How to Judge

Speech Events
By Cindy Sidwell
THANKS!
First, thanks for judging!

A lot of our judges feel like they are not experienced enough
to judge at high school debate and speech events, but most
of our judges are people just like you who have no
experience judging. Without you, we wouldnt have enough
judging to even have debate and speech tournaments.

So, THANK YOU!

Filling out the Ballot
1. Before each round, ballots will be handed out for you to fill out as you
judge. Many of these ballots have rubrics on them to help you as you judge.

2. Once you are given a ballot, look for the room number on it to see where
you will be judging. Take the ballot, a pen or pencil and a timer (or your
phone) to the room.

3. Students may be waiting for you when you come. They are not allowed to
enter a room without you, so alert the tournament if a contestant is inside
when you arrive.

4. Look at your ballot or a cover sheet with the contestants names/codes

and call them out to see if all the contestants are in the room.
Filling out the Ballot (cont)
Some students may not be there, as they may be double entered or entered in
another speech event, as well, so you can get the round started as soon as many
of the contestants are ready to go.

5. Call up each contestant in the order on the ballot. If someone says they are
double entered and ask if they can go first, please let them so that they can run
over to their other round.

6. On each ballot, you will fill out your name, the school you represent, the
contestant name/code, etc. Just fill in the blanks.
Listening to speeches and filling out the ballot
7. Make sure the name and code are correct on the ballot before they start
speaking. Whatever speech event you are judging, make sure that you start a
timer and are willing to do time signals. Time signals are when you hold up 4
fingers left for 4 min. 3 fingers for 3 min. 2 fingers for 2 min. 1 finger for 1 min.
Half a finger for 30 seconds, then count down 10, 9, 8, 7, etc.

*You are welcome to ask another contestant in the round to do this for you, if
you would like, but many of the speech events RELY on time signals, so please
make sure someone does it!
Yes, there is more!
8. As you listen to each speaker, take a few notes on the ballot, if you wish.
Contestants WILL see the ballot, but what they are mainly looking for is:

*What are they doing well?

*How can they improve?

You dont have to write a novel about them, just jot a few thoughts. Please be
nice! If you judge a brand new speaker and they really struggle, we want them to
be encouraged to continue. If all you do is criticize them, they may give up, so my
rule is: 2 compliments for every critique.
Fill it out as you go...
Dont write on a separate sheet of paper, then the ballot, go ahead and jot notes,
as well as critiques and compliments. The faster you fill out the ballot, the faster
the round goes.

9. After each speaker, I ask myself, Were they better than the other speakers?
Where would they fall if I ranked them? At this point I shuffle the ballots so that
the 1st place (the best speaker) is in the 1st position of the pile, 2nd in the 2nd
position, etc. By the end of the round, the ballots should end up being in order
from best (1st place) to the speaker that struggled the most (last).

10. Put in the Rank blank the order they earned. If the ballot has Rate, put a S
for Superior, E for Excellent, G for Good, F for fair.
Please dont use Fair!
I resist using the rate of Fair because I want to encourage the students, not
discourage them. If they were all amazing (like a final round), they may all have a