Frequently Asked Questions
Eligibility
Each prize is tied to an endowed fund which includes parameters for spending the money. Those guidelines set out who is eligible to compete. All currently enrolled Hamilton students are eligible for the McKinney prize. Seniors are eligible for the Clark prize. Students who have successfully completed the Genres of Oral Communication course are eligible for the Warren E. Wright prize.
You are eligible if you are in a Hamilton program (like Washington, D.C. or New York City), but you must be able to physically return to campus to compete in the final round.
To be eligible for the Clark Prize, you must be currently enrolled in classes. Unfortunately, if you graduated in December 2024, you are no longer eligible to compete. If you know you're planning to graduate in December 2025, you may compete for the Clark Prize. However, if your plans change and you end up on campus until June 2026, you may not compete for the Clark a second time next year.
Topics and Content
Students have chosen a wide variety of topics in the past. You can check out previous winners to get a sense of the types of topics used.
You will be introduced to the judges (whether in preliminary or final round) so unless it is a part of the content of the speech, you do not need to introduce yourself.
You are encouraged to use the resources of the Oral Communication Center. Consultants can help you develop a topic, organize information, or finesse your delivery. Questions about the competition should be directed to pubspeak@hamilton.edu.
Yes! Someone listening to your speech should understand the origin of your information. The Oral Communication Center has a tip sheet on citing sources in oral presentations.
We strongly discourage the use of a full script, but many successful speakers have used notes. There is no penalty for using notes, but speakers reading directly from a script are often less engaging and looking up at the audience is an important piece of your score.
You should prepare your entry for the preliminary round as though it will be your final round entry. You may make adjustments in between, but those adjustments should not significantly alter the argument being made or the character of the speech.
No. These prizes have historically been awarded based only on a person's speaking, with no presentation aids, costumes, or props.
Prizes
Each year, the prize amounts are set based on the endowment funds available. The following prize amounts will be awarded in 2025:
Clark: $2,400
Wright: $10,000
McKinney: one $1,250 prize for each class year
Winners are announced at the conclusion of final round and will receive their prize money via check (or direct deposit, if set up through the college) in the weeks following the competition. There are no restrictions on how you use the money.
Preliminary Round Recording
Recording the preliminary round entries allows us to be as flexible as possible with your time as you prepare. We can also be respectful of our judges’ time as we will know exactly how long it should take for them to view each prize’s entries. We want the same judges to evaluate within each prize to be as fair as possible.
Each recording session will have multiple people. You will serve as the audience for other competitors, even though you may be competing for different prizes.
All recordings should be done in the OCC for the sake of consistency in background and audio/video quality and ensuring a usable recording.
No. Each entry should be a single recording of the speech.
Only the judges will see the recordings.
If you get off to a rocky start, you can request one restart within the first minute. You may not come back to re-record, as we have a limited amount of times available and need to allow time for others to record.
Please plan ahead. If you search TracCloud and cannot find anything you're able to make, use the "Cannot find appointment" function in TracCloud to report it and include some times you can be available. We will be in touch regarding alternatives.
If you cannot make your original time, search for another time in TracCloud and book that before cancelling.
If you want to record in a single session, be sure to indicate that you want to record for more than one prize when booking a recording session. If you want to record in separate sessions, check one prize per each session. You may change which prize you'd like to do first.
Judging
The Public Speaking Competition is judged by Hamilton College faculty, staff, and alumni.
All penalties are applied in scoring tabulation. Preliminary round entries that break contest rules can be disqualified. In the preliminary round, slight variations in time (under or over) will only be considered if needed to determine who moves on. In the final round, there is a 5% penalty for being too far under or over time, which generally affects final results.
In the event of a tie, overall engagement and persuasiveness or informativeness (as appropriate for the prize) will be used to determine the winner.
No, scores are not cumulative. Final round judges do not know how a speech scored in the preliminary round.
Final Round
Typically, the final round takes place in the Chapel in early March. The 2025 final round will take place on Saturday, March 8, at 1 p.m. in the Chapel.
Finalists for all prizes will present in a pre-assigned order. After a brief break for tabulation, winners will be announced before we are done!
We generally have an open rehearsal on the Friday before the competition. This year, open rehearsal time will be from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. on Friday, March 7, in the Chapel. It can help nerves to practice in the environment where you will deliver the speech. Amy Gaffney, the OCC Director, is present at the Chapel during that time to answer questions or to provide feedback.
Generally, yes. You should prepare your preliminary round entry as though it will be your final round entry. You may make adjustments in between, but those adjustments should not significantly alter the argument being made or the character of the speech.
Yes! The final round is open to the general public. Additionally, we will livestream the final round on Zoom.
We plan for an in-person final round without masks, but we will adjust as appropriate based on College, CDC and government guidance. We have run the competition fully virtually and with modifications made for masking in the past; the competition will run as scheduled regardless of external factors.
Contact
Office / Department Name
Oral Communication Center
Contact Name
Amy Gaffney
Oral Communication Center Director
