Three Minutes!? Three whole minutes?? How can I speak for a full 3 minutes on a short notice topic?
"What can I say? ". "How can I find something worthwhile in such a short time?". "How do I start, or finish, or fill in the middle bit?"

If these questions have bothered you as a student, or your students if you are a teacher, this guide should help.

It outlines in a straight forward manner a few approaches that can get a short notice speech off the ground, land it again, and take the audience to a destination of the speaker's choice all within 3 minutes.The biggest worry will now become "do I only have three short minutes?".

The Short Guide to Short Notice Speaking provides an uncomplicated approach to finding something to say in a way that is not rocket science.

Standard adjudication sheet used by the Rostrum Voice of Youth adjudicators

This background advice was prepared for South Australian competitors to assist contestants and teachers to know what is looked for in a speech.  The document was written in response to a student actual query.

Compiled by Freeman Bill Smith, this book gives a history of Rostrum in Queensland from 1937 to 2020.  This edition was updated in March 2021.

These notes are guidelines only.  The guidelines discuss how you should approach the competition.  They were prepared by the 2012 National Coordinator, Mrs Jenny Fraser to help you to get started.

These NOTES ON SPEAKING by FREEMAN STAN RALPH with additions by Speaker Pat Bourke were prepared for Rostrum Voice of Youth competitors and were updated in March 2012.   

This document contains advice on planning, writing and delivering a speech. It is a more detailed version of the Brief Tips document

This is a complete record of all zone and national winners of the Rostrum Voice of Youth competition since 1975.  The zone and national coordinators are listed also

(Note to site administrators: the Excel spreadsheet from which this document is derived is on the Rostrum website and is accessible via DocMan).

Prepared in 2012, these brief tips may give you some ideas for your preparation and delivery.