The results are in, and the victors in the 2nd Mini-Webinar contest at Online Presenters are:
#1 Carol Prahinski
#2 Norman Dowe
#3 Viviana Widjaja
In the same sense that an International Speech Contest speech is a kind of mini-keynote, these contest speeches are a compact version of an educational or sales webinar, including engagement with the audience in the form of answering questions submitted by text chat. Each speaker had 6-8 minutes for the total presentation, including Q&A.
See also How to Hold a Mini-Webinar Contest. This is an unofficial Toastmasters contest format aimed at testing specific skills that are relevant to online presentations.
Here is the winning presentation, “Negotiation Tactics” by Carol Prahinski (who also won our first event of this type in April)
The Mini-Webinar Contest is an unofficial Toastmasters contest format developed by Online Presenters to test the skills required to host a webinar or deliver an online presentation. See the replay of our first contest and stay tuned for the next one. Other clubs that meet online, or allow online participation, may wish to adopt or modify this format.
If you think of the International Speech Contest as being a competition for who can deliver the best keynote in a compressed, 7-minute format, the mini-webinar contest is the equivalent for an online presentation where part of the speaker’s challenge is to address audience questions and close with some sort of “call to action.”
Announcement of the winners at Online Presenters’ first mini-webinar contest.
How the Contest Is Organized
Speech Format: Speakers will be allowed 6-8 minutes. It is up to the speaker to decide how much of that time to spend responding to audience questions, but they will get points for audience engagement. Time spent on Q&A is included within the 6-8 minute time limit. Making a presentation plus Q&A work within this time is very challenging, but that’s what makes it a contest.
Contestants who speak for less than 5 minutes, 30 seconds, or more than 8 minutes, 30 seconds, will be disqualified.
Optional rule: The Timer should interrupt any speaker who goes past 9 minutes to keep the event as a whole on time. This is contrary to the standard rule that no signal should be given if a contestant is disqualified for time, but it may be necessary given that online speakers sometimes run over time for technical reasons such as losing track of the webcam image from the timer.
Everyone other than the speaker will be muted during the presentation, so questions will be submitted via the chat feature. If you are not competing, be sure to come ready to be a good audience with lively questions for our contestants.
A member is appointed to monitor the chat feed, and speakers have the option of asking the chat monitor to assist by relaying questions to them. Contestants are responsible for letting the chat monitor know whether they want assistance and, if so, whether to interrupt with questions during their presentation or save them until the end.
Speeches for this contest should also include some sort of call to action, whether it’s a sales pitch or an appeal to take some sort of political or moral or personal development action.
Voting Procedure
Consider using the online voting and vote counting app we developed for this contest, which is available as an independent tool (contest.toastmost.org) or as part of the WordPress for Toastmasters system. It’s important to have backup methods available in case the technology should fail, so make sure judges can contact the Chief Judge by email, phone, and other methods.
Speech Development is the way the speaker puts ideas together so the audience can understand them. The speech is structured around a purpose, and this structure must include an opening, body and conclusion. A good speech immediately engages the audience’s attention and then moves forward toward a significant conclusion. This development of the speech structure is supported by relevant examples and illustrations, facts and figures, delivered with such smoothness that they blend into the framework of the speech to present the audience with a unified whole.
Audience Engagement is a score for how well the speaker responded to questions submitted via the chat. This includes how well the speaker managed the time management challenge of delivering their core presentation and still allowing time for questions, as well as the quality of the responses.
Speech Value justifies the act of speaking. The speaker has a responsibility to say something meaningful and original to the audience. The listeners should feel the speaker has made a contribution to their thinking. The ideas should be important ones, although this does not preclude a humorous presentation of them.
Call to Action is a clear statement of what the presenter wants the audience to do following the presentation – buy a product, vote in an election, or change their life in some way. How clear was the desired outcome?
Visual Presentation includes all the elements conveyed through video, including body language and the use of slides or other content shared onscreen.
Voice is the sound that carries the message. It should be flexible, moving from one pitch level to another for emphasis, and should have a variety of rate and volume. A good voice can be clearly heard and the words easily understood.
Manner is the indirect revelation of the speaker’s real self as the speech is delivered. The speaker should speak with enthusiasm and assurance, showing interest in the audience and confidence in their reactions.
Combined in our scoring are: Appropriateness of language refers to the choice of words that relate to the speech purpose and to the particular audience hearing the speech. Language should promote clear understanding of thoughts and should fit the occasion precisely. Correctness of language ensures that attention will be directed toward what the speaker says, not how it is said. Proper use of grammar and correct pronunciation will show that the speaker is the master of the words being used.
