Wondering how to improve your public speaking for competitions? Whether you are getting ready for an elocution item at a school kalolsavam, an oratory contest at a college fest, or a speech round at a church talent test, the skills that win are the same — and they are all trainable. This guide is a practical, no-nonsense plan for students, parents and coaches: what judges actually reward, the drills that build confidence, and how to walk onto the stage ready. You do not need to be a “natural” speaker. You need a method and a few weeks of honest practice.
Know what the judges are looking for first
You cannot improve what you cannot measure. Almost every speech and elocution competition is scored on the same handful of things, so learn them before you write a single line:
- Content & matter — is the speech relevant to the topic, well-structured (a clear opening, body and close) and does it say something worth hearing?
- Delivery & presentation — voice projection, pace, pauses, eye contact and stage presence.
- Language & pronunciation — correct grammar, good vocabulary and clean pronunciation in your chosen language.
- Voice modulation & expression — variation in tone and emotion that keeps the audience listening.
- Confidence & time management — composure, conviction, and finishing within the time limit.
If you know your event uses a rubric like this (see our full breakdown of speech competition judging criteria), you can literally practise toward the marks — spend more time on the areas worth the most points, and never lose easy marks on time or pronunciation.
Build the speech: structure beats memorising
Strong speakers do not memorise every word — they memorise a skeleton and speak around it. A reliable structure for any competition speech:
- A hook — open with a question, a short story, a startling fact or a single strong line. Never start with “Respected judges, today I am going to talk about…” That wastes your best 10 seconds.
- Two or three clear points — not ten. Each point gets one example or story so it sticks.
- A close that echoes the hook — return to your opening image or question and land a final line the judges remember.
Write it out fully once, then reduce it to a bullet skeleton. Practise from the bullets, not the script — this is what stops you sounding robotic and saves you if nerves make you skip a line. For an extempore (topic drawn on the spot), practise the skeleton itself: hook, two points, close, in the two or three minutes of prep time you are given.
Practise your delivery, out loud, on your feet
Reading silently is not practice. The drills below build the delivery and modulation marks that separate a good speaker from a placeholder:
- Record and rewatch. Film yourself on a phone. You will instantly spot filler words (“um,” “like,” “you know”), a rushed pace, and where your face goes flat. Nothing improves a speaker faster.
- Mark the pauses. On your skeleton, draw a slash where you will deliberately pause. A two-second silence after a key line feels enormous to you and powerful to the audience.
- Vary your voice. Practise the same paragraph loud then soft, fast then slow. Monotone loses the modulation marks; contrast wins them.
- Fix pronunciation early. List every word you stumble on and drill it. Mispronouncing your own key terms costs language marks and dents your credibility.
- Rehearse standing up, eyes up. Pick three spots at the back of the room and move your eye contact between them. Practising to a wall builds the habit of looking down.
Manage the clock — it is free marks
Time is where competitors throw away points they never needed to lose. Contests set a limit per age group — often around 2 minutes for juniors and 3–4 minutes for seniors — with a warning bell and a final bell, and many deduct marks for overrunning. Time every practice run. If you are consistently over, cut a point rather than speeding up; a rushed speech loses far more on delivery than a shorter, calm one. Aim to finish a comfortable five to ten seconds inside the limit.
Beat the nerves on the day
Stage fear is normal even for experienced speakers — the goal is to manage it, not erase it. A few things that genuinely help: breathe slowly for a minute before you are called (a long exhale settles a racing heart), walk to your spot without rushing, plant your feet and take one full breath before your first word. If you lose your place, pause — a confident silence reads as control, not a mistake. And remember the judges want you to do well; they are scoring your effort against a rubric, not hunting for failures. For younger children, a parent or teacher rehearsing in front of a small friendly “audience” at home takes most of the fear out before the real day.
Where to put these skills to the test
Improvement comes from actually competing. Speech and elocution items appear in almost every arts event — school kalolsavams, college festivals, youth and Sunday-school talent tests, and Gulf club kalotsavams — usually split by age group and language so you are judged fairly against your peers. If you organise or coach for one of these, eTalenter runs the whole event online: registration and entries, chest numbers, independent judge scoring against your rubric, instant tabulation and published results with certificates. It means competitors get fast, transparent feedback — exactly what you need to improve for the next one. Explore how a full arts event runs on our kalolsavam management software.
Frequently asked questions
How can I stop being nervous during a speech competition?
Preparation removes most nerves — practise out loud on your feet until the structure is automatic. On the day, breathe slowly before you are called, pause before your first word, and if you lose your place, pause calmly rather than rushing. Nerves shrink with every event you enter, so compete often.
Should I memorise my speech word for word?
No. Memorise a skeleton — your hook, two or three points and your close — and speak around it. Word-for-word memorising sounds robotic and falls apart the moment you skip a line. A skeleton keeps you natural and lets you recover smoothly.
How do I practise for an extempore or on-the-spot topic?
Practise the framework, not fixed content. Take a random topic, give yourself the same two to three minutes of prep the contest allows, and build a quick hook–two points–close skeleton. Do this daily with different topics and the format becomes second nature.
Organising a speech or arts competition? Run registration, judging and results in one place — see the judging and tabulation platform, WhatsApp us, or email support@etalenter.com.
