Original Oratory

Original Oratory (often shortened to "OO") is a competitive event in the National Forensic League, National Catholic Forensic League, and other high school forensic competitions in which competitors deliver an original speech on a subject of their choosing, though the speech must be factual. Though the rules for the category change from organization to organization, generally, an Oratory must be written and memorized by the performer and should be no more than ten minutes in length. No more than 150 words can be quoted. The finished speech must be approved by the National Forensic League. This speech is frequently highly persuasive and is normally about a slightly controversial topic.

Oratory topics are usually related to current problems in the world, and are delivered in a persuasive way as to motivate the audience to make a choice. However, this may not always be the case. Some orations may alert the audience of an imminent threat or inspire them to act now to initiate change. According to the National Forensic League, the competitor is judged on:

• Speech Effectiveness: Did the speech have any inspiration or purpose to make the audience react?
• Bodily Movement: What gestures did the speaker perform to help the audience better visualize what you're saying?

• Supportment: Was what the speaker said backed up by proof? Was the evidence visualized with current proof, past proof, or quoted by words from other experienced people?

• Factual: Is what the speaker said really true? Was the purpose of your Oration mostly truthful and not mostly opinion based?

These are the questions the competitor and the judge should ask themselves before performing an Oration, to either an audience, or especially yourself. The key to gain the audience's attention isn't through your topic, it's through your passion. For instance, your topic could be that people today are lazy, but instead of changing it, they are accepting it. Now the topic itself interests the audience or judge.