Enjoy a sneak peek of Friday's Gardere MLK Jr. Oratory Competition (video)

The 24th Annual Gardere MLK Jr. Oratory Competition, co-presented by Dallas ISD, will be held at the Majestic Theatre on Friday, Jan. 15 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Incorporating ideals from Dr. King’s writings and speeches, eight fourth- and fifth-grade Dallas ISD elementary school students will present original speeches addressing the topic: “What would Dr. King say in his campaign speech if he were running for president this year?”

Leading up to Friday's event, The Hub filmed small parts of each finalist's speech as the students practiced for the competition. Enjoy a small preview of the eight speeches in the above video.

Approximately 135 students participated in the in-school competitions held in October to qualify for 15 positions to represent their school in the semi-final round. Then, eight finalists were selected to advance. At all three levels of competition, students were judged on their delivery, stage presence, content interpretation and memorization. Finalists will receive monetary gifts in varying amounts.

The annual competition, which is free and open to the public, is presented, hosted and sponsored by Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP.

Watch a livestream of the competition on Friday here.