Certain things you should keep in mind when writing a speech.

1) If you want to seriously win this contest, you should pick a topic which has some kind of relation with Japan or Japanese language.
2) The topic should be amusing enough. After all, the jury will be asleep most of the time, so you want to grab their attention.
3) This goes without saying but start with a simple greeting like こんにちは.
4) Depending on the level which you probably already decided when signing, you should use 敬語 or 丁寧語. 敬語 if it's intermediate+ and 丁寧語 if it's beginner's level.
5) Depending on your level, there may be a "questions and answers" time so you want to prepare for the kind of question which the jury may ask.
6) Avoid jokes which are going to work only in your native country.
7) Write something appropriate for your own level. Don't take much help by teachers or students better in Japanese than yourself.
8) Speak loud enough and slowly.
9) Make eye contact with the spectators.
10) Smile more frequently.

etc...

Wouldn't the keigo+humorous speech combination sound a bit weird?

(i'd go with an all casual extremely mumbled speech to fit the topic, but I guess it depends on what jury you're facing)

Arupan wrote:

Certain things you should keep in mind when writing a speech.

1) If you want to seriously win this contest, you should pick a topic which has some kind of relation with Japan or Japanese language.
2) The topic should be amusing enough. After all, the jury will be asleep most of the time, so you want to grab their attention.
3) This goes without saying but start with a simple greeting like こんにちは.
4) Depending on the level which you probably already decided when signing, you should use 敬語 or 丁寧語. 敬語 if it's intermediate+ and 丁寧語 if it's beginner's level.
5) Depending on your level, there may be a "questions and answers" time so you want to prepare for the kind of question which the jury may ask.
6) Avoid jokes which are going to work only in your native country.
7) Write something appropriate for your own level. Don't take much help by teachers or students better in Japanese than yourself.
8) Speak loud enough and slowly.
9) Make eye contact with the spectators.
10) Smile more frequently.

etc...

Thanks for answering my questions in detail. but i think i still have more lol....are there any specific things in the speech that the judges would look for no matter what the topic is? for example, inclusion of facts?
and what do u personally think about the topic "procrastination"? if you were a judge or an audience member, would u listen to it with interest?
if not, could you suggest some topics that you would find amusing?

Zgarbas wrote:

Wouldn't the keigo+humorous speech combination sound a bit weird?

(i'd go with an all casual extremely mumbled speech to fit the topic, but I guess it depends on what jury you're facing)

hmm...i guess it would. so i could use keigo while narrating but if im quoting a humorous incident or line i could switch to a more casual way of  saying it?
i dont know anything about the jury except that they are probably mid aged japanese people (at least thats how the pannel was in last years contest)

Arupan wrote:

No, keigo is used only when you're referring to someone superior/who has a higher rank (ex: your superviser). When you speak about flowers, for example, you shouldn't use keigo cause it would sound weird. You shouldn't be extremely polite to flowers after all.

If you can't use keigo, however, I'd stick to polite speech only. Japanese themselves make a lot of mistakes when using it (especially young people). A native doctor once said 「私ご存じないです」 for instance. You don't want to embarass yourself.

well if a native can't even get it right, why would they care if a foreigner gets it right or not?

massu_no_egao wrote:

Hi everyone!
so i decided to participate a speech contest in November and the topic i picked was Procrastination. I want to make it funny and not all serious.I have a lot of questions since it it my first time writing a speech(japanese or english)!....so could you help me out?
what do u think about this topic,does it sound boring?how do i start? are there any rules that i should follow while writing it? should i use very formal japanese? is going for a humorous speech better(because im afraid, what if people dont get my humour?)?

Is this by any chance, the MOSAI speech contest?

Arupan wrote:

No, keigo is used only when you're referring to someone superior/who has a higher rank (ex: your superviser). When you speak about flowers, for example, you shouldn't use keigo cause it would sound weird. You shouldn't be extremely polite to flowers after all.

If you can't use keigo, however, I'd stick to polite speech only. Japanese themselves make a lot of mistakes when using it (especially young people). A native doctor once said 「私ご存じないです」 for instance. You don't want to embarass yourself.

About the speech... You could make some cultural references if you want. This will probably give you some points in favor. I wouldn't include any real facts cause frankly said they'll probably bore the judges.

If I were one of the audience, a speech about "procrastination" would definitely catch my attention, but I can't say anything about the judges. Probably depends on the content?

You could speak about anything and depending on the content, it would probably be interesting, right?

ok,no keigo. got it.....

oh alright....maybe compare or contrast my county's and japan's culture? that would be a very common topic?

oh thats good to hear! if i did choose "procrastination" i would go for a humorous speech where maybe i could talk about funny incidents where i procrastinated n the consequences or categorize procrastinators into "types" and describe each type or something like that.....

Last edited by massu_no_egao (2012 September 20, 1:31 am)

vileru wrote:

You don't need to speak in keigo. I won third place in a speech contest in July, and my speech was entirely in plain form, except for the parts where I directly addressed the audience (ご静聴ありがとうございます等). I can email it or even post it here if you, or anyone else, is interested.

I don't want to be an ass but you wrote せいちょう wrong. The proper kanji is 清聴. You could've just mistyped it though.

ご清聴ありがとうございます, however, is clearly mistaken. You should say ご清聴ありがとうございました instead since it's in the end of the speech. This mistake is purely grammatical though.

