I made a post about this last year if I recall correctly, and I noticed it's (of course) happening again this year at the Japanese Consulate here in Chicago. They're holding a speech contest in March, and entries are due mid-February. Since I actually have more concrete studying in from this year over last, I was more seriously considering entering; however, with school and me having to prepare for an internship fair that happens in early February I don't know for sure. Either that or I'm just too scared to admit it.

Last year you guys told me it was a good experience overall, and I sure do want the free ticket to Japan, but I hate being grouped with those that have been studying for a few years. I'm not that great and I only just recently got serious about studying. So you guys could tell me again what you think about it, and my second question is what I could write a speech about. I have no idea what I'd want to talk about, and I don't want to do anything particularly boring either.

I had a friend do it one year from my college (and he won). All he talked about was a Japanese author that he liked and stuff that he read by him. Shouldn't be too bad.

I recommend doing it.

I won a speech contest sponsored by the Japanese Chamber of Commerce in Honolulu a few months ago. I wasn't the best Japanese speaker either. Not by a long shot. The judges were mainly looking at content.

So as long as you have a good speech, you should be fine and I wouldn't worry about people who speak better than you.

I attended a speech contest in Tokyo. These are quite popular in Japan. They are extremely well organized and might include other ancillary entertainment for the audience (music, videos, cheerleaders, etc). I have not seen such an event in the US or Europe but it seems to be a part of Japanese culture. The audience was very enthusiastic.

Before the event I thought this would be a hokey, boring waste of time. It was actually a lot of fun. The winners were not the ones with the best language skills. I think the judges were looking for the combination of a good story, good language skills, significant memorization, pronunciation, preparation and presence.

I would highly recommend this. It will help your Japanese language skills,
Speaking skills and be a lot of fun.

Hello! I just read your post and it struck me that I should probably try out for the speech contest too!

But this will be my graduating semester AND I am aiming to take JLPT 2 in July...With so many things on hand, I am not so sure whether I can handle the stress.

As for my Japanese ability...let's just say that I have been stuck in the intermediate plateau since forever. I wonder what is the level of proficiency for this speech contest...

In any case, I would say that you should just go for it!