Each year, the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) hosts an annual speech competition. This competition is known as the Voice of Democracy Audio-Essay Competition, and is open to all high school students (grades 9-12) who are enrolled in a public, private or parochial high school or home study program in the United States and its territories. While there are several national awards for this (including the first place prize of a $30,000 college scholarship, then a $16,000 scholarship, a $10,000 scholarship, etc.), perhaps the best aspect of this contest is that many of the Posts themselves award scholarships. For example, I entered this contest last year and, although my essay did not advance beyond the Post phase, I still earned a scholarship by coming in first from my school.
Each year, the Voice of Democracy contest has a different theme. The 2011-2012 theme is: “Is There Pride in Serving in Our Military?” Students should record their reading of their essay onto a CD (this recording should be no shorter than 3 minutes and no longer than 5 minutes (plus or minus 5 seconds)). The VFW posts this as their judgement criteria:
Originality is worth 30 points: Treatment of the theme should show imagination and human interest
Content is worth 35 points: Clearly express your ideas in an organized manner. Fully develop your theme and use transitions to move smoothly from one idea to the other.
Delivery is worth 35 points: Speak in a clear and credible manner.
Deadlines to submit to the Post level vary, although almost all of them will be due by November 1 at the latest. I’d recommend checking out the list of the 2010-2011 VoD winners (which includes scholarship $ amount and what school the student attended) and videos of the winning speeches for ideas on content and presentation. Also, find out the deadline set by your specific Post.
Good luck!
