Rules

Sponsorship

Lions Clubs agree to extend to the participating school and students their fullest cooperation. Individual clubs also agree to provide for the requirements and welfare of any student whom they may be sponsoring when that student appears in a zone, regional, district or area contest. They are further to lend every assistance to the student when he or she appears in connection with the Student Speakers Contest. Payment of expenses of parents, coaches or other guests are at the sponsoring club's discretion.

Purpose of the Contest

	To provide an opportunity for competitive public speaking among students on a subject of vital interest to the contestants and to the American people as a whole;
	To stimulate self-expression and independent thinking;
	To present to the public through the student speakers the problems surrounding the maintenance of this commonwealth as a free nation;
	To consider the means at our disposal of meeting the present and future world problems

Time Limitations

Students enter the contest shall prepare a talk TO BE AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE TO, BUT NOT OVER TEN MINUTES, NOR LESS THAN FIVE MINUTES DELIVERY TIME.

Entrants

The contest is open to students, including foreign exchange students, grades 9 to 12, of any high school or junior high school, charter school, private school or home school.

Winners of previous Multiple District Four final contests are not eligible. Eligible students shall be considered those of the above grades and under the age of twenty-one as of February 21 each year. Contestants must no have completed grade 12 prior to the termination of the spring semester of the year and must be attending school when the competition is held.

Only one winner shall be certified to the next succeeding contest. Students should be reminded of their obligation to complete the contests. Scheduling conflicts are the student's responsibility to resolve.

Awards

Awards must conform to the policy set by the Council of Governors of Multiple District Four. This provide for an orderly relationship in the amount of the award at the various contest levels.

Paid by Lions checks:

Club contests - The club shall present $50.00 to the winner and $25.00 to each finalist.

Zone contests - The district shall present $75.00 to the winner only.

Region contests - The district shall present $125.00 to the winner only.

Paid by the Lions 4th District Student Speakers Foundation, Inc:

District contests - The sixteen winners shall each receive a $4,000.00 scholarship.

Area contests - The four winners shall each receive a $6,500.00 scholarship.

Final contest - The winner of the Multiple District Four contest shall receive a $10,000.00 scholarship.

The scholarship awards are to any accredited two or four year college or university or to any other school approved by the Lions 4th District Student Speakers Foundation, Inc.

The winners shall be allowed seven years from the date of high school graduation to utilize their scholarships. The winner shall receive 33 1/3% upon enrollment and 33 1/3% at the beginning of each succeeding enrolled quarter. For the semester system, the winner shall receive 50% on enrollment and 50% at the beginning of the succeeding enrolled semester. Scholarship payments may be extended over a longer period of time if it meets the recipient's needs.

If any winners do not utilize any portion of the scholarship within the seven year period, the money shall revert to the Lions 4th District Student Speakers Foundation, Inc.

A certificate of scholarship provided by the Lions 4th District Student Speakers Foundation, Inc. shall be presented to the winning speakers of the district, area and Multiple District Four final contest.

The high school of the student winning the Multiple District Four final contest shall receive an appropriate plaque provided by the Foundation. Said plaque shall be presented to the high school by the Area Student Speakers Chairman.

Awards furnished at the club, zone, regional, district, area and final contest shall be restricted to those approved by the Council of Governors of Multiple District Four. THERE SHALL BE NO EXCEPTIONS. ANY VIOLATION OF ADDITIONAL AWARDS WILL RESULT IN DISQUALIFICATION OF A CONTESTANT.

Multiple District Four provides certificates of appreciation for judges and contestants at all levels and for coaches at the club level only.

Club Contests

The President of each participating Lions club shall appoint an experienced Lion of the club as the club contest chairman. It shall be the duty of the chairman to contact all eligible schools and Leo Clubs, other organizations and individuals in the community early enough to allow ample time for student preparation prior to the club contest. An appointment should be made with school representatives to discuss the details of the contest. The poster should be displayed in a prominent location in the school. Handbooks should be given to the coaches and teachers. Periodically, the chairman should contact the school representatives to check on the progress of the contest. No student shall participate in more than one club contest during the contest year.

Where MORE THAN ONE such school exists in a community, speakers from such schools shall compete for first place in a contest sponsored by a Lions club in the community. No Lions club may hold more than one club contest in any given year. The winning speaker will represent the club in the zone contest.

