A solo speech competition on a set or drawn topic, judged on content, structure and delivery within a strict time limit.
Speech is the plain-named solo speaking competition: one entrant stands at the microphone and speaks on a topic for a fixed number of minutes while a panel scores what was said and how it was said. Organisers reach for the name Speech rather than Elocution when the event is a talent test or a club festival rather than a school literary meet – the youth and Sunday School talent tests run by church communities in Kerala, and the kalotsavam programmes of Malayalee clubs in the Gulf, almost all list the item simply as Speech. The content is usually the speaker’s own; in church talent tests the topic is typically drawn from a published theme for the year, and in club and school festivals it is either announced in advance or drawn from a set on the day.
A Speech round is run from a call sheet. Each speaker is announced by chest number, walks to the microphone and speaks without a script. The templates on eTalenter that set a time limit all use five minutes, with a warning bell at four minutes in the church youth tests and at four and a half minutes in the adult tests, so the speaker knows how much of the close is left. The panel – usually three judges – scores each entrant on a rating out of ten in the church talent tests, or on a full mark sheet out of a hundred in the Gulf club festival, and the tabulation adds or averages the panel’s scores to place the entrants and assign grades.
What makes a strong entry is a speech built to be spoken rather than read: one clear message, two or three supporting points with a story or an example each, and an opening and close that the speaker can deliver even when nervous. Speech is judged across an unusually wide span of ages – from nine-year-olds in a club festival to a Super Senior group of forty-five to sixty in a church youth test – so the panel expects age-appropriate depth rather than a single standard, and the age groups are always scored separately.
Organisers keep Speech on the programme because it costs nothing to stage, moves quickly between entrants and gives every unit or church a way to enter someone who does not sing or dance. It also separates entrants cleanly: a speech that runs to the bell with a shape and a point stands out at once from one that drifts, so results rarely need an appeal.
Where Speech is run
Speech is run under that exact name by the youth and Sunday School talent tests of church communities in Kerala and among Malayalee church congregations elsewhere in India, by Malayalee club festivals in the Gulf, and by school arts festivals that want one open speaking item per age category. Across eTalenter’s own templates it appears in a generic school arts festival with three categories from four to sixteen, in a Bahrain club kalotsavam that runs it in English, Hindi and Malayalam for ages nine to seventeen, in church youth talent tests in India with age groups running from teenage up to a Super Senior band of forty-five to sixty, and in a Delhi state-level youth talent test from Junior to Super Senior. Wider school and festival circuits in India and the English-speaking world run the same competition under the names elocution, prepared speech or public speaking.
- India – Kerala (church youth and Sunday School talent tests, school arts festivals)
- India – Delhi and other states with Malayalee church congregations running youth talent tests
- Bahrain and the wider Gulf (Malayalee club kalotsavams, run in English, Hindi and Malayalam)
- School arts days anywhere that list one open speaking item per age category
Key facts
- Solo, individual entry in every template that carries it – one speaker, one score; boys and girls compete together in a single competition per age group.
- Judged on content and message, structure, language, delivery and voice, stage confidence and time discipline; a printable rubric and score sheet are in the linked speech judging guide.
- Five minutes is the standard limit in every template that sets one, with a warning bell at four minutes (youth tests) or four and a half minutes (adult tests).
- Scored either as a rating out of ten per judge (church talent tests, school festivals) or on a mark sheet out of a hundred (Gulf club festival), then combined across the panel.
- Language is normally open (“Any”); the Gulf club template runs Speech as three separate competitions in English, Hindi and Malayalam for each age group.
- Age span is the widest of any spoken item on the platform: from nine-year-olds in a club festival and Teenage groups in youth tests up to Super Senior bands of forty-five to sixty.
On eTalenter, Speech is filed under Literary, On Stage, Oral and typically scored with Marks, Rating out of 10. It appears in 7 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.
Across the templates that use it, Speech is most often entered as an Individual competition, typically scored out of 100, commonly time-limited to 5–10 minutes where a limit is set.
