Toastmasters District 3

One of the special pleasures of growing as a public speaker is the opportunity to receive applause and recognition through a speech contest. District 3 has designed this page to tell you about speech contests in Arizona, so you can inform yourself about the nature of the speech contest challenges.

Contests progress from club, to area, to division, up to the district level. District 3 holds contests at its top tier events at the fall and spring conferences, where Toastmasters from around the state compete. In addition, the winners of the International Speech Contest in the spring speak competitively at the regional contest, usually held in another U.S. state in Region 3. 

On your contest date, the best way to enjoy the event is to arrive early, acquaint yourself with the room layout, and meet the chief judge and contest chairperson. Arrive on time for your briefing. You might want to walk around the staging area and learn where the timing lights will operate. If the room is new to you, think about projecting your voice to the last row of the audience. These little preparation tips can give you a slight edge as you compete – so relax after you arrive. Learn about your environment before the Toastmaster introduces you. 

You are responsible for letting the Toastmaster or Contest Chair know if you need the use of the lectern for your speech. If you are planning to display props, or if your speech needs early set up, coordinate this with the contest leaders during your briefing time. It is often possible to set up during the minute before the Toastmaster introduces you. Our timers will start timing your speech with the first communication to the audience, so take advantage of the help by the contest functionaries. 

We recommend that you review the judge’s forms before you arrive at the contest. Click here to go to the judge’s forms. It can be helpful to understand the judge’s guidelines and instructions.  

Your judges will not share their scores with you. You will receive no other feedback from the contest other than your standing as a winner. Please bring your own evaluator if you would like to learn about your performance in the contest. We tell District 3 judges that their votes remain confidential. In fact, most of our judges will remain anonymous to you. 

If the chief judge disqualifies you or one of your challengers based on time, the contest chair will announce this to the audience before the winners are announced. The disqualified Toastmaster will not be announced by name. 

You should not serve as a judge for another event if you are a competitor anywhere in the district.  You should not give test speeches for the Evaluation Speech Contest either.