A large group speaks one prepared piece of writing together as an ensemble, and is judged on the writing, the clarity of the combined voice and how convincingly the whole cast moves as one.
Large group spoken word is choral performance poetry on a bigger scale: a sizeable team delivers one piece of writing aloud, with no singing and no scripted acting, and the audience hears it as a single arranged work. Where a small group can pass lines person to person, a large cast has to think in sections. Some lines belong to the whole cast, some to a few voices, and a handful to one speaker who steps out of the mass for a moment.
A round depends on stagecraft as much as speech. The cast files on, settles into a formation (rows, a block, a curve or a split into two sides), waits for a shared cue and begins. Because the voices are many, the panel listens for whether they land on the same consonant at the same instant, whether the volume rises and falls together and whether the shape of the piece, with its build, its quiet passage and its ending, comes through the crowd. A ragged start or a half-second of drift is audible in a way it never is with three people.
On eTalenter the item is carried by three talent templates: a United States junior drama division (a junior group aged 7 to 12, a four-minute limit, marked out of 5), an international teen talent template (ages 13 to 19, no time limit printed, scored as a rating with a maximum of 5) and a Jamaican talent showcase (a youth class aged 13 to 40, no time limit printed, marked out of 100). In all three it is a team item in English, open to both genders, and the templates do not print where a large group begins, so organisers should publish a minimum cast size.
Organisers run it because it lets a whole class, youth group or club take the stage together, it needs no equipment and the judging is quick. It is a separate class from the solo and small group spoken word items, so a big cast is never marked against a lone speaker or a trio.
Where Large Group Spoken Word is run
On eTalenter this item is carried by three talent templates: a United States junior drama division, an international teen talent template and a Jamaican talent showcase. Choral speaking and group verse have a long history in school and youth speech festivals in several English-speaking countries, but this page records only the templates that carry the item, so organisers elsewhere should check their own notice for cast size, time limit and judging headings.
- United States
- Jamaica
- Worldwide
Key facts
- Team item: a large cast, one piece, one shared score
- Three templates carry it: a junior group (7-12), teens (13-19) and a Jamaican youth class (13-40)
- Only the junior template prints a time limit: four minutes
- Marked out of 5 in the junior template, rated out of 5 in the teen template and marked out of 100 in the Jamaican one
- English language, open to both genders in all three templates
- No template prints the size at which a group counts as large, so the organiser's notice decides it
On eTalenter, Large Group Spoken Word is filed under Drama and typically scored with Marks, Rating out of 10. It appears in 3 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.
Across the templates that use it, Large Group Spoken Word is most often entered as an Team competition, typically scored out of 5, commonly time-limited to around 4 minutes where a limit is set.
What judges look at in Large Group Spoken Word
What a Large Group Spoken Word panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:
- Unison and precision: starts, stops and shared words landing together across the whole cast, with no stragglers on the opening line
- The arrangement: a sensible split between full-cast lines, sub-groups and single voices so the piece has light and shade rather than one block of sound
- Volume and projection: a cast that can swell for the climax and drop to a hush while every word still carries to the back of the hall
- Clarity of words: consonants and word endings that survive the crowd, so the audience follows the text and not just the noise
- The writing: one clear idea with a build, a turn and an ending, long enough to use the cast but not padded to fill the time
- Staging and discipline: a tidy entrance, a formation that suits the piece, steady focus and a clean exit, with no one fidgeting, laughing or drifting out of line
- Time discipline: a finish inside the limit where one is set, without rushing the final section
Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Large Group Spoken Word under Scoring Setup, or start from the full recitation and poetry judging criteria guide.
How to prepare for Large Group Spoken Word
How entrants and their teachers usually get Large Group Spoken Word right on the day:
- Start from the piece, not the cast: decide which lines suit everyone together, which suit a sub-group and which deserve one voice, then print a shared score showing the split
- Choose a leader or conductor from inside the cast, someone who gives a small nod or breath cue, and rehearse so the team can start without being told
- Practise word endings and shared consonants slowly, as a drill, before ever running the whole piece at speed
- Build in sections of different volume on purpose, and rehearse the quiet passages hardest, because that is where a large cast falls apart
- Rehearse the entrance, the formation and the exit as part of the piece, in the same order and at the same pace each time
- Run it in a big room with a listener at the back who calls out which words are lost when everyone speaks at once
- Plan for absence: know who covers a line if a member is missing on the day, and check the notice for minimum cast size
- Time each run against the organiser's limit and ask about props, music and content rules before adding anything
Frequently asked questions
Is Large Group Spoken Word judged individually or as a team?
Across eTalenter's templates it's most often run as an Team entry, though an organiser can set either participation type when assigning the item to an age group.
How is large group spoken word different from the small group item?
Both are team items with one shared score, but a large cast has to work in sections and in unison rather than passing lines between a few people, and the panel weighs precision across many voices much more heavily.
How many people count as a large group?
The three templates that carry the item do not print a size. Organisers should state a minimum and a maximum in their notice, and entrants should check it before choosing a piece.
How long can the piece be?
The junior template prints four minutes. The teen and Jamaican templates print no limit, so organisers should publish one.
Can we use music, movement or props?
The templates do not say. Spoken word is normally voice only, with simple staging, so ask the organiser before adding anything.
Is it judged individually or as a team?
As a team: one score is given for the whole cast, so unity and discipline count as much as any single speaker.
Want the full judging picture? Read the full recitation and poetry judging criteria guide, or browse every drama competition item.
Try Large Group Spoken Word in eTalenter
See every ready-made template that runs Large Group Spoken Word, and install one as a live event — age groups, rules and scoring included.
