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

A solo class in which one speaker delivers a prepared piece of prose in their own voice, judged on clarity, pace, expression and how well the speaker makes the passage live for the listener.

Prose speaking is a solo speech class built on a passage of prose rather than a poem. The speaker presents the text aloud to a listener and adjudicator, and the whole mark rests on the voice: how clearly the words are carried, how the pace follows the sense and how well the passage is made to mean something to someone hearing it for the first time.

A round is short and simple. The speaker is called, steps forward, announces the piece if the event asks for it and speaks within the age-band time limit while the adjudicator listens. There is no stage business to hide behind, so small things such as a steady start, a clean ending and well-placed pauses carry real weight.

An entry is one passage of prose chosen to suit the speaker’s age and voice: an extract from a story, a descriptive piece, a diary-style passage or a short essay. A good choice has clear sentences, a shape that can be heard (a beginning, a turn and an ending) and is short enough to be spoken well inside the limit.

Organisers run the class because prose has no rhyme or line-break to lean on. The speaker must find the rhythm of ordinary sentences for themselves, which makes it a useful companion to verse speaking and storytelling, and a fair way to reward careful, intelligent use of the voice.

Where Prose Speaking is run

On the eTalenter templates this item is carried by one: a Sri Lankan speech and drama festival template, where it runs as an individual English class for four age bands, 3-6, 7-9, 10-14 and 15 and over. This page records only the template listed here.

• Sri Lanka

Key facts

• Individual entry, open to boys and girls together, performed in English
• Four age bands on the template: 3-6, 7-9, 10-14 and 15 and over
• Time limits of 1 minute 30 seconds for 3-6 and 7-9, 2 minutes for 10-14 and 3 minutes for 15 and over
• Marked out of 10 on the template, with time counted per speaker
• Sits in the Literary group of the template, beside Prose Reading, Story Telling and the verse-speaking classes

On eTalenter, Prose 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, Prose Speaking is most often entered as an Individual competition, typically scored out of 10, commonly time-limited to 1–3 minutes where a limit is set.

What judges look at in Prose Speaking

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

• Clarity: every word and sentence ending heard, with consonants crisp and no mumbling at the end of lines
• Pace and pausing: speed that follows the meaning, with pauses at full stops and turns in the passage rather than a flat run
• Expression: tone and colour that fit the mood of the passage, without overacting a text that is meant to be spoken
• Understanding: emphasis on the right words, showing the speaker knows what the passage is saying
• Security and presence: a prepared, confident delivery with eye contact and a controlled start and finish
• Time discipline: finishing inside the age-band limit without rushing the final sentences

Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Prose Speaking under Scoring Setup, or start from the full recitation & poetry judging criteria guide.

How to prepare for Prose Speaking

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

• Choose a passage with clear sentences and a shape you can hear, and one that fits your age and voice
• Cut the passage so a calm, unhurried delivery lands just inside the age-band limit
• Read it aloud many times, marking where you breathe, where you pause and which words carry the meaning
• Learn what the passage means in your own words so your emphasis follows the sense, not the page
• Practise the first sentence and the last sentence until they are secure, since adjudicators remember starts and endings
• Record yourself and listen back for fast patches, swallowed word-endings and a flat tone
• Time a full run at performance pace and trim words before you speed up

Frequently asked questions

Is Prose Speaking judged individually or as a team?

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

Is Prose Speaking the same as Prose Reading?

They are neighbouring classes on the same template but not the same entry. Prose Reading is built around reading a passage aloud, while Prose Speaking is a speech class about delivering a prose passage in your own voice. Check the event syllabus for whether notes or the text may be held.

How long can I speak for?

On the Sri Lankan template the limit is 1 minute 30 seconds for the 3-6 and 7-9 bands, 2 minutes for 10-14 and 3 minutes for 15 and over.

What kind of prose should I choose?

A passage from a story, a descriptive piece or a short essay that suits your age. Choose clear, speakable sentences and a passage with a beginning, a turn and an ending.

Is it judged individually or as a team?

Individually. Each speaker performs alone and receives their own mark.

Want the full judging picture? Read the full recitation & poetry judging criteria guide, or browse every literary competition item.