One performer speaks a poem from memory to an adjudicator, in a short slot set by age or school year, and is marked out of 100 or 10 on diction, expression and delivery.
Verse speaking is the spoken performance of a poem by one entrant. There is no music and no costume: the whole performance is the voice, the face and the way the performer stands. The poem is usually learned by heart, and the aim is to make the audience hear what the poet meant, not simply to get through the words without a slip. A good entry sounds as if the performer is thinking the lines for the first time.
On the eTalenter templates that carry it, the class is run in a few different ways. A British music, speech and drama eisteddfod runs it by school year, from Reception and Years 1 to 9 individually, then Years 10 and 11 and Years 12 and 13, with limits of 4, 5 and 6 minutes, a mark out of 100, and boys and girls together. Australian eisteddfods run it by age band, with limits from 2 minutes for the youngest up to 4 minutes, also out of 100 for the main events. Two speech and drama festivals use a mark out of 10 and bands that run up to 18 years and over, with limits as long as 6 or 8 minutes for the oldest entrants.
A round is quick to run. The entrant is called, walks to a marked spot, announces the title and poet if the rules ask for it, speaks the poem, and leaves. The adjudicator writes comments and a mark while the next entrant waits. Because there is nothing to hide behind, small things such as a rushed first line, a lost word or a flat ending show at once.
Organisers include the class because it costs almost nothing to run, it suits every age from the youngest school entrants to adults, and it gives young speakers a first chance to perform alone. It is also a common first step towards the longer speech classes, such as prose reading, monologue and recital on a theme.
Where Verse Speaking is run
Verse Speaking appears on five eTalenter templates: one British music, speech and drama eisteddfod, two Australian eisteddfods or festivals, and two speech and drama festivals, one of them non-competitive for the school-year classes. It sits in the literary section on four of them and in the oral section on one. Spoken poetry classes are a long-standing part of eisteddfods and speech festivals in the English-speaking world, but this page records only the templates listed here.
- United Kingdom
- Australia
Key facts
- Individual entry, open to boys and girls together on every template that carries it
- British template: twelve classes by school year, Reception to Years 12 and 13, with limits of 4 minutes (Reception to Year 6), 5 minutes (Years 7 to 9) and 6 minutes (Years 10 to 13), each marked out of 100
- Australian templates: age bands from 5 or 6 years up to 18 and over, with limits from 2 to 4 minutes where a limit is set, marked out of 100
- Speech festival templates: age bands up to 19 and over, limits from 2 to 8 minutes, marked out of 10
- The poem is spoken from memory on the British template; no judging criteria are printed in the sources, so none are assumed here
- Different from Verse Speaking to a Musical Backing (the same poem spoken over music) and from Share a Poem (a class for two to four voices)
On eTalenter, Verse Speaking is filed under Literary, Oral and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 5 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.
Across the templates that use it, Verse Speaking is most often entered as an Individual competition, typically scored out of 100, commonly time-limited to 2–8 minutes where a limit is set.
What judges look at in Verse Speaking
What a Verse Speaking panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:
- Diction and clarity: every word reaches the back of the room, with clean consonants and vowels that are not swallowed at the ends of lines
- Understanding of the poem: pauses, stresses and changes of pace that show the performer knows what each line means, not only how it sounds
- Expression and tone: a voice that moves with the mood of the poem, with variety in pitch and volume rather than a steady sing-song
- Memory and security: the words are learned so well that the performer never looks for a line and recovers quickly from any slip
- Presentation and stillness: a steady stance, a clear start and a finish that holds for a moment, with gestures only where the poem asks for them
- Choice and timing: a poem that suits the age and voice of the performer and fits the time limit for the class
Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Verse Speaking under Scoring Setup, or start from the full recitation & poetry judging criteria guide.
How to prepare for Verse Speaking
How entrants and their teachers usually get Verse Speaking right on the day:
- Choose a poem the performer likes and understands; a short poem spoken well beats a long one that is only recited
- Read the poem aloud many times before learning it, and write down in plain words what is happening in each verse and how the mood changes
- Check the class limit first and time the poem at a steady pace, leaving a little spare so a nervous start does not run over
- Learn it in small pieces, a verse at a time, then practise it in places away from the page, such as walking or in front of a mirror
- Mark the places to breathe and to pause, and practise the hardest lines slowly until the words are clear at full speed
- Rehearse the walk on, the first line and the finish until they are automatic, since the adjudicator sees these first and last
- Perform to family or friends before the day and ask them which words they could not hear
- After a result that disappoints, read the adjudicator's comments and work first on the lowest area, often clarity in the final lines or a hurried middle verse
Frequently asked questions
Is Verse Speaking 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.
How long is the Verse Speaking class?
It depends on the event. On the British template the limit is 4 minutes up to Year 6, 5 minutes for Years 7 to 9 and 6 minutes for Years 10 to 13. Other templates set limits between 2 and 8 minutes by age band.
Do I have to learn the poem by heart?
On the British template the poem is spoken from memory. The other templates do not print this rule in their sources, so check the rules of the event you enter.
Is Verse Speaking judged individually or as a team?
It is an individual item on every template that carries it, with a mark for each entrant. A group version of the class, Share a Poem, is a separate class.
Is Verse Speaking the same as Verse Speaking to a Musical Backing?
No. Verse Speaking is the poem spoken on its own, while the backing class adds music under the voice. They are separate classes on the British template.
Want the full judging picture? Read the full recitation & poetry judging criteria guide, or browse every literary competition item.
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