How to Win the World Championship of Public Speaking
I moved to Madison, Wisconsin for a lot of reasons. Here’s one: Madison consistently ranks as one of the top 10 healthiest cities in the US. Why? Partially because we have the most playgrounds per capita in the US.
As I’ve walked through our parks (which are normally connected to playgrounds), I’ve noticed plenty of Head-Body-Legs Board games.
You’ve seen these before. The classic version is a set of hinged/flippable blocks with heads, torsos, and legs on different sections. Kids flip the blocks to line up mismatched combination.
You can really create some hideous chimeras.
I recently watched the Toastmasters International Speech Contest’s livestreamed world championship. Eight speakers advanced to international finals. As I watched the top three contestants, I was reminded of these Mix & Match blocks. They’re slightly different, but they all match exactly the same structure.
The Speakers
The third place speaker tells us to KEEP DREAMING. The speech follows the speaker’s shift from childhood dreams of NBA stardom to recognizing the value of family and everyday achievements.
The second place speaker describes RAINDROPS. The speaker shares how, as a self-absorbed 20-year-old, he was dragged by his mother to volunteer at an orphanage where he met Ali, a rebellious teen who resisted studying and instead wrote bad jokes. Frustrated, the speaker clashed with him until his mother explained Ali’s deeper pain—he had lost both parents. She urged her son to “be the first raindrop” of kindness that could inspire others to follow.
The champion’s speech is JUST NOD. This speech tells the story of someone who grew up in India with a dream of being a Bollywood actor, but who buried that ambition after being laughed at during an audition in Amsterdam. Instead, he chose a “safe” career in finance, blending in with spreadsheets and suits. But when asked to present under pressure, he rediscovered his inner performer. That moment taught him he didn’t need a movie set to be a performer; he could bring that same energy into any space, even a boardroom.
If you come from the world of serious high school or collegiate speech and debate championships, you might feel like these messages are generic. Relative to forensics, they are not focused on presenting or synthesizing research. And they’re not particularly novel.
But they are three things: universal (because you have judges from all across the globe), digestible (nobody walks away confused about their meaning), and authentic (every message is connected to deeply personal stories).
In some ways, it takes more skill to stand out in a field of more generic messages than one that invites more niche, academia-focused topics.
The Structure
Just like Mix & Match blocks have different pictures in the same shapes, these speeches all follow the same general structures when sharing their stories.
(This will make more sense if you watch the speeches first.)
1. Hook (0:00–0:45)
Short, playful, theatrical opening line (often misdirecting the audience).
Quick audience interaction or humor (“give me a hoohoo if you love the stage,” or pun/joke from Ali, or mistaken Ninja Turtle reference).
They do this to lower the listeners’ defenses and get audience leaning forward.
2. Personal Backstory Setup (≈0:45–2:30)
Protagonist self-identifies as flawed, lost, selfish, or “less than.”
Parent figure (father in Just Nod and Keep Dreaming, mother in Raindrops) imposes expectations or redirects the speaker.
This establishes relatable imperfection + external authority figure.
3. Inciting Incident / Tension Point (≈2:30–4:00)
We learn about a pivotal failed attempt at dream/goal:
Bollywood audition (speech 1).
Fighting with Ali at the orphanage (speech 2).
Shrinking dream of NBA + Iverson retiring (speech 3).
4. Parental (or spousal) Wisdom Moment (≈4:00–4:30)
Mother’s metaphor about raindrops. Wife reframing “success” as family.
In this case, an always external voice re-centers the narrative.
The exception here is the championship speech - he makes his father’s rigid career options something to surmount later.
The idea is that the speaker is humble — they found their turning points from other people.
5. Mini-Transformation + Reapplication (≈4:30–6:00)
Speaker tries again, but this time with new mindset:
Puts on red suit → performs at work.
Apologizes/listens to Ali → sparks his growth.
Accepts father/husband identity → reframes what “dreams” are.
6. Big Reveal / Twist (≈6:00–7:00)
A letter/email arrives (Oscar joke, Ali’s thank-you note, semifinal invite).
Retroactive validation of the earlier effort.
Audience feels payoff of delayed gratification.
7. Universalized Moral + Call to Action (≈7:00–end)
Direct imperative to the audience:
“Just nod.”
“Be the first raindrop.”
“Keep dreaming.”
Ends with a repeatable slogan (sticky, Tweet-length).
The Substance
Every speech has the same beats.
All three hinge on authority figure reframing the protagonist’s values.
Every arc starts with a failure the audience laughs at.
Each story has a central metaphor made concrete (stage, raindrops, dreams).
External validation arrives in writing (Oscar joke, Ali’s email, semifinal invite).
Title phrase = closing call to action.
Each section is ~90 seconds. Laugh line every ~45–60s. Audience never goes more than a minute without relief.
This structure is basically Pixar storytelling meets TEDx cadence. You get audience laughter, a tug on the heart, and a sticky takeaway.
However, all three risk predictability. Judges notice when every finalist leans on “parent wisdom → personal pivot → applause slogan.”
Consider:
Varying the authority source (instead of mom/dad/wife, use internal discovery or peer challenge).
Breaking pacing expectations—insert silence or a tonal rupture around 4:30.
Ending with a non-sloganistic provocation rather than a tidy bow.
The Style
This is what makes the speeches come alive. Every speaker is HIGHLY polished and rehearsed. The champion is also cute, goofy, and endearing in the best way. Without their sense of comedic and dramatic timing—especially how jazzed each of them appear to be on stage—none of this would work.
If you’re a competitor, study the structure, but don’t get trapped in it. The best speakers earn the audience’s trust with familiar beats, then surprise them with a sharper pivot, a quieter moment, or a messier truth.
If you’re a coach, train your students to recognize the pattern—and then ask: What would make this unforgettable?
If you’re a judge, remember — great speeches follow the formula. Legendary ones break it.
