Lawrence Campbell Oratory Competition

The Lawrence Campbell Oratory Competition is an annual competition in impromptu public speaking between representatives of each of the Great Public Schools (GPS) and Combined Associated Schools (CAS) in New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1935, in honour of Lawrence Campbell, a famous teacher of elocution in various schools in Sydney, New South Wales, in the early twentieth century.

Format

Each candidate is required to give a speech of eight minutes length of one of three topics given to him or her either 10 or 15 minutes beforehand. In this competition, the emphasis is on oratory, and so the manner of delivery counts at least equally with the content of the speech. The emphasis is on giving a speech that combines humour with pathos, dramatic elements with more conversational moments, serious commentary with light-hearted asides, quotations drawn from a variety of sources, but all around a common thread based on the chosen topic, and showing the style of the candidate. Accordingly, the style of speech is very different from many other public speaking competitions in which candidates research and prepare speeches of their own in advance, often on questions of current affairs or public policy.

Participating Schools

Each school is represented by one speaker. Saint Ignatius’ College has the most distinguished history, with 24 winning candidates in the competition's history. In recent years, Sydney Grammar, Scots, Barker College and Newington have been the most successful schools. Waverley College and The Armidale School have never fielded a winning candidate.

Topics

Because of the emphasis on oratory, the topics usually admit of wide latitude for the candidates to be creative. Often, quotations from literature, public figures, and popular culture are chosen as topics, along with proverbs or even single words. Past topics include:
* Assume a virtue if ye have it not
* One crowded hour of glorious life is worth an age without a name
* I must follow them, for I am their leader
* He thinks too much – such men are dangerous
* Because it was there
* If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it

Famous past winners

The Lawrence Campbell oratory competition has many distinguished previous winners, particularly in the areas of law, politics, and the arts. Famous past winners include:

* Nick Enright (Playwright)
* Charles Firth (Comedian and television personality from "The Chaser" team)
* Murray Gleeson (Chief Justice of Australia)
* Nick Greiner (Former Premier of NSW)
* John Hamilton (Judge of the Supreme Court of NSW)
* Clifton Hoeben (Judge of the Supreme Court of NSW)
* Jonathan Howard
* Mungo MacCallum (Journalist and member of the Wentworth squatocracy)
* Andrew O'Keefe (Comedian and television presenter)
* Adam Spencer (ABC-TV and Radio presenter)
* Malcolm Turnbull (Liberal MP and leader of the Australian Republican Movement)
* Lloyd Waddy (Monarchist)
* Anthony Whealy (Judge of the Supreme Court of NSW)

Controversies

There have been many controversies in the history of the competition. These usually arise out of allegations of plagiarism and the use of prepared material in the speech.

Often, the candidate is given the benefit of any doubt, if only because candidates train intensively for the competition and must necessarily think of themes, quotations, and one-liners that may emerge in the speech the candidate later gives at the competition. However, the wholesale repetition of prepared material is strongly discouraged, and with enough proof, a winner may be stripped of the title if wholesale preparation is shown.

Previous winners and runners-up