A solo speech class in which one performer reads or recites a passage of prose, such as a short story extract or an essay, and is judged on clear speech, meaning and expression within a five-minute limit.
Prose is a solo speech class in which one performer takes a passage of ordinary, unrhymed writing, usually an extract from a story, a novel, an essay or a piece of memoir, and presents it aloud to an adjudicator and an audience. There is no rhyme or line break to lean on, so the marks are won by how the performer finds the shape of the sentences: where the thought turns, where the voice should lift or settle, and which words carry the meaning.
In the two Canadian speech and drama festivals we build from, the class is an individual item for boys and girls together, in English, with a five-minute limit and adjudicator marks on a ten-point scale. A Toronto speech and drama section runs it in seven age tiers, from 6 to 8 up to an Advanced tier for 19 to 28. A Vancouver speech arts division introduced in 2026 runs it in five tiers: 10 and under, 11 to 13, 14 to 17, 18 to 22 and Open. Each tier is a separate competition with its own entrants and placings.
A round is quiet and simple. The performer is called, normally announces the title and author of the piece, and then speaks it with no scenery and no costume. With nothing else on stage the listener hears every choice: a performer who rushes, drops the ends of sentences or reads in one even tone is easy to spot, while one who lets the narrator's voice and the characters' voices differ, and who breathes where the sense breaks, makes a short extract feel like a complete story.
Organisers include prose beside poetry, drama, Shakespeare, public speaking and storytelling because it trains a different skill. A poem comes with its rhythm built in; prose asks the speaker to supply the rhythm. It is also a gentle way into speech competitions for younger entrants, since a good story passage is easy to choose and the adjudicator can give clear written advice on pace, clarity and expression.
Where Prose comes from
Reading and reciting prose aloud is a long-standing part of the speech and drama tradition in English-speaking music and arts festivals, where speech classes sit beside music and dance classes in the same syllabus.
Where Prose is run
In eTalenter's data the plain Prose class appears in two templates, both Canadian: a Toronto speech and drama section in Ontario and a Vancouver speech arts division in British Columbia. It is a familiar class in the festival tradition of English-speaking countries, but we do not present it as a worldwide item. The catalogue also holds neighbouring classes with their own rules, such as memorised prose, prose reading from a sheet and prose recital, and those are kept as separate items because the format differs from this solo class.
- Canada - Ontario (Toronto speech and drama section)
- Canada - British Columbia (Vancouver speech arts division)
Key facts
- Individual entry: one performer, boys and girls together, in English.
- Time limit of five minutes in every tier, with adjudicator marks on a ten-point scale in the template.
- Toronto tiers: 6 to 8, 9 to 10, 11 to 12, 13 to 14, 15 to 16, 17 to 18 and an Advanced tier for 19 to 28; the printed entry fee rises with the tier.
- Vancouver tiers: 10 and under, 11 to 13, 14 to 17, 18 to 22 and Open, with one flat entry fee for every tier.
- The schedules in our data do not print a rule on learning the passage by heart, so check your own festival's regulations before you decide whether to read or recite.
- Idea starters, not rules: a chapter opening from a classic children's novel for younger tiers, a short scene from a short story with two or three distinct voices, a passage of descriptive travel writing, or an essay extract with a clear argument for older tiers.
On eTalenter, Prose is filed under Literary and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 2 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.
Across the templates that use it, Prose is most often entered as an Individual competition, typically scored out of 10, commonly time-limited to around 5 minutes where a limit is set.
What judges look at in Prose
What a Prose panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:
- Understanding of the passage: the performer knows who is speaking, what has just happened and what the extract is for, and the audience can tell.
- Phrasing and sense: pauses and breaths fall where the meaning changes, long sentences are carried through without running out of air, and the key word of each phrase is heard.
- Clarity and audibility: every word reaches the back of the room, with consonants finished and the pace chosen for the story and not driven by nerves.
- Expression and tone: the voice changes with the mood of the writing, and any characters are separated by pace, pitch or manner without caricature.
- Pace and variety: the performer builds the passage towards its high point and avoids reading everything at one speed and volume.
- Control of time and delivery: eye contact with the listener, a still, confident posture and a finish inside the five-minute limit.
- Choice of piece: the extract suits the performer's age and voice and works as a complete moment, with a beginning, a turn and an ending.
Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Prose under Scoring Setup, or start from the full recitation and poetry judging criteria guide.
How to prepare for Prose
How entrants and their teachers usually get Prose right on the day:
- Choose a passage you enjoy and can explain in your own words. Read the whole book or story it comes from so you know what happens before and after the extract.
- Mark the text with a pencil: slashes where you will breathe, underlines under the words that matter, and a note wherever the mood changes.
- Read it aloud slowly first, then at your natural pace, and compare. Most entrants discover they read much faster than they think.
- Time the piece with a stopwatch and cut until it runs comfortably under five minutes, leaving a second of stillness after the last word.
- If there is dialogue, decide how each speaker sounds, and practise switching between them without changing your whole posture.
- Read to a listener standing at the far end of a room and ask which words they missed; fix those with firmer consonants rather than louder volume.
- Practise holding the page or sheet if your festival allows it, and look up at the end of sentences so the reading becomes a conversation with the listener.
- Record a run on your phone and listen without looking at the text; flat patches and rushed endings are easy to hear.
- On the day, say the title and author clearly if asked, take a breath before the first word, and hold your last pose until the adjudicator signals.
Frequently asked questions
Is Prose judged individually or as a team?
Across eTalenter's templates it's most often run as an Individual entry, though an organiser can set either participation type when assigning the item to an age group.
What counts as prose in this class?
Prose is ordinary writing in sentences and paragraphs, not verse. Extracts from stories, novels, essays and memoirs are the usual choices. A poem belongs in a poetry class, and a scene written as dialogue for several actors belongs in a drama or duologue class.
Do I have to learn the passage by heart?
The schedules in our data do not print a memory rule for this class, so read your festival's regulations. Some festivals run separate memorised prose classes, which are different items. Whatever the rule, performers who know the text well can look up and connect with the listener.
How long can my piece be?
In both the Toronto and Vancouver schedules we build from, the limit is five minutes in every tier. Time yourself aloud, not silently, because spoken prose usually takes longer than you expect.
Is Prose the same as Storytelling?
No. In both schedules the two are separate classes. Prose is the performance of a written passage, while storytelling is usually told to the audience in the speaker's own way. Check your festival's description of each before you choose.
Is this judged individually or as a team?
Individually. Each performer is marked on their own, within the age tier they entered, and tiers are ranked separately.
Want the full judging picture? Read the full recitation and poetry judging criteria guide, or browse every literary competition item.
Try Prose in eTalenter
See every ready-made template that runs Prose, and install one as a live event — age groups, rules and scoring included.
