Scheduling and how the Festival works
Welcome!
We’re really excited to welcome you to the first year of the International Oratory Festival, an online celebration of speech and drama … Do you love words? Do you like to meet new people from around the world? Do you like to think differently? If you do, you’ve come to the right place!
You can enter the following categories, or use our multibuy discounts to enter several categories across an age group.
Enter as an individual
Individual entrants can enter our categories online and pay by credit card.
Schools and groups
Schools or clubs can book a session for a whole class starting from £90. We can fit a group of up to 15 into a one hour session depending on age. All participants in each session need to be entering the same category, but they can be spread across different age groups. We’ll arrange a time and date to suit you. If you are interested, please email entries@oratoryfestival.com.
A festival for everyone
Oratory can be great whatever your background, accent or nationality. At the International Oratory Festival, we welcome participants from all around the globe on equal terms! We also welcome neurodiverse candidates and students with additional needs; special considerations will be applied where appropriate and you can let us know what adjustments we might need to make when you enter online.
Scheduling
From mid-March, we will begin to carefully schedule entrants into sessions, which will take place on Zoom during our festival week, from Tuesday 17 to Friday 27 May 2022. We’ll make sure your session is scheduled at a sensible time for where you are in the world. Check the email you registered from and if you haven’t heard from us by 30 April, drop us a line at entries@oratoryfestival.com.
Prepare to speak
In March 2022, we’ll be launching some great resources to help you prepare for your category. You’ll find them online here on our website.
There’ll be tips about using language, speaking with clarity and impact, and what the judges will be looking for in each category.
We’ll also give you some ideas about how you can have fun preparing your oratory with friends or family members.
There might also be a few slots available to enter some extra categories, if you’re really keen!
On the day
On the day, you’ll be welcomed to our Zoom by your friendly judge. You can be joined by up to two audience members*. During the session, you’ll deliver your oratory, and you’ll also hear other people speak**. The judges will then give useful and positive spoken feedback.
Prizes and certificates
Each session will have its own winner and the overall category will have gold, silver and bronze awards. We’ll also award our Jubilee Trophy for the ‘Best in Festival’.
At the end of the festival, we’ll let you know the overall winners, and send you written feedback to help you grow as an orator. You will also receive a beautiful digital certificate, to recognise your achivement.
* You should be the only person on your screen. But we’ll also provide you with a second link for your audience members.
** You will not necessarily see every candidate in your category as there may be multiple sessions.