If a question arises as to the sponsorship of various schools by neighboring Lions clubs, the District Student Speaker Chairman, with the consent of the District Governor, shall allocate the sponsorship.

Well in advance, a date for the actual club contest should be set and a site for the contest should be chosen. The size of the room should be adequate for the anticipated audience. The room must be capable of being closed during the contest. The room should be reasonably quiet when closed. If a meal will be served before of after the contest, arrangements should be made to pay for contestants, coaches, judges and other guests.

Contest Dates

Each contest must be held separately and completed by the following dates regardless of the number of contestants competing:

Club Contest by February 20, 2006
Zone by March 13, 2006
Region by April 10, 2006
District by May 1, 2006
Area by May 22, 2006
MD-4 Final on June 3, 2006

District, Area, and MD-4 contest dates must be set and announced by the club level contest. Failure to complete the contests by the above dates shall disqualify the winners thereof from further competition that year.

The Zone Chairmen, Region Chairmen, and District Student Speakers Chairmen shall BE RESPONSIBLE FOR their respective contests and for the selection of qualified judges. Where a Governor chooses not to appoint Region Chairmen for his/her year, the region level contests will be conducted by Lions appointed by the Governor for that specific purpose.

Each of the Zone, Region, District and Area Chairmen, by entering representatives in further competition, will be affirming that these candidates completed their preliminary contests not later than the dates set forth above.

No contest dates once announced shall be changed unless all contestants are given a week's notice.

Notification of Winners

Club, Zone, Region and District level Chairmen should fill out the required information about their contest winner on the postcard provided and mail to the next level chairman upon completion of the contest.

Zone, Region, District and Area Chairmen give information about their own contest to their prior level chairman two weeks before the prior level contests take place by filling out and mailing a form letter which will be given to the winner of the prior level contest by that chairman. In addition, once the teller's worksheet is received listing the winner, a photocopy of the form letter must be mailed to the contest winner.

Area Level Contests

All AREA CONTESTANTS must hand-deliver a signed printed hard copy with references sited, including name, address, telephone, and sponsoring club and high school, to the Area Chairman at the time the speaking order is selected at the area contest.

The presiding chairmen will be the Multiple District Four Student Speaker Committee Members of the respective areas. The Chairman shall be responsible for the selection of qualified judges.

These contests must be completed prior to the Multiple District Four final contest. At the conclusion of the area contests there will be four speakers eligible to enter the Multiple District Four contest. The following districts will constitute areas:

District 4-C1 District 4-C5 District 4-A1 District 4-N	Area 1
District 4-C2 District 4-C3 District 4-C4 District 4-C6	Area 2
District 4-A2 District 4-A3 District 4-L1 District 4-L3	Area 3
District 4-L2 District 4-L4 District 4-L5 District 4-L6	Area 4

Multiple District Four Final Contest

The 2004-05 Multiple District Four final contest will be held in Brea, CA on Saturday, June 4, 2005. The winning speakers at each of the area contests of California and Nevada shall be entitled to appear at the final contest if all rules have been complied with.

Area winners will receive travel, hotel and meal expenses for the MD-4 final contest. Travel will be based upon mileage by the most direct route and reimbursed at twenty-six cents (.26) per mile round trip. The maximum allowed will be fifty dollars ($50.00) for one night's lodging at a hotel, and sixteen dollars ($16.00) per day for meals. It will be the responsibility of the MD-4 area chairperson to advise the student of the date and place of the final contest. All bills shall be submitted to the MD-4 office within thirty (30) days following the contest.

Multiple District Four positively will not pay any of the expenses of relatives, chaperones, or coaches of the contestants.

JUDGING

School Contests

One or more members of the school faculty may determine the winners of all school elimination contests.

All Lions Contests

At the club, zone and region level, it is recommended that at least three qualified individuals who are not Lions, and have had speech training or experience in public speaking should be selected as judges by the chairman of the respective contests. It is recommended that judges for a given contest, if possible, be from different professions or fields of endeavor and represent each geographical location involved. At the district, area and final contest, five judges should be used.

The chairman of each contest, his/her designee, will meet with all judges to explain rules and scoring procedures prior to the contest. At least one alternate judge should be selected and available in all contests.

