Lawrence Campbell Oratory Competition
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The Lawrence Campbell Oratory Competition is an annual competition in impromptu public speaking between representatives of each of the Great Public Schools (GPS) and Combined Associated Schools (CAS) in New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1935 in honour of Lawrence Campbell, a famous teacher of elocution in various schools in Sydney, New South Wales, in the early twentieth century.
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[edit] Format
Each candidate is required to give a speech of 8 minutes length of one of three topics given to him or her 15 minutes beforehand. In this competition, the emphasis is on oratory – the art of speech – and so the manner of delivery counts at least equally with the content of the speech. The emphasis is on giving a speech of variety – one that combines humour with pathos, dramatic elements with more conversational moments, serious commentary with light-hearted asides, quotations drawn from a variety of sources, but all united around a common thread sparked by the chosen topic, and showing the distinctive style of the candidate. Accordingly, the style of speech is very different to many other public speaking competitions in which candidates research and prepare speeches of their own in advance, often on questions of current affairs or public policy.
[edit] Participating Schools
Schools which are members of the NSW Greater Public Schools (GPS) and Combined Associated Schools (CAS) organisations are eligible to compete: The King's School, Sydney Grammar School, St. Ignatius' College, St. Joseph's College, Sydney Church of England Grammar School (Shore), Sydney Boys High School, Newington College, The Scots College, The Armidale School, Barker College, Knox Grammar School, Trinity Grammar School, St. Aloysius' College, Waverley College and Cranbrook School. Each school is represented by one speaker. Saint Ignatius’ College has the most distinguished history, with 24 winning candidates in the competition’s 70+ year history. At the other end of the scale, Waverley College, Barker College and The Armidale School have never fielded a winning candidate.
[edit] Topics
Because of the emphasis on oratory, the topics usually admit of wide latitude for the candidates to be creative. Often, quotations from literature, public figures, and popular culture are chosen as topics, along with proverbs or even single words. Past topics include:
- Assume a virtue if ye have it not
- One crowded hour of glorious life is worth an age without a name
- I must follow them, for I am their leader
- He thinks too much – such men are dangerous
- Because it was there
- If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it
[edit] Strategy
Because all the candidates are given the same three topics to choose from, it is often the case that one particular topic proves popular, or that many speakers speak on the same theme, meaning that many similar speeches are delivered. The winning candidate usually chooses an interesting or unusual take on the topic that gives his or her speech originality and makes it stand out. Many candidates prepare generic material in advance that can be applied to any topic. For example, any generic speech on ‘Australian Politics’ could easily be adapted to a topic such as ‘I must follow them, for I am their leader’ or ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’. This strategy is usually unsuccessful because the speech lacks the requisite originality to make it stand out. This reveals one difficulty of the ‘abstract topic’ approach – namely that the price of giving the candidates latitude is that many will simply use it to air pre-prepared unoriginal material.
[edit] Famous past winners
The Lawrence Campbell oratory competition has many distinguished previous winners, particularly in the areas of law, politics, and the arts. Famous past winners include:
- Nick Enright (Playwright)
- Charles Firth (Comedian and television personality from The Chaser team)
- Murray Gleeson (Chief Justice of Australia)
- Nick Greiner (Former Premier of NSW)
- John Hamilton (Judge of the Supreme Court of NSW)
- Clifton Hoeben (Judge of the Supreme Court of NSW)
- Mungo MacCallum (Journalist and member of the Wentworth squatocracy)
- Andrew O'Keefe (Comedian and television presenter)
- Adam Spencer (ABC-TV and Radio presenter)
- Malcolm Turnbull (Liberal MP and leader of the Australian Republican Movement)
- Lloyd Waddy (Monarchist)
- Anthony Whealy (Judge of the Supreme Court of NSW)
[edit] Controversies
There have been many controversies in the history of the competition. These usually arise out of allegations of plagiarism and the use of pre-prepared material in the speech. In 2003, the winning candidate from Barker College was the first and only candidate ever to be stripped of the award after the cards from which he spoke were found at the venue after the competition, allegedly with his entire speech written on them in advance; the cards were never produced in the winners presence and he was informed of the allegations only after his accuser had sent a vitriolic circular to past winners and contemporary organisers of the event. The candidate voluntarily renounced the trophy in order to avoid prejudicing future candidates from his school; he re-entered the competition the following year and was awarded second place, having maintained innocence from cheating accusations throughout the process.
Often, the candidate is given the benefit of any doubt, if only because candidates train intensively for the competition and must necessarily think of themes, quotations, and one-liners that may emerge in the speech the candidate later gives at the competition. However, the wholesale repetition of pre-prepared material is strongly discouraged, and with enough proof, a winner may be stripped of the title if wholesale preparation is shown.
