About the Competition

Organiser

The Regional NET Coordinating Team (RNCT), Native-speaking English Teacher (NET) Section, Curriculum Support Division (CSD), Education Bureau.

Aims

The Time to Talk Public Speaking Competition is an inclusive competition that aims to engage students of all ability levels to:

• learn public speaking techniques to hone their presentation skills;
• experiment with the use of English to develop confidence in front of an audience;
• develop research, collaboration and IT skills to improve their communication skills; and

• develop positive values and attitudes in the course of preparing for participation in the competition.

Design of the Time to Talk Competition

Time to Talk is open to students from public-sector primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong. Students will work in a team or teams of 2 – 4 to deliver a public speech in English of 3 – 5 minutes, supported by the use of IT.

The competition comprises two rounds for both the Primary and Secondary Divisions, with Round 1 being conducted at the school level and Round 2 being the inter-school final, which will be held face-to-face.

• Round 1 of the competition can be conducted for internal selection purposes or to engage more students in speaking tasks within schools. This round is designed for schools to engage as many students as possible in public speaking. It can be school-based or it may be inter-school on a small scale (e.g., involving nearby schools, schools from the same school-sponsoring body). It is the school’s decision how they wish to conduct Round 1. It can be on a small or larger scale.  Small individual trophies will be made available to student teams (2-4) who gain 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd or a merit place in Round 1.  These are, however, limited and will be given to schools on a first-come first-served basis.  If COVID-19 restrictions are in place, then it is possible to still conduct Round 1 in an online setting.
• Round 2 is the finals. This will be a face-to-face Competition. This will be judged at a location yet to be confirmed in April - May for both Primary and Secondary students. Students would perform live and be judged by a team of 2-3 adjudicators. Primary schools can enter one team. Secondary schools may enter up to two teams.
• In case of oversubscription, schools will be entered on a first come, first served basis.
• The contingency plan, should regulations become stricter, is that we would revert to an online format and all students should submit a pre-recorded entry rather than hold the face-to-face competition.

Note: If face-to-face classes are suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Time to Talk Public Speaking Competition will be conducted in a different format, depending on the restrictions on social gathering at the time, and the same prizes will be awarded. If small gatherings are allowed, students may be able to perform as a small group in front of the judges with no other audience at a location deemed appropriate. If gatherings are heavily restricted, video recording submission may be considered. In case of any change in the format of the competition in response to the COVID-19 situation, the revised Conditions and Regulations document will be sent out at least 1 month in advance to ensure sufficient time for preparation. Only schools which have entered the competition will be eligible to compete in the revamped competition.