When there are five or more speakers (three speakers are recommended for club contests, but shall be limited to no more than six), and in the area and final contests, it is recommended that a committee of five judges should be selected.

NO LION, LIONESS OR SPOUSE shall be permitted to judge at any level.

No member of any competing high school faculty shall be selected as a judge. NO PERSON SHALL JUDGE THE SAME CONTESTANT IN ANY LIONS STUDENT SPEAKERS CONTEST MORE THAN ONCE DURING THE SAME CONTEST YEAR.

Only one winner shall be certified to the next succeeding contest. Students should be reminded of their obligation to complete the contests.

Extreme care should be exercised in judge selection to avoid a judge and contestant knowing each other. In the case of area contests, every effort should be made to select judges from each participating district. At the final contest, every effort should be made to obtain at least one judge from each of the four areas.

THE JUDGES MUST NOT CONFER DURING OR AFTER THE CONTESTANT SPEECHES BEFORE SUBMITTING THEIR WORKSHEETS TO THE TELLERS. THE ABOVE APPLIES TO ALE CONTESTS.

All scoring by the judges should be whole numbers - not fractions.

Speech Evaluation Standards

The judges will have in mind the following factors as they listen to each of the speeches. Points indicated are maximum scores.

1. THE TEXT ALONE (Thought content) Did the speaker present important ideas?
a. Originality.	10 points
b. Did the speech adhere to the subject title?	10 points
c. Quality of material.	20 points
2. DELIVERY ALONE Did the speaker give a formal public speech?
a. Emphasis, voice control.	10 points
b. Enunciation, pronunciation.	10 points
c. Sincerity, enthusiasm, poise.	10 points
3. EFFECTIVENESS OF THE EFFORT AS A WHOLE.
a. Was the speech a well rounded, cohesive effort?	10 points
b. Did it have logic and organization?	10 points
c. Was the speaker persuasive?	10 points

MEETING AGENDA

Call to Order - start on time.

Pledge of Allegiance, song and invocation or other desired opening ceremonies, by club president.

Introductory Remarks - Brief outline of the objects and history of the contest. Announce subject title of current contest. State the purpose of the contest:

	To provide an opportunity for competitive public speaking among students on a subject of vital interest to the contestants and to the American people as a whole;
	To stimulate self-expression and independent thinking;
	To present to the public through the student speakers the problems surrounding the maintenance of this country as a free nation;
	To consider the means at our disposal of meeting the present and future world problems.

Contest Rules - MUST BE READ AS PRINTED

No one may enter or leave the room while a contestant is speaking. (Call upon guards to man the doors.)
No smoking, food or beverages during the contest, except intermissions.
Do not applaud the speakers until after the judge's worksheets have been collected.
Each speaker is allowed ten minutes, but no warning signals shall be given.
There will be a three minute intermission between speakers. There shall be no conferring with judges during the contest.
No photography, video or audio taping will be allowed during the contest.
All noise emitting electronic devices such as phones, beepers, etc. should be turned off until the contest is completed.
Any protest relative to the contest must be made to the chairman before the winner is announced.

Call speakers only by number in order. If only one speaker is present, he/she must still speak and be judged.

Introduce speakers and judges only after the tellers have collected all worksheets and have retired from the room.

Announce the winner first and present the award.

Announce the date, time and place of the next contest.

Publicize the Lions 4th District Student Speakers Foundation.

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

Just prior to the contest, the student speakers must draw numbers to determine the order of speaking. Also, the chairman should obtain the names, schools, sponsoring Lions clubs, coaches, etc. for each speaker to use in his introductions to be made after the contest.

Contestants and judges must not be introduced by name until after the contest is complete and the judges' worksheets collected. Contestants should be designated by numbers indicating the order of speaking only.

MICROPHONE AND SPEAKERS STAND MUST BE AVAILABLE FOR USE AT OPTION OF THE SPEAKER.

CLOCKS IN CONTEST ROOM MUST RE REMOVED OR COVERED.

WATCHES MAY NOT BE WORN OR USED BY CONTESTANTS DURING THE CONTEST.

JUDGES AND CONTESTANTS SHOULD NOT ENGAGE IN CONVERSATION PRIOR TO THE CONTEST.

Worksheets from the contest must be considered and kept confidential.

No penalty shall be assessed in the event the competitor does not address the chair, or give the topic title.