Last edited by Arupan (2012 September 20, 3:27 am)

Arupan wrote:

I don't want to be an ass but you wrote せいちょう wrong. The proper kanji is 清聴. You could've just mistyped it though.

ご清聴ありがとうございます, however, is clearly mistaken. You should say ご清聴ありがとうございました instead since it's in the end of the speech. This mistake is purely grammatical though.

静聴　also seems to be a word that fits this context and I don't think ありがとうございます is wrong; it just means that he/she is grateful for what was said.

I know that 静聴　and 清聴 are different words. I was just trying to point out that 静聴 is also possible in this context and so, while I agree that 清聴 would be a better choice, it's wrong to call 静聴 a mistake unless it is a typo. That being said, I realise now that you were probably assuming Vileru had copied the use of せいちょう from other speeches and decided to point out that they had mistaken which word it was, so I guess you're right after all.

I wasn't aware that use of the present tense implied you were going to say more about it, so thanks for telling me that. I just knew that I'd often heard it used to refer to things that had happened in the past and failed to pick up on the nuance.

It seems I've already wasted too much of your time, but do you mind explaining what you mean by

Present tense would imply that... the action has a precedent, for example.

Are you just being stubborn?

I haven't got a clue what it means.

Arupan wrote:

I don't want to be an ass but you wrote せいちょう wrong. The proper kanji is 清聴. You could've just mistyped it though.

ご清聴ありがとうございます, however, is clearly mistaken. You should say ご清聴ありがとうございました instead since it's in the end of the speech. This mistake is purely grammatical though.

You're right on both counts. I wrote the post hastily, so I didn't notice the errors. Anyway, here is the speech:

花見

“あの時”感じた恐怖を今でも忘れない。２０１１年３月１１日の東日本大震災が起きた頃、私はアメリカの大学の寮にいた。彼女を含む、日本からの留学生と話していた時だった。ついさっきまで談笑していたのが嘘のように一瞬にして空気が凍りついた。パソコンから得た僅かな情報を頼りにとにかく仙台にいる皆の無事を祈った。その年の夏に仙台を訪問する予定を立てていた、家族が反対しても私の決意は変わらなかった。彼女やその家族、そして日本中の誰もが味わった試練を考えると居ても立ってもいられなかった。

地震から４ヶ月後、仙台に降り立った私が目の当たりにしたのは予想に反する光景だった。もし、数カ月前のニュースを知らなければ、ひどい災害が発生したとはにわかには信じ難い光景だった。さらに驚くべきことは、人々の力強い精神であった。特に心を動かされた出来事は、美容室に行った際感じた理髪師の行動や態度だった。震災で全てを失ったにも関わらず理髪師の優しさに触れた。話を聞くとその理髪師は、実家が流され、両親や親戚を亡くしたということだった。そんな耐え難い状況に立ち向かいながらも、重苦しい表情は一切せず、温かくもてなしてくれた。散髪中に様々な日本の漫画や雑誌を持ってきてくれる、いつもと変わらない姿、彼の心遣いに驚いた。

私は、今年、花見に行った。一目千本桜を目にした時、 彼の情緒に触れることが出来たと思った。アメリカで育った私にとってお花見は全く馴染みのない行事であったため、どのようなものなのか想像がつかなかった。確かに満開の桜、そして散りゆく姿は儚く綺麗だが、どうして公園が多くの人で埋め尽くされるのかがわからなかった。そして花を観賞するだけではなく、なぜ飲んだり食べたりするのかと疑問にさえ思った。桜の優美な姿から、きっとお花見は静かに祝われるのだろうと想像していたからだ。しかし公園に着くと、予想通りにお祝いしている人もいたがほとんどの人はその正反対だった。公園を歩くと、大量の酒を囲んで楽しそうにしているグループをいくつも見かけた。私はそれを見て驚くどころか、魅了され、胸が喜びでいっぱいになった。彼らの陽気さや無邪気さが桜の美しさを一層際立たせてくれているようだった。

初めてお花見を経験し、突然インスピレーションに圧倒された。おそらく昨年の震災時はお花見どころではなかったのだろうと改めて思った。その瞬間、桜は私にとって新たな意味を持つようになった。時が経つにつれて人々やその運命は桜のように散りゆき、そしてまた開花する。どんなに辛いことが起こっても、この貴重な“開花”にはそれだけの価値がある。こうして花見を通して、理髪師の心情にやっと近づけたのであった。春が来れば、寒い冬を乗り越えた枝木が花を咲かせる、これが自然の摂理なのだ。

私は先程、どうして日本人は公園に集まり花見をするのか分からないと言ったが哲学者アリストテレスは私にヒントをくれた。すべての物事や出来事の存在を表すのはその目的だとアリストテレスは記した。私は皆さんに考えてほしい。「あなたにとって花見が持つ意味とは何か？」と。

ご清聴ありがとうございました。

The end is in keigo because that part is directly addressing the audience and is entirely separate from the preceding story. I actually originally wrote the speech wholly in ます系, but then the Japanese people I showed it to unanimously recommended that I use plain form. From what I was told, keigo is used when directly addressing the audience, such as in a political speech or a call to action. However, when telling a personal story or one's thoughts (反省), plain form is preferable. If you're around magamo or aijin, could you please weigh in?