What judges look at in Speech
What a Speech panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:
- One message, clearly stated – the panel should be able to write the speech’s point in a sentence after thirty seconds; a speech that covers a theme from every angle without committing to a point scores in the middle.
- Relevance to the set topic or theme – in talent tests where the year’s theme is published, a polished speech that drifts off the theme loses the content marks outright.
- Shape – an opening that earns attention, a body of two or three developed points, and a close that returns to the opening; judges mark the transitions as much as the points.
- Voice and pace – projection to the back of the hall, deliberate pauses, and a pace that slows for the key lines rather than racing to fit the time.
- Presence and recovery – eye contact with the hall rather than the ceiling, still hands, and the composure to carry on after a lost line without an apology.
- Use of the bell – finishing between the warning bell and the final bell; a speech cut off mid-sentence or ending a full minute early is marked down under time discipline.
Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Speech under Scoring Setup, or start from the full elocution & speech judging criteria guide.
How to prepare for Speech
How entrants and their teachers usually get Speech right on the day:
- Start from the theme or topic, not from a quotation: write the one sentence you want the hall to remember, then build the two or three points that support it.
- Time the written draft aloud at speaking pace – a five-minute speech is roughly six hundred to seven hundred words, and most first drafts are twice that.
- Rehearse with a real bell or timer set to the warning minute so the close is practised as a response to the bell, not as a surprise.
- Speak it to a wall, then to a family member, then to a group; each audience change exposes a different weak line.
- In a multi-language event, enter the language you think in – a Malayalam speech delivered with feeling beats a translated English one delivered from memory.
- On the day, bring nothing to the microphone, check your chest number against the call sheet, and use the first speaker’s turn to learn where the judges sit and how loud the hall needs you to be.
Ready-made event templates that include Speech
Open any template to preview it in eTalenter and install it as a live, editable event.
| Template | Category | Score label | Competitions |
|---|---|---|---|
| BKS GCC Kalotsavam | Literary | Marks | 9 |
| CA Talent Test | Oral | Rating out of 10 | 3 |
| COG Talent Test | Oral | Rating out of 10 | 4 |
| OSSAE Sahapadya Malsaram | On Stage | Marks | 3 |
| PYPA Delhi State Talent Test | Oral | Rating out of 10 | 4 |
| School Arts Festival | On Stage | Rating out of 10 | 3 |
| Yuvakalasahithy UAE Kalotsavam | On Stage | Marks | 4 |
Frequently asked questions
Is Speech 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 Speech the same as Elocution?
In practice yes – both are a prepared solo talk on a topic, delivered without a script and judged on content and delivery, and the same judging guide covers both. The difference is who uses which name: church talent tests and club kalotsavams list the item as Speech, school literary meets and university youth festivals tend to call it Elocution. An event rarely runs both as separate items for the same age group.
How long is a Speech competition entry?
Five minutes in every eTalenter template that sets a limit, with a warning bell at four minutes in the youth talent tests and at four and a half minutes in the adult ones. Younger school categories are often given less; the exact limit per age group is in the event rules.
Is the topic given in advance or drawn on the day?
It depends on the event. Church youth and Sunday School talent tests normally publish a theme for the year and the speaker prepares within it; school festivals and club kalotsavams may announce a topic in advance or draw one from a set at the venue. A topic drawn with only a minute to prepare is usually run as the separate Extempore item rather than as Speech.
Is Speech run in more than one language?
Most talent tests leave the language open, so English and Malayalam speeches compete in the same round. A Gulf club festival on the platform runs it as three separate competitions – English, Hindi and Malayalam – in each age group, so entrants choose one language and are ranked only against speeches in that language.
Want the full judging picture? Read the full elocution & speech judging criteria guide, or browse every literary competition item.
Try Speech in eTalenter
See every ready-made template that runs Speech, and install one as a live event — age groups, rules and scoring included.
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