Congratulations to Carol Prahinski, winner of the first Mini-Webinar Contest at Online Presenters Toastmasters.
The top ranked webinar speakers were:
#1 Carol Prahinski
#2 Jim Barber
#3 Norman Dowe
This was a tough challenge, trying to pack a miniaturized webinar including Q&A into 6-8 minutes, but we tried to make it a great learning experience. While this is not an official Toastmasters contest format, other online clubs might want to give it a try (see details about the rules and scoring formula we used).
For a replay of the full event, including feedback from celebrity guest judges Roger Courville, Sheryl Roush, and Nick Cavalancia, see the video below:
Online Presenters Toastmasters will hold a mini-webinar contest on April 16 at 7:30 pm EDT, and guests are welcome to register to attend.
This is not an official Toastmasters contest format (at least not yet) but rather an attempt to craft a contest specifically for the online medium. Scoring is based loosely on the International Speech Contest, but with additional points awarded for delivering a clear call to action and fielding audience questions submitted via chat — as in a professional webinar. We’ve also tweaked the scoring categories to accommodatie the different visual presentation in an online meeting.
Celebrity Judges
To add some “Dancing with the Stars” pizzaz, we have recruited 3 celebrity judges — professional speakers and webinar organizes who will be on hand to give our contestants feedback on their performances.
Roger Courville is an expert on online presentations who led one of our first workshop sessions
Sheryl Roush, a well known professional speaker (and coach to speakers) who also honored us with a workshop
Nick Cavalancia, Founder / Chief Techvangelist at Techvangelism, has delivered more than 1,000 webinars in his work as a technology marketer.
About Online Presenters
The Online Presenters club mission is to develop skills for better webinars and online events of all sorts. The club meets Mondays at 7:30 pm US Eastern time, with the first half hour reserved for informal meet-and-greet (plus technical troubleshooting) and the formal one-hour meeting starting at 8 pm. Guests are always welcome.
Speech Format: Speakers will be allowed 6-8 minutes. It’s up to the speaker to decide how much of that time to respond to audience questions, but they will get points for audience engagement.
Everyone other than the speaker will be muted during the presentation, so questions will be submitted via the chat feature. If you are not competing, be sure to come ready to be a good audience with lively questions for our contestants.
A member will be appointed to monitor the chat feed, and speakers have the option of asking the chat monitor to assist by relaying questions to them. Contestants are responsible for letting the chat monitor know whether you want assistance and, if so, whether to interrupt with questions during their presentation or save them until the end.
Speeches for this contest should also include some sort of call to action, whether it’s a sales pitch or an appeal to take some sort of political or moral or personal development action.
Webinar Contest Scoring
Max score
Speech Development
15
Audience Engagement
15
Speech Value
15
Call to Action
15
Visual
15
Voice
10
Manner
5
Appropriateness/Correctness
10
Total Possible Score
100
Speech Development is the way the speaker puts ideas together so the audience can understand them. The speech is structured around a purpose, and this structure must include an opening, body and conclusion. A good speech immediately engages the audience’s attention and then moves forward toward a significant conclusion. This development of the speech structure is supported by relevant examples and illustrations, facts and figures, delivered with such smoothness that they blend into the framework of the speech to present the audience with a unified whole.
Audience Engagement is a score for how well the speaker responded to questions submitted via the chat. This includes how well the speaker managed the time management challenge of delivering their core presentation and still allowing time for questions, as well as the quality of the responses.
Speech Value justifies the act of speaking. The speaker has a responsibility to say something meaningful and original to the audience. The listeners should feel the speaker has made a contribution to their thinking. The ideas should be important ones, although this does not preclude a humorous presentation of them.
Call to Action is a clear statement of what the presenter wants the audience to do following the presentation – buy a product, vote in an election, or change their life in some way. How clear was the desired outcome?
Visual Presentation includes all the elements conveyed through video, including body language and the use of slides or other content shared onscreen.
Voice is the sound that carries the message. It should be flexible, moving from one pitch level to another for emphasis, and should have a variety of rate and volume. A good voice can be clearly heard and the words easily understood.
Manner is the indirect revelation of the speaker’s real self as the speech is delivered. The speaker should speak with enthusiasm and assurance, showing interest in the audience and confidence in their reactions.
Combined in our scoring are: Appropriateness of language refers to the choice of words that relate to the speech purpose and to the particular audience hearing the speech. Language should promote clear understanding of thoughts and should fit the occasion precisely. Correctness of language ensures that attention will be directed toward what the speaker says, not how it is said. Proper use of grammar and correct pronunciation will show that the speaker is the master of the words being used.
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