This competition is an ideal way for Professional Members of the PSA 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
- This competition is open to Professional Members of the PSA only (Fellows, Board Members, and RPs are not permitted to apply)
- The contest is only open to those who have been a fully paid-up Professional member by the 1 st of May of the competition year. They also need to have attended at least two regional PSA events as a member in the previous 12 months, up to but not including, the regional heat
- Contestants may enter in as many years as they like but priority will be given by RPs to those who have not entered before. If they have entered ESY (including Speaker Factor) or PSY in previous years, the talk must be a new one
- Contestants may not enter other PSA competitions (including ESY) in the same year
- Contestants may only compete in one region each year
- Contestants must be able to attend the Speaking Business Summit that year; if they think they may be unable to attend for any reason, they should not enter
- The talk must not have been delivered to a PSA Audience before
Talk Requirements
- Each contestant should speak for exactly 8 minutes with an allowance 15 seconds. If speakers go over 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
- The talk must be entirely the contestant’s own work (mentions of others work must be referenced).
- PowerPoint and props may be used but are entirely optional. However, judging criteria will be applied regarding the sending in of slides by a set date, both regionally and for the semi-finals (to their RP for the regional heats and the SCC for the semi-finals)
- Each contestant should provide an introduction of no more than 50 words. (The writing and communication of this is also part of the professionalism criteria). The introduction should include the title of the talk and their name but not their region and target audience (which should be supplied at the same time as their introduction)
- Regional heat winners must give the same talk in the semi-finals and finals as they gave in the regional heats
Entry Procedures
- To enter, individuals will need to inform their Regional President and then complete the entry form on the PSA website
- The Regional President will liaise with head office to ensure each individual qualifies to enter the competition
- Once an individual has agreed to enter the regional heat they must attend, only exceptional circumstances will be accepted for failure to attend the heats
Dates
- Regions will normally run their PSY regional heats in June and July
- The semi-finals and finals take place at Speaking Business Summit in October each year
Competition Timing
- The semi-finals will take place on Friday morning of summit
There will only be 3 finalists on the main stage on the Saturday afternoon - Each contestant should speak for exactly 8 minutes with an allowance 15 seconds over or 30 under. If this is exceeded 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
- 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
- The judging panel at all stages of the competition will consist of the head judge and two other judges.
- No judge at the regional heats may judge another region or the national semi-final or final
- At the regional heats all judges should be fellows – if this is not possible a very experienced professional member can be on the panel subject to agreement with the SCC.
- If possible, the third judge should be a speaker booker – but this isn’t a requirement.
- One of the judges at PSY semi-finals and finals at SBS will be a speaker booker and one international judge.
- Judges are selected by National President (Board members may not be judges at Semi Finals and Finals). These judges will be selected before any of the regional finals which these judges should not attend
The MC will provide the judges with professionalism & audience engagement scores only at the end of the judges’ deliberations. Like all scores these are to be kept confidential. The judges have the final say on the winner.
Professionalism – Did the contestant ensure all materials, introductions, slide deck etc delivered in a timely manner. This is scored by the MC (5%)
Engagement – how well the contestant engaged with the audience. This will be judged by the audience (using Mentimeter – or manual method in the regions if they prefer) after each contestant (10%)
The judges will look for overall quality of the presentation. They will judge the entrants on 5 criteria, weighted as indicated:
- Originality – 10% – How innovative the contestant’s topic, delivery and style is
- Stagecraft – 15% – How well the contestant used the stage and props
- Script – 15% – How well the presentation was constructed and worded
- Delivery – 15% – How well the contestant delivered the talk, including vocal performance and body language
- Bookability – 30% Is the contestant likely to be booked and paid for their talk? The ‘bookability’ of a speech is defined as being something the intended market would pay for, as discerned by the judges at the event
Announcement of Winners
- At the regional finals, the winner will be announced by the head judge at a point in the event’s proceedings decided by the Regional President.
- In each of the regional finals, the judges will also decide upon a runner-up. This individual will be able to enter the national semi-final in the event, that due to exceptional circumstances, the regional winner is unable to attend
- At the semi-finals, three winners will be announced as soon as is practicable after the semi-finals have concluded. The three winners will move on to take part in the finals, the following day
- In the finals, the winner will be announced at the gala evening awards
Prizes
- The prize for winning a regional heat is a place in the semi-finals
- Contestants in the semi-finals will each receive a certificate indicating their participation
- The winner of the competition receives a framed certificate. They will receive publicity for their win via the PSA website and emails. They may also indicate they are the ‘PSA Professional Speaker of the Year’ in their own promotional materials. The winner also gets a guaranteed speaking slot of 20 minutes on the main stage at the following year’s Summit.
Feedback
- In the regional finals, 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 for more specific feedback
- At the semi-finals, no feedback will be provided