60 My District has different rules for the various speech contests. Is this permitted? (Toastmasters International)
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This article is from the Toastmasters International FAQ, by Joel Furr DTM jfurr@danger.com with numerous contributions by others.
60 My District has different rules for the various speech contests. Is this permitted? (Toastmasters International)
This situation came up recently in District 37 (North Carolina).
A club was told that the official District rules for the Humorous
Speech Contest mandated similar eligibility requirements for the
Humorous contest as for the International Speech contest, to wit,
all contestants had to have been members on or before July 1 of the
current year, and had to have given at least four (I.S. requires six)
manual speeches. According to the District officers involved,
these were the official rules for all Humorous Speech contests held
in North Carolina, and even though the official rules mailed to
all clubs by Toastmasters International mandated that the only
eligibility requirement be membership in good standing in a club
in good standing, the District 37 rules applied nonetheless.
The club President in question checked with TI WHQ and was told
in no uncertain terms that any District which holds speech contests
must use the official Toastmasters International rules and that
Districts are not permitted to change the rules as published by
Toastmasters International in any way.
This policy of course doesn't apply to contests the District has
invented on its own, but for the Big 5 (International, Humorous,
Table Topics, Tall Tales, and Evaluation), if your District has
changed the time limits, eligibility requirements, or policy
regarding originality (one District supposedly waived the origi-
nality requirement for the Tall Tales contest), they're in the
wrong. If they don't believe this to be the case, ask them to
contact Toastmasters International World Headquarters themselves.
They'll be swiftly corrected.
Why is this important, by the way? Simple: the only official
rules most clubs get for the contests are the ones TI themselves
mail out. It would be tremendously discouraging to be belatedly
told that the rules your club had used for the contest you won
were not the official rules as practiced in YOUR District, and
thus, you can't compete at the next level. In many cases, 'Offi-
cial District Rules' are known only by those who have a dog-eared
photocopy that's five years old (as was the case in District 37).
That's wrong. If your District has changed the rules, tell them
they can't, and if they say "Sure we can," let TI World HQ know.
Contests are fun, but it's important to run them the same way
everywhere around the world. Fairness and a level playing field
aren't just luxuries. They're required.
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