Students must present speeches in person at all levels.

THE FOLLOWING ARE CAUSES FOR DISQUALIFICATION:

USE OR DISPLAY OF PROPS OF ANY NATURE.
UNIFORMS OR ANY METHOD OF PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION.
FAILURE TO GIVE REFERENCE SOURCE OF QUOTED MATERIAL IN MANUSCRIPT SUBMITTED AT AREA LEVEL.
USE OF NOTES ABOVE CLUB LEVEL IN EXCESS OF ONE 3x5 CARD.
USE OF PROMPTERS.
PUBLICATION OF SPEECH, EXCEPT FOR VERY BRIEF QUOTATIONS, IN ANY MEDIA PRIOR TO COMPLETION OF THE FINAL CONTEST.
ACCEPTANCE OF AWARDS OTHER THAN THOSE APPROVED BY THE COUNCIL OF GOVERNORS OF MD-4.
PARTICIPATION IN MORE THAN ONE LIONS CLUB CONTEST DURING THE CONTEST YEAR.

Violation of these rules must result in disqualification of the speaker by the chairman, whose decision shall be final. Any protest relative to the contest must be made to the chairman before the winner is announced.

Instructions to Timers

In all contests, three people serving as timekeepers shall submit to the tellers, in writing on OFFICIAL TIMER'S WORKSHEET, the time used by each contestant recorded in minutes and seconds. Stopwatches are recommended for use by the timers at all contest levels.

Timing shall start when the speaker first speaks -not at the conclusion of the salutation to the chair and the audience.

There shall be no warning signal given to contestants by the timekeepers or others.

Instructions to Tellers

There shall be at least two tellers at all contests. The duties of the tellers are to collect the Timer's Worksheets and Judge's Worksheets, and to tally the judges' scores.

In all competitions a penalty of 2% for each judge's score shall be imposed for each minute or fraction thereof by which the speaker's talk is less than 5 minutes or more than 10 minutes. After deducting any percentage penalties on timing, the tellers shall designate the places earned by the various speakers on each judge's worksheet, such as 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. using OFFICIAL TELLER'S WORKSHEET.

When this has been done, the tellers will add the total number of first places for each speaker, and the one who has earned the majority of first places shall be declared the winner. If no speaker has a majority (over one-half) of first places, the tellers will then total the places earned and the contestant with the lowest total of places earned will be declared the winner.

In the event they are also tied with the same total of places earned, the tie shall be settled by adding the scores of the tied speakers, and the one with the highest total of such scores, after deducting time penalties, shall be declared the winner of the contest.

In the event they also tied with the same percentage scores, the tie shall be settled by using the timers sheet and awarding the contest to the speaker who comes closest to, without going over, the maximum 10 minute limit. That person shall therefore be declared the winner of the contest.

The contest Chairperson shall review and verify the teller's worksheets before announcing the results.

Under no circumstances should anyone but the winner be announced. All students not winning should always be considered finalists.

Certificates

One type of certificate will be used for presentation to judges and contestants at all levels and to coaches at the club level only.

It is recommended that certificates be typed or professionally printed and placed in Lions presentation folders in advance of the contest.

After judging has been completed indicate the level of the contest and "winner" or "finalist" on the line in the lower right hand corner of the contestant's certificate.

Ten certificates are included in all packets. If additional certificates are required, please call the MD-4 office.

After the Contest

(Check when completed.)

__ 1. Make sure the Teller's Worksheet is completed in its entirety including the name of you club, zone, region or district, whichever is appropriate.

__ 2. Send the Teller's Worksheet, Judge's Worksheets and contest winner postcard to the chairman of the next level contest.

__ 3. Zone, Region, District and Area Chairs upon receipt of the above material send a photocopy of the form letter of congratulations to the contest winner.

__ 4. At least two weeks before the prior level contest send the original form letter of congratulations to your prior level chair. In the letter give the date, time place and reservation requirements. Example: A club contest is scheduled for February 15. The Zone Chair sends the form letter to that Club Chair by February 1 to be given to the winner of that club contest.

__ 5. The scores given by the judges for an INDIVIDUAL STUDENT may be given to that student or the student's speech coach. Do not identify the judges or disclose the scores for other students.

__ 6. All winners of club contests shall receive a Student Speakers Handbook prior to the Zone contest.