Warrior Invitational
2024 — Greer, SC/US
Expository
Event Description:
Expository speeches are the original compositions of the contestant. The expository speech is a speech to inform, not a performance. It should describe, clarify, illustrate or define an object, idea, concept or process. A fabricated topic/subject may not be used. No props or visual/audio aids are allowed. Items of dress put on or removed during the course of the performance are considered visual aids. The composition should be considered carefully for its rhetoric and diction. The use of appropriate figures of speech, similes and metaphors, balanced sentences, allusions, and other rhetorical devices to make the oration more effective should be noted especially.
Delivery should be judged for mastery of the usual mechanics of speech: poise, quality and use of voice, bodily expressiveness, and for the qualities of directness and sincerity which impress the oration upon the minds of the audience. No particular style of delivery is to be set up as the one correct style to which all contestants must conform. Rather, each contestant is to be judged upon the effectiveness of their delivery, free to choose or develop whatever style will best give the student that effectiveness with their particular exposition. While other events ask students to be persuaders, entertainers or analysts. Expository speaking asks students to be teachers first, sharing interesting information in a compelling and memorable way. The judge should ask themselves at the end of the speech, “What did I actually learn?” Students entered in original oratory and/or informative speaking may not use any portion of their other speeches in their expository speeches.
Movement: Allowed. Memorized; no script.
Time limit: 5 minutes, with a 30 second grace period. Presentations that exceed the grace period may not receive first place in the round. Any other penalty is at the judge’s discretion.