Final Round

Congratulations on making it to the final round of the GW Annual Chinese Speech Contest! Please be sure to also review the scoring, schedule, and Improvised Speech Topics Bank prior to the event to better prepare yourself. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact ccasglobal@gwu.edu.

RSVP

2021 Prepared Speech Topics

Each Contestant will choose from 1 of the 4 topics offered for their Prepared Speech.

For Students who have visited Nanjing and/or Jiangsu:

南京印象
江苏印象

For Students who have not visited Nanjing and/or Jiangsu:

南京想象
江苏想象

2021 Improv Speech Topics

Please download the 2021 Improvised Speech Topics Bank (PDF). Each Contestant will draw 1 of the 10 topics for their Improv Speech on the day of the competition, with 5 minutes preparation time.

General Rules

Subject to change due to the virtual transition of the 2021 competition.

Contestant Order

Each Contestant will be notified of their contestant order by the day of the competition. The Contestant Order is randomly generated.

Check-in's in Breakout Rooms

Contestants' 1st Check-in at 8:00 a.m. (EST)

Contestants will complete the following in the Breakout Room before returning to the Main Session to watch Opening Remarks:

Rename their Zoom name to reflect their Contestant Order and Full Name (ex: If Jane Doe is the first to present, she would rename herself as “1. Jane Doe” on Zoom)
Mark attendance in Admin's Roll Call
Draw the 1st Judge Number, which corresponds to which Judge will ask their Prepared Speech Follow-up Question
Test audio and video

Contestants' 2nd Check-in at 10:20 a.m. (EST)

Contestants will be moved back to the Breakout Room by Admin during Short Break I and complete the following before returning to the Main Session to present their Improv Speech:

Mark attendance in Admin's Roll Call
Show Admin a 360 degree view of their surroundings to serve as a proctor test, 6 minutes prior to their presentation
Draw their Improv Question, 5 minutes prior to their presentation
Draw their 2nd Judge Number, which corresponds to which Judge will ask their Improv Speech Follow-up Question, 5 minutes prior to their presentation
Test audio and video

Speeches in Main Session

Prepared Speech Round + 1 Follow-up Question

Each Contestant will deliver a Prepared Speech based on 1 of the 4 topics, then answer 1 follow up question from the first Judge they randomly drew during Contestants' 1st Check-in.

A total time of 4 minutes is allotted for the Prepared Speech and Follow-up Question's Answer, in which whatever time remains unused after a Contestant's Prepared Speech will be used for their Follow-up Question's Answer.

Improvised Speech Round + 1 Follow-up Question

Each Contestant will deliver an Improvised Speech from 1 of 10 topics. Drawing the topic will occur on the day of competition during the Contestants' 2nd Check-in, with 5 minutes of preparation time. He/she will answer 1 follow up question from the second Judge they randomly drew during the Contestants' 2nd Check-in.

A total time of 4 minutes is allotted for the Improv Speech and Follow-up Question's Answer, in which whatever time remains unused after a Contestant's Improv Speech will be used for their Follow-up Question's Answer.

Timekeeping

The Admin will signal the Contestant when he/she can begin their speech and start the timer within each competition round. The timer will be paused once the speech is finished for the Judge to ask their question, and will be resumed once the Contestant begins answering the Follow-up Question. When the total 4 minutes is up, the Admin will signal the contestant to stop immediately.

The Contestant is expected to start answering the question immediately once the timer starts and end their speech immediately when the timer stops. Any speeches or answers performed after the timer will not be counted into scoring.

A reminder for "1 min speech time remaining" will appear in the Zoom Chat.

Scoring

Judges will turn on their Video to display their scores after each presentation. It is recommended Contestants familiarize themselves with the scoring rubric prior to the competition.

Group Photo

All contestants and Judges will stay at the end of the competition to take a group Zoom photo.

Things to Know

(Subject to change)

Once a Contestant has finished, he/she may stay in the Main Session to watch the rest of the competition. The contestant is not allowed to contact with those who have yet to present.
All participants must mute their audio unless they are the presenting Contestant.
All chats will be recorded to review for cheating behavior. Contestants are prohibited from corresponding with anyone throughout the competition. Failure to adhere to this rule will result in disqualification on the grounds of cheating.
More information regarding awards will be shared after the competition.