410.1 REQUIRED WORK.

1. Each competitor will be required to deliver an oration of not less than 5 nor more than 8 minutes duration. At least 75% of the oration, by volume, must be original. Each competitor must supply the judges with three double-spaced, typewritten copies of his oration. The oration must be delivered from memory (one page of outline-type notes or up to five 3 x 5 cards may be used without penalty).

410.2 JUDGING.

1. Three judges shall be assigned to this competition and the scoring shall be determined by averaging the independent tallies of the judges. The judges may not confer on the scoring until after all competitors have competed and all scores are in.
2. Judging shall be predicated upon the following eight categories:

1. Voice
2. Physical appearance
3. Speech structure
4. Development
5. Language
6. Manner
7. Speech value
8. Effectiveness

3. Judges can penalize 9, 13, 17, 21 or 25 penalties in each of these categories.
4. It is presumed that each competitor begins with 1,000 points and judges score:

1. Excellent 1,000
2. Very Good 800
3. Good 600
4. Fair 400
5. Poor 200

410.3 SPECIFICS.

1. See General Rules, Section 1.
2. The topic for each year's oration will come from the Seven Precepts of the Initiatory Degree. The First Precept will be used with the 1995 Conclave, the Second Precept for the 1996 Conclave, etc. The 2002 Conclave will begin the cycle again with the First Precept.
3. Competitor will submit three copies of his oration to the Director of Competitions prior to 3:30 p.m. on the first day of Conclave.
4. The time standards and a minimum score of 700 must be met to be eligible to win the competition.