This morning I was invited to judge the junior high school English speech contest at
Hsi-chi
Elementary School. There were 12 contestants from different schools in Chi-hsing District. They all had the same pictures to tell a story about for 2 to 3 minutes. All of the contestants tried their very best and some of them were quite impressive. The following are some tips I’d like to give after listening to their speech.
I. Content:
1. Think about/Tell the logical relationships between the characters and between the pictures. Besides what, who, where, when, think/talk more about how and why.
2. Give the characters names–easy names.
3. Do not use too much role play. It’s easy for both the speaker and the listeners to get lost.
4. Let imagination fly, but not too far.
5. Add a touch of humor.
6. A strong conclusion would definitely be a plus.
II. Language
1. Project your voice well. Have some variation in your tone.
2. Be consistent in the tense.
3. Be careful about your grammar. This is a contest, not a daily conversation. Pay attention to the third singular verb, the use of the adjective and the adverb, the verb in make/let + O + V, etc.
4. Use the right words. For example, two students said “tomorrow” instead of “the next day.” This should be avoided.
III. Manners
1. Make eye contact! This is very very important. Do not appear to talk to yourself.
2. Use appropriate gestures or body language.
3. Be or appear to be confident.
4. Smile when greeting the judges and the fellow contestants.