Presentations should be scripted word for word. The oratory may pose a problem and offer a solution. It may also serve to alert the audience to a threatening situation, strengthen devotion to a cause, or eulogize a person. Humor and satire are allowed. This speech may also be used to inform, describe, clarify, illustrate or define an object, idea, concept, or process.
Contestants enter the room one at a time and receive three slips of paper from the judge.
Each slip of paper contains a topic in the form of a quotation or one-word abstraction. The contestant must choose one topic on which to speak and return the others to the judge. The speaker is given two minutes to prepare a five-minute speech. Prep time begins when the speaker receives the three topics. One 3x5 card is allowed during the speech, however during prep time the student is allowed to access any information brought to the tournament, e.g. notes, magazine articles, newspaper, etc.