2026 Contest Rules

1. High school juniors and seniors in that grade February 1 of the year of the national contest are eligible to compete. Advanced students, non-traditional students and homeschooled students must be recognized by their schools as a junior or senior; alternatively, the year the student will enter college may be used to determine eligibility.
2. Students who competed in their junior year may compete the following year as seniors, with an entirely new speech, unless they won first place in the national contest. Second-place winners may compete again.
3. Contestants must research, write and present an original pro-life speech on abortion, infanticide, euthanasia or stem cell research. The speech should address one of these topics directly.
4. The speech must be five to seven minutes in length. A contestant will be disqualified if the speech times out under four minutes or over eight minutes in length. Judges are instructed to use their judgment regarding speeches that are under or over the time limit. It is at the judges’ discretion how the four- to five-minute and seven- to eight-minute speech will reflect in the score.
5. Appropriate gestures are allowed. Props are not allowed.
6. Speech content may not be significantly changed as a contestant advances. Fine-tuning for minor corrections or to adjust time is allowed and encouraged. A written copy of the contestant’s speech must be forwarded to the national contest.
7. The contestant should use up-to-date, factual information.
8. The style should be appropriate to the message of the speech. A dramatic presentation is not acceptable. A dramatic presentation is defined as anything that is read or performed that has been previously written by another author—a short story, poem, etc. Although quotes to support a position or statement are appropriate, they may not dominate the speech, and should be appropriately citied. Dramatic presentations are also defined, for the purposes of this contest, to include acting as a thing or another person, such as acting out the life of an unborn baby. This rule is not to be interpreted to rule out the use of emotion.
9. The background and qualifications of the judges differ, although all are pro-life; the speech should appeal to a broad audience.
10. No copyrighted speeches shall be used in the contest.
11. The contest may be videotaped or recorded, and tape will remain the property of National Right to Life.
12. Contestants may use notes.
13. The use of a podium is optional, but it is possible that a podium will not be available. If there are not enough podiums for all the contest rooms, podiums will not be available to any of the contestants.
14. The use of microphones will not be allowed. The Contest Director may make an exception if the contest room necessitates the use of microphones.
15. The Contest will consist of several rounds. There will be at least one preliminary round depending on the number of contestants. For the preliminary round, contestants will be assigned to compete in rooms with four to seven contestants. The two contestants from each room with the highest scores will proceed to the next level until there are four contestants in the final round.
16. Each room will have three judges and a timekeeper.
17. Speaking order for the preliminary round will be determined before the contest by drawing. In following rounds speaking order will be determined by scores in the previous round.
18. Contestants are judged in four areas: introduction, content, presentation and conclusion. Contestants are given a score of 1-10 (10 being the best) in each area. The scores are added together (40 being perfect). The judges’ scores are added together for the grand total. The grand total will determine which contestants move to the next level.
19. The judges’ decision will be final.
20. All efforts are made for accuracy. In the event of a mistake, every effort will be made to correct it.
21. Ties will be handled by the Contest Director.
22. These rules apply only to the National Right to Life Oratory Contest. No other rules from any national, state or local speech contest or groups apply.
23. Any concerns or issues shall be dealt with by the Contest Director.
24. The decision of the Contest Director concerning the application of these rules or the contest will be final.