Tips for a great entry
Tips for a great entry
How can I make my entry stand out?
The My First Speech competition aims to raise awareness of the federal Parliament among young Australians inviting them to imagine themselves as a newly-elected member of the House of Representatives. The competition is open to Australian secondary school students in Years 10 to 12.
Regardless of your topic, there are certain elements that will make your first speech stand out from the crowd.
Get Inspired
⬤ Read transcripts and watch videos of first speeches by members of the House of Representatives. You can find speeches to get inspired at: First speeches of the 48th Parliament
⬤ View some Constituency statements from the Federation Chamber (an alternative meeting room to the House of Representatives). This gives you an idea of how much content can be included in a 3-minute speech.
Plan your topic
⬤ While you may have lots to talk about, aim to have a one strong focus. Narrow your speech down to one topic. This can be framed by a moment, issue, or aspect of your life or community. When you imagine yourself as a member of parliament, consider what you might say and how you might say it.
⬤ Decide on the main point you want to make, what you want your audience to remember. Make this the central theme of your speech.
⬤ Think about what, if any, solution you might be able to suggest to any problems or issues you raise. Articulate this clearly.
⬤ You might want to have a go at this classroom activity from the Parliamentary Education Office and use some of the resources to help you plan your speech.
Draft your speech
⬤ Research your topic thoroughly. Consider including facts, recent statistics and financial figures, testimonies and lived experiences from people in your electorate. Remember, you are the newly elected representative for your electorate – you’re representing the views of your constituents.
⬤ Remember, your speech can’t be longer than 500 words, or 3 minutes when spoken aloud.
⬤ Plan your opening, body and conclusion. Break your speech into these parts to ensure you introduce your topic, explain and detail the issue. Support your argument if you can with real-world evidence. Think about whether there is a solution to any problem you might have identified.
⬤ After you have written a draft, read it out loud to see how it sounds. Think about parts you want to emphasise with pauses. Time how long it takes to read at a natural pace. Don’t use any formatting such as italics, bold, different fonts and font sizes. Use punctuation and paragraphing as appropriate to help emphasise parts of your speech. If you are quoting someone else, use quotation marks.
⬤ Refine your key points and stay on theme. You can use repetition to drive home the message if you wish.
Refine your speech
⬤ Is the beginning of your speech strong or powerful? Have you hooked in the audience and conveyed the importance of your issue?
⬤ Consider using literary devices such as alliteration, personification, an anecdote or humour to help your speech engage the audience.
⬤ Can you add a real quote, statistic, data or evidence of what has or has not worked elsewhere. If your chosen issue affects other parts of the world, you may be able to research and give an example of what has helped solve the issue in another country.
⬤ Select your main topic and research it thoroughly. Consider including facts, recent statistics and financial figures, testimonies and lived experiences.
Language we would love to see you use
⬤ Use language that is parliamentary. This means no offensive language.
⬤ You may also like to start and end your speech with the words: “Thank you, Speaker.”
Steer clear of using content you don’t own!
Finally, remember that your work must be original. This includes anything generated by AI.
Have any questions
If you have any other questions about entering, check out our FAQs.
Download a PDF version of this information ready for printing from our Resources page.