Legacy Junior Public Speaking
The Legacy Junior Public Speaking Award (LJPSA) is a national competition conducted through Australian secondary schools and colleges for students aged 12 to 14 years. The competition began in Melbourne in 1988 and commenced as a national competition in 1995.
Approximately 1500 students participate in this event across Australia. It spans approximately 6 months as it involves several elimination rounds to get to the finals – including regional finals, state semi finals and then State finals where the winner and runner up are put forward for the National finals in November.
Legacy conducts the annual LJPSA which is a competition to enhance the oral communication and public speaking skills of 12 to14-year-old students and to help young people appreciate the ideals of Legacy: voluntary service, caring and comradeship and the need for remembrance. Competitors must be aged between 12 and 14 years on 1 January of the year of the competition.
The format for the competition at all levels consists of:
- A prepared speech of five minutes duration on a topic of the competitor’s choice, within the subject criteria.
- An impromptu speech of two minutes duration on a topic chosen by the organisers, for which each competitor will have five minutes preparation time.
The competition is concerned with the competitor’s effective use of language to convey a message or a point of view to an interested audience. Choice of words, intonation, articulation, pace and pausing are all important in conveying the message in a speech.
PREPARED SPEECH CRITERIA
The prepared speech is to be of five minutes duration, on a topic of the competitor’s choosing on any subject relating to the ideals of voluntary service, social justice, caring, personal effort, personal sacrifice and/or mateship.
The speech should have substance which, in the space of time available, should be developed logically to a convincing conclusion.
Judges will be looking for knowledge of the subject matter, sincerity in the presentation of material, skilful development of the theme and the effective use of plain English. Originality is encouraged.
A warning bell will be given after four minutes then at five minutes.
IMPROMPTU SPEECH CRITERIA
The impromptu speech is to be of two minutes duration with five minutes preparation time.
The topic chosen will be broad in nature, capable of a variety of interpretations to suit the experience and background of 12 to 14-year-olds. The same topic is given to each competitor.
The speech is intended to reveal a competitor’s ability to develop a point of view on a general topic and to organise a presentation within limited preparation time.
Judges will be looking for clarity of thought, logical organisation, sincerity and the effective use of plain English.
A warning bell will be given after one and a half minutes, then at two minutes.
GUIDELINES AND RULES
The guidelines and rules of the competition, including the full judging criteria, can be accessed here:
The national guidelines for the LJPSA can be found here:
General information and an overview of the Award can be found here: