be
the first word uttered by the contestant, but would include any other
communica-tion such as sound effects, a staged act by another person, etc.
C. The green light will be turned on at two minutes and
remain on for 30 seconds. The amber light will be turned on at two minutes and
thirty seconds and remain on for 30 seconds. The red light will be turned on
atthree minutes and remain on until the evaluation is concluded. No audible
device, such as a buzzer, shall be used for the overtime period.
D. Any sightless contestant may request and must be granted
a form of warning signal of his or her own choosing, which may be an audible
device. The con-testant must provide any special device required for such
signal.
E. In the event of technical fai lure of the signal, a
speaker is allowed 30 seconds extra overtime before being disqualified.
F. Prior to announcing results, the chairman should announce if time
disqualification(s) occurred, but not name the contestant(s) involved
