Public Speaking
Document | PESA Resource
About ACT PESA
The Plain English Speaking Award (PESA) supports and encourages senior school students to develop effective and confident thinking and speaking skills. PESA is a great opportunity for students to deeply investigate an aspect of the world that they really care about and then express and share that interest with an audience.
The competition has two sections: a prepared speech of 8 minutes and an impromptu speech of 3 minutes (after three minutes preparation). The presentations are divided in this way to give speakers a chance to fully develop, structure and refine an idea through their prepared speech, and then, with the impromptu, to respond more naturally through off-the-cuff engagement with a stimulus.
Speakers take part in the local competition, delivering both prepared and impromptu speeches, with one student progressing to represent the ACT in the national final.
Overview
Public speaking is an ancient and renowned practice. At its best it can engage, inform and inspire an audience.
The ancient Greeks devised an evaluative framework for formal speech that is still relevant and valuable today. Known as ‘The Modes of Persuasion’ or ‘The Rhetorical Triangle’, this framework consists of three elements: Ethos, Pathos and Logos.
These elements, and the balance between them, are effective tools for anyone
writing or judging a speech. ACT PESA believes that they remain the underpinning principles for best practice in effective formal communication and provide a universally accessible judging framework.
What are Ethos, Pathos and Logos?
Ethos — personal authenticity Pathos — emotional vitality Logos — intellectual credibility
The ethos of a speech is revealed in the genuineness and natural integrity of the speaker’s engagement with their material—that it matters to them rather than only adopting a stance because it seems topical, popular, important or profound. It is also reflected in the authenticity and naturalness of their delivery.
The pathos of a speech is revealed through the imagination and inventiveness of the speaker’s interpretation of their material—that they care enough to re-envision it in ways that vitally engage an audience. It can also be seen in the persuasiveness and emotional resonance of their stance.
The logos of a speech is revealed by the coherence and reasonableness of the speaker’s ideas and their relevance to their material—that they take care to build a rational case to inform, entertain and persuade their audience. It is also shown in the structural coherence and effectiveness of the linkage between the various aspects of the speech.
In Practice
It is important to understand that these elements are not ‘scored’ by PESA adjudicators but, rather, that a speech is evaluated as a whole through the lens of these elements.
For example, a speech that is personal and authentic (high in Ethos) might lack perceptiveness about the world (low in Logos), and thus would not be judged as effective under the combination of these metrics. Equally so, a speech that is highly performative and somewhat insightful (Pathos and Logos) might come across as contrived or fake if delivered in a disingenuous fashion.
Therefore, the most important focus of a speech in ACT PESA is to embrace the core spirit of the task with authenticity and perceptiveness, rather than offer a contrived or superficial presentation.
Fundamental to the interplay of the elements of an effective speech is a clear understanding that the content of a speech is more important than its presentation.
While the way you speak needs to be clear and expressive, the authenticity of your speech is more about your connection with your material than it is about your delivery; the emotional power of your speech is more about the vitality of your interpretation of your material than it is about your speaking style; and the effectiveness of the ideas in your speech is more about the case you build for them than the way you project them verbally.
Guidelines and rules for ACT PESA
Speakers must deliver both a prepared speech and an impromptu speech in order to be eligible for progression to the next round.
Both speeches have equal value (or weight) for the PESA judging panel.
Speakers must adhere to the given time-limit for their speeches:
Prepared—8 minutes (with a single bell at 6 minutes, two bells at 8 minutes and a continuous bell at 9 minutes).
Impromptu—3 minutes (with a single bell at 2 minutes, two bells at 3 minutes and a continuous bell at 4 minutes)Note that speakers are expected to finish at or just beyond the official speaking time, and reaching the continuous bell is considered poor timing. Any material delivered by the speaker after the continuous bell will be disregarded by the adjudication panel. There is no ‘penalty’ for timing errors but, rather, a speech that runs over time will be seen as self-penalising through a lack of internal organisation.
Any student in Year 9 to 12 who is currently enrolled at an ACT school is eligible to enter PESA
A maximum of one student will be selected by the adjudication panel to represent the ACT at the PESA National Final (generally held online in late September). A runner up or reserve speaker will also be selected if the panel deems it appropriate.
All decisions by the adjudication panel are final.