Townhall Meeting Regarding Contests

Meeting facilitator: Daisy Wei, DTM

Objective: Provide context, gather info, and hear feedback from members on the regarding Online contests that D42 will hold each year.

Background information (received by Toastmasters International):

After careful consideration, the Board of Directors decided that, beginning with the 2024-2025 speech contest cycle, there will no longer be exceptions granted to the Speech Contest Rulebook to allow for online or hybrid contests. This means that all contests past the club level must be conducted fully in person and adhere to the Speech Contest Rulebook, 2. Eligibility, C.11, which currently states: 

Each contestant must be physically present to compete beyond the club level. Participation by audio, video, or other remote technology is not permitted beyond the club level. (Exceptions: participants in the International Speech Contest Region Quarterfinals and Video Speech Contest.) 

This will offer a more consistent experience for contestants, while supporting judges in clear, accurate, and unbiased judging. Additionally, District resources that may have been focused on hybrid contests can be allocated to building clubs and supporting club success.

To provide members with the option to practice competitive speaking in an online setting, a new contest type will be added. The Online Speech Contest will be a contest type similar to Evaluation, Humorous, Table Topics, and Tall Tales that can be selected by Districts. This contest type will be conducted fully online, will follow the rules of the International Speech Contest (insofar as practical), and will not proceed past the District level.