Junior Douglas Campbell 

📅 Date: Sunday, February 22, 2026

⏰ Time: 11:00 AM – 5:30 PM

📍 Location: Dasmesh School, Winnipeg, 105 Holmes Rd, West St. Paul  

Dasmesh School Winnipeg invites you to the annual Junior Douglas Campbell Provincial Public Speaking Tournament, to be held Sunday, February 22, 2026. 

Each competitor will compete in two categories: Impromptu Speaking and Persuasive Speaking. There will be two rounds of each. See the bottom of the invitation for descriptions of each category.

Each school may send six competitors, all of which will be placed in the open category. The top students from this event will qualify to represent their school and Manitoba at the Canadian Junior High Speech Nationals, tentatively to be held in Vancouver in May. Additional spots may be requested in the registration form.

In order to ensure your spot at this tournament, coaches must register their students before Friday, February 04, 2026. Please use the specific registration form at the end of this letter. Competitors must also confirm on their own that they understand the Code of Conduct for this tournament by February 6th.

Schools must provide 1 judge for every 2 students. For this junior event, grades 11–12 students or experienced grade 10 students may judge. All judges must register by February 6, 2026.

We look forward to seeing you at the 2026 Junior Douglas Campbell Public Speaking Tournament.

Sincerely,

Mannatbir Chahal and Amanjeet Kooner 

Dasmesh School Winnipeg Debate Team

CONTACT INFORMATION:

• Amanjeet Kooner

  • akooner121986@gmail.com

• Mannatbir Chahal

  • chahal.mannat07@gmail.com

  • 431-887-6670

FORMS:

• School Participation and Registration Form: Due February 4th, 2026

https://forms.gle/F6p1v7KSgA3LrxLL8

• Competitor Registration Form: Due February 6th, 2026

https://forms.gle/Rt6y2opNSaKAqSjw9

• Judges Registration Form: Due February 6th, 2026

https://forms.gle/xE7MHJtp3xEHyFtKA

CODE OF CONDUCT

As this is a provincial qualifier, please note that all speeches must be:

• Created after September 3, 2025;

• The participant’s own, original work.

If there is evidence of a speech violating one or both of the above points, the participant risks disqualification from the competition and ineligibility for participation at the National level.

SCHEDULE:

11:00 - 11:15 AM: Judges and Debater Registration 

11:15 - 12:00 PM: Judges' Briefing

12:00 - 1:15 PM: Persuasive Round 1

1:15 - 1:30 PM: Break

1:30 - 2:45 PM: Persuasive Round 2

2:45 - 3:00 PM: Break

3:00 - 3:45 PM: Impromptu Round 1

3:45 - 4:00 PM: Break

4:00 - 4:45 PM: Impromptu Round 2

5:30 PM: Awards

GUIDELINES FOR PERSUASIVE SPEAKING: 5-10 MINUTE SPEECH

This speech is designed to persuade and must be on a serious topic, although this does not mean that humour might not be useful at points in the speech. A problem/solution approach must be taken, i.e. speakers must identify a problem (it need not be an earth-shattering one) and propose, or at least examine, one or more solutions to it. Speeches should be prepared beforehand (i.e. prior to arriving at the competition) and should be from five to ten minutes in length. The same speech should be used throughout the competition. Speakers may use a single note card double sided (4x6 inches recipe card size); although, memorized speeches often have a greater impact because the speaker can connect more directly and consistently with audience. Participants’ speeches are scored on the analysis of the problem, on the persuasiveness of the discussion (logic, appeal), on interest and on delivery.

*There will be 15 seconds grace time for going over time or under time. A 2-point time penalty will be applied to speeches between 15- 30 second over/under time, and a 10-point penalty for speeches exceeding 30 seconds over/under time.  

GUIDELINES FOR IMPROMPTU SPEAKING: 2 MINUTES PREP TIME, 3-5 MINUTE SPEECH

Speakers will draw three topics, which may be a word, a quotation, a phrase or anything not related to current events. They must choose one of them and then prepare within two minutes. They may write notes but may not bring anything up to speak except for the prompt paper, with no notes on it. The speech must last from three to five minutes. Speakers may speak in favour of, against, in favour of and against, or about the topic. It should be the sort of speech that would be delivered if the speaker were asked to speak on short notice to a general audience on the topic given. They may interpret it within reason, including treating it as a metaphor but must speak about the topic that they have been given. It is strictly understood that competitors will not use prepared material for this event. Wit, humour, logic, philosophy and sentiment are all equally welcome. Judges will be looking for agility of thought, substance, organizational ability and, above all, the ability of each speaker to communicate with style and originality. Points will be scored for adherence to the statement of topic, organization, interest, and delivery. Specific restrictions in this category: The interpretation of the topic and the speech should correlate in a meaningful way. ‘Canned’/‘rehearsed’/’reworked’ impromptus will be penalized. Hate speech of any kind is unacceptable. No props of any kind are permitted. No notes of any kind, other than the topic paper are permitted during the speech.