Oratorical Scholarship ContestOBJECTIVES
COMPETITION LEVELS The American Legion Oratorical Contest consists of a series of competitive levels. They are:
ELIGIBILITY The American Legion State Oratorical Contest is open to any student who is enrolled in classes equivalent to the regular 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th grades. All students must be under twenty (20) years of age. All students must be enrolled in an Indiana high school during any and all levels of participation in this contest. All contestants must be a citizen of or lawful permanent resident of the United States. Students may only enter one District, Zone and State competition. The student must compete in the District in which his/her sponsoring Post is located. CERTIFICATION
If a school wishes to enter a contestant in The American Legion State Oratorical Contest, school officials must fill out and sign the “Certification of High School Representative” form. Click below. CONDUCT OF CONTEST
At any level of oratorical competition within the state of Indiana, the contest is under the supervision of a contest chairman, who has the responsibility of seeing that the contest is held in accordance with The American Legion State and National oratorical rules. At any level of oratorical competition in the interest of fairness, the contestants are never allowed to hear the other contestants’ orations. The contestants deliver their oration one at a time while the other contestants are being held in a sound proof or isolated room away from the contest stage. So that a speaker may know the length of the oration while it is being delivered, timekeepers will hold up cards during the prepared oration after 8, 9, and 10 minutes have elapsed. During the assigned topic portion, cards will be held up after 3, 4, and 5 minutes have elapsed. RULES
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A Constitutional Speech Contest
Participants in the American Legion Oratorical Contest develop leadership qualities, the ability to think and speak clearly and intelligently, and are better prepared for the acceptance of the duties and responsibilities, for the rights and privileges of American citizenship. A single main speech topic related the United States Constitution will be required with a length of 8 to 10 minutes, as well as an "Assigned Topic" that must consume 3 to 5 minutes of presenter's delivery. Posts sponsor contestants to compete against their peers and move up to their respective Districts. Those that win at the district level go on to compete at the Zone level. There are five zones across Indiana. (See maps below) Zone winners compete at the Department level and the Department winner will earn the opportunity to represent Indiana at the National level of competition. SCHOLARSHIPS
ASSIGNED TOPICS FOR 2021 ORATORICAL CONTEST
JUDGING
The judging of a contestant in any level of oratorical competition will be done by a panel of selected judges, to be no less than three, who are selected from fields of public speaking, education, law, media, and other degree'd professionals. The contestants are judged in a number of areas related to an oration, such as logic, knowledge of the subject matter, voice, style, diction, etc. Department Programs Coordinator Butch Miller 317-630-1391 FAX: 317-237-9891 bmiller@indianalegion.org programs@indianalegion.org Zone & District Maps |
HoursMonday - Friday
8:30 am - 4:30 pm |
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