Service...
The 4 Way Speech
Contest
From the earliest
days of the organization, Rotarians were concerned with promoting high
ethical standards in their professional lives. One of the world's most
widely printed and quoted statements of business ethics is The 4-Way Test,
which was created in 1932 by Rotarian Herbert J. Taylor (who later served
as RI president) when he was asked The 4-Way Test For
five decades Rotarians have been using The 4-Way Test as a practical yardstick
in their business, community, and personal affairs. The 4-Way Test, you
will note, does not provide answers. It asks questions which the user
must answer. Thousands of Rotarians have used it and shared it with others.
Millions of copies have been distributed to students and business associates.
The Test has been carved into granite monuments, displayed on billboards,
written into labor contracts, printed on wrapping paper and umbrellas,
and has been the theme of countless essay and speech contests.
to take charge of a company that was facing bankruptcy. This 24-word test
for employees to follow in their business and professional lives became
the guide for sales, production, advertising, and all relations with dealers
and customers, and the survival of the company is credited to this simple
philosophy. Adopted by Rotary in 1943, The 4-Way Test has been translated
into more than a hundred languages and published in thousands of ways.
It asks the following four questions:
"Of The Things we think, say or do:
