Group Speaking Competition: What It Is, Where It’s Run and How It’s Judged

A larger team of at least three speakers delivers a piece of verse or text together, mixing unison, split lines and solo moments into one rehearsed spoken performance.

Group Speaking is a team class in which three or more people perform a piece of spoken text as a single ensemble. Unlike a solo recitation, the text is shaped for many voices: some lines are said by everyone in unison, some are passed from speaker to speaker, and some are given to one voice while the others hold a still, supportive shape. Poetry with a strong beat, a refrain or a story that can be split into scenes tends to work best.

A round starts with the team entering together and settling into a formation, often a line, a block or staggered rows, so that each member can be seen and heard. The group then delivers its piece within the band’s time limit. The adjudicator listens for the quality of the unison, the clarity of every word when many voices speak at once, and whether the arrangement serves the meaning. Movement and gesture are usually welcome in small, controlled doses, but the focus stays on voice.

On paper an entry is one named team with its members and the piece it will perform. The British template that carries this class lists it in the Literary category as a team entry open to boys and girls, in six bands: 7, 9, 11, 13, 15 and 18 and under. The time limits climb with age, from four minutes in the two youngest bands to five, six, seven and eight minutes, counted per head of the performance, and marks are out of 100. The syllabus behind the template sets a minimum of three speakers; the template prints no separate criteria.

Organisers run the class because it brings whole classes, choirs of speakers and friendship groups into competition together, and because it rewards discipline in a way solo classes cannot: ten people saying a consonant at the same instant is hard to fake. It also fits neatly beside Share a Poem, the smaller two-to-four-voice class in the same speech and drama section.

Where Group Speaking is run

Group Speaking appears on one eTalenter template, a British music, speech and drama eisteddfod, where its syllabus describes the class as having a minimum of three speakers. Choral or ensemble speaking classes are a familiar part of competitive speech and drama festivals more widely, but this page records only the template listed here.

• United Kingdom

Key facts

• Team entry of at least three speakers, open to boys and girls together
• Six age bands on the template: 7, 9, 11, 13, 15 and 18 and under
• Time limits of 4, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 minutes across the bands, counted per head of the performance
• Marked out of 100; the template prints no separate criteria
• Listed under the Literary category, in English
• Judged as one ensemble performance, not speaker by speaker

On eTalenter, Group Speaking is filed under Literary and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 1 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.

Across the templates that use it, Group Speaking is most often entered as an Team competition, typically scored out of 100, commonly time-limited to 4–8 minutes where a limit is set.

What judges look at in Group Speaking

What a Group Speaking panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:

• Unison: when the whole group speaks together, the words start, stress and end at the same instant
• Clarity: every word can be understood, including consonants at the ends of phrases, even with many voices at once
• Arrangement: the split between unison, small groups and solo lines brings out the meaning and variety of the piece
• Pace and rhythm: the team holds a steady, shared tempo and uses pauses deliberately rather than rushing
• Projection and balance: no voice drowns the others and the back of the room can hear the quietest line
• Discipline and stillness: the group enters, stands and exits neatly, and does not fidget while others speak
• Choice of piece: material that suits the age of the team and genuinely works for many voices earns more than a poem simply divided evenly

Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Group Speaking under Scoring Setup, or start from how judge scoring and tabulation works in eTalenter.

How to prepare for Group Speaking

How entrants and their teachers usually get Group Speaking right on the day:

• Choose text with a refrain, a repeated structure or a clear shift of mood, because these give natural places to change between unison and solo lines
• Print one copy for the whole team and mark who speaks each line, using different colours for solo, pairs, small groups and everyone
• Learn the words individually first, then rehearse in small groups, then bring the full team together so errors are caught early
• Practise unison slowly, tapping a steady beat, then speed up only once the endings of phrases line up
• Drill the ends of words: a team that drops its final consonants sounds blurred even when everyone is loud
• Keep movement simple and rehearsed, such as a step forward on a key line, and avoid anything that distracts from the voices
• Time a full run including the walk-on and settling, and trim the piece so it finishes inside the band limit
• Perform for an outside audience at least once so the team learns to hold its focus when the room is not familiar

Frequently asked questions

Is Group Speaking judged individually or as a team?

Across eTalenter’s templates it’s most often run as an Team entry, though an organiser can set either participation type when assigning the item to an age group.

How many people are needed for Group Speaking?

The syllabus summarised on the British template sets a minimum of three speakers. Check the event’s own rules for any upper limit and how team size is counted on the day.

How long can a Group Speaking performance last?

On the template the limit rises with age: four minutes for 7 and 9 and under, five for 11, six for 13, seven for 15 and eight for 18 and under, counted per head of the performance.

Is Group Speaking the same as Share a Poem?

No. Share a Poem is for a small team of two to four voices dividing one poem. Group Speaking is for three or more and is built around ensemble techniques such as unison speech.

Is the team judged together or one speaker at a time?

Together. One mark out of 100 goes to the whole group, so unison, balance and teamwork count for more than any single strong voice.

Want the full judging picture? Read how judge scoring and tabulation works in eTalenter, or browse every literary competition item.