Emerging Speaker Of The Year Competition

This competition for Associate Members of the PSA is an ideal way for emerging speakers to show off their speaking skills in front of their peers. To enter, please read these guidelines carefully and if this is the right competition for you (and you qualify), please click on the entry form at the bottom of this page.

Entry Criteria

The contest is only open to fully paid-up associate members who have attended at least two regional PSA events (any region) as a member, before (but not including) the regional heat.

• Applications open 1st December and the deadline for final entries will depend on each region at the discretion of that Regional President.
• Contestants may only compete once, and only in their chosen region, where they have attended their qualifying event.
• Contestants may compete only once but at any point while an associate (i.e., they do not have to compete in their first year of associate membership), but
  may not compete once they are professional members.
• Contestants must be able to attend the Semi-Final, which takes place the day before Impact! and then attend Impact! itself. If they think they may be unable to attend for any reason, then they cannot enter a regional heat.

Talk Requirements

• Each contestant should speak for exactly 5 minutes.
• Slides may not be used, but props are allowed.
• The talk must be entirely the contestant’s own work (mentions of others work must be referenced).
• Each contestant should provide an introduction of no more than 40 words. This is to include their name, their area of expertise and the title of the talk. Their region and the target audience will be in addition to this read by the MC on the day.
• Regional final winners must give the same talk in the national semi-final and final as they gave in the regional heat.

Entry Procedures

• To enter, individuals will need to inform their Regional President and then complete the entry form on the PSA website (at the bottom of this page).
• The Regional President will send contestants’ details to the Speaking Competitions Coordinator (SCC) who will check that each individual qualifies
  to enter the competition.
• Once an individual has agreed to enter the regional heat they must attend, only exceptional circumstances such as ill health or bereavement will be
  accepted for failure to attend the heats. If they do not attend their heat, they cannot enter any subsequent ESY contest (at the discretion of the SCC).

Dates

• Applications to enter will be accepted from 1st December for the following spring.
• Regions will run their ESY regional finals between January and four weeks before Impact! beginning of March.
• The semi-final and final take place at Impact held in April each year.

Competition Timing

• Each contestant should speak for exactly 5 minutes. If speakers go over by 15 seconds, or are more than 30 seconds under, the contestant will not be eligible for the next round, or if it is the final they will be disqualified.
• These rules will be made very clear at the beginning of each stage of the competition so judges, contestants and the audience are all aware.
• A timer will be visible to all contestants at every stage of the competition. All timings will also be recorded by separate and dedicated timekeeper.
• Timing starts from the contestant’s first word and ends on the last word of their talk. Long pauses at the beginning of talks are not permitted.
• In the unlikely event of all contestants overrunning, the contestant(s) with the shortest overrun should be selected to go forward to the next stage.

Judging Criteria

The judges will look for overall quality of the presentation. They will judge the entrants on six criteria, weighted as indicated:

• Engagement – how well the contestant engaged with the audience (10%),
• Originality – how innovative the contestant’s topic, delivery and style is (10%),
• Stagecraft – how well the contestant used the stage and props (20%),
• Script – how well the presentation was constructed and worded (20%),
• Delivery – how well the contestant delivered the talk, including vocal
  performance and body language (20%),
• Bookability – is the contestant likely to be booked and paid for their talk? (20%),
• The ‘bookability’ of a speech is defined as being something the intended market would pay for, as discerned by the judges at the event.

Judges

• The judging panel at all stages of the competition will consist of the head judge and two other judges. No judge at the regional finals may judge another region, semi final or the final.
• At the regional heats, the head judge should be a fellow and the other two judges may be fellows or very experienced professional members.
• The semi-final and final will be judged by the same judges and will be appointed by the SCC in association with the PSA UK & Ireland President and
  Director of Regions. These judges will be selected before any of the regional finals which these judges should not attend.

Announcement of Winners

• At the regional heats, the winner will be announced by the head judge at a point in the event’s proceedings decided by the Regional President.
• At the semi-final, three winners will be announced as soon as is practicable after the semi-final has concluded. The three winners will move on
  to take part in the final, the following day.
• In the final, the winner will be announced later in the day.

Runners Up

• In each of the regional heats, the judges will also decide upon a runner-up, (this may be announced to the room at the discretion of the Regional
  President). This individual will be able to enter the semi-final in the event that due to exceptional circumstances, the regional winner is unable to
  attend.

Prizes

• The prize for winning a regional heat is a place in the semi-final.
• Contestants in the semi-final will each receive a certificate indicating their participation.
• The winner of the ESY competition will receive a framed certificate indicating they are that year’s winner and a trophy. In addition, they will receive publicity for their win via the PSA website and email system. They may also indicate they are the ‘PSA Emerging Speaker of the Year’ in their own
  promotional materials.
• The winner also gets a guaranteed 15 minute speaking slot on the main stage at the following year’s Impact.

Feedback

• In the regional heats, general feedback will be provided by the lead judge at the end of the contest, but before the winner is announced. Detailed and specific feedback will not be provided, although the head judge may outline why the winning speech won, highlighting elements that other speakers could learn from.
• Contestants should not contact the judges after the event for more specific feedback.
• At the semi-final, no feedback will be provided.

Hosting

• The regional heats will normally be hosted by the Regional President, Vice President or someone else at the RP’s discretion, who will act as master of
  ceremonies and ensure timekeeping. The semi-final and finals will be hosted by the Speaking Competitions Coordinator (SCC).

Click here to enter