Welcome to the Coolidge National Declamation Contest. In this video-based competition, the top 12 finishers will be invited to compete in the declamation event at the 2025 Coolidge Cup speech and debate tournament, held at the Coolidge Historic Site in Plymouth, Vermont, July 1-5, 2025.
The 2025 competition is now open, and the deadline for entry will be Sunday, April 13, at 11:59 PM EDT. To enter, select one speech excerpt from the official packet of three speeches by President Coolidge that we will provide, record a video of yourself declaiming it, and then fill out the submission form at the bottom of this page. Winners will be notified of the results in May.
Process
First, download the 2025 Coolidge National Declamation Contest Speech Packet. Read the speech excerpts and choose one speech excerpt you would like to declaim in your video. (We give you three speech excerpts to choose from so that you get to exercise some choice in selecting the message that has the most meaning to you.) Familiarize yourself with the speech excerpt of your choice by reading and practicing it. When you are ready, create a video of yourself delivering the speech. Then, upload your video and fill out the submission form by the deadline. The Coolidge Foundation will judge the entries.
Prizes
For the 2025 declamation competition, we are offering an exciting set of prizes:
- The Top 12 finishers will receive a $100 prize (gift card) and an invitation to travel to Plymouth, Vermont, to compete in the declamation event at the 2025 Coolidge Cup, held July 1-5, 2025. These 12 qualifying students receive a travel assistance stipend and full coverage of hotel and meal expenses while at the Coolidge Cup. At the tournament, they compete for cash scholarship prizes as follows: 1st Place, $1,000; 2nd Place, $750; 3rd Place, $500; and 4th Place, $250.
- Students placing 13th-30th will receive a certificate of accomplishment and a $100 prize (gift card) via U.S. mail.
Video Dos and Don’ts
- Do speak loudly and clearly.
- Do record your video in “landscape” (i.e., horizontal) mode, not “portrait” (i.e., vertical) mode.
- Do title your videos with your name and the name of the speech.
- Do not further edit or cut the text of the speech we have provided.
- Do not declaim a speech that is not among the ones we have provided in the packet.
- Do not use any props, or edit your video to enhance it with music, photos, graphics, etc.
Judging Criteria
Your declamation video will be scored by Coolidge judges. Our judges are looking for students to speak at an appropriate volume, with good articulation, and at a reasonable rate of speed. Try to connect with the text and demonstrate an understanding of the material you are delivering. You do not need to memorize the entire speech, but we but we recommend that you practice it several times to have strong familiarity with it and demonstrate good, frequent eye contact. Other elements of style include appropriate gesturing and good posture. Remember that this is your delivery of President Coolidge’s speech. Do not try to mimic what you think President Coolidge sounded like when he gave the speech. There is no minimum or maximum in terms of time or the length of your video.
We will share the competition’s final results here on this web page on this web page as soon as all of the videos are reviewed and scored. That will be sometime in May. Please leave your video up either permanently or at least until after the results of the competition have been announced. If your video is “unavailable” or the link that you provide is broken, we will make one attempt to reach out to you so that you can resolve the issue (sometimes this is a case of a video needing to be changed from “private” to “public” so that we can view it). If your technical issue isn’t or can’t be resolved after that one attempt, your entry will be removed from the competition. Unfortunately, due to the volume of entries we receive, we cannot provide you with individualized feedback, coaching, or analysis. Please also remember that the view counters and statistics on video sharing sites may not accurately reflect real views (we allow our judges full choice in browsers, browser settings, browser plugins, and so on, which sometimes results in video views not being counted or measured accurately by video platform sites).
Eligibility
This application is open to legal residents of the fifty United States, its territories, and the District of Columbia who are current high school students and who have received written permission from a parent or legal guardian. Students must be in grades 9-12 for the current school year. You do not need to be part of a school speech and debate team or club to participate in this contest. If you earn an invitation to the Coolidge Cup in both declamation and debate, you will have to choose which event you would like to compete in (for scheduling reasons, it is not possible to compete in both events simultaneously).
If you have any questions or problems, please contact Speech and Debate Director Jonathan Peele.
Entry Form