Tournament Requirements

Students must author a 1500 word extemporaneous speech and submit it to the tournament review committee over the tournament website by March 19, 2008. The Top 24 speeches will be chosen and those students will be invited to participate in the speech presentation competition on Saturday, March 29, 2008.

The scope of this year's tournament is "Finding peaceful, diplomatic solutions in areas torn by religious, political and societal strife.

The Review Process

The Curtis Memorial Oratorical Tournament Review Committee is charged with choosing the top 24 speeches (the Quarterfinalists) that have been submitted. The Committee will consists of the Tournament Administrator and two (2) faculty selected by the tournament administrator in corroboration with the tournament founder. Speech review criteria will include: depth of scholarly inquiry, grammar and sentence construction, properly formatted bibliography or works cited page and style and clarity in writing.The Quarterfinalists will then be invited to compete in the Oratorical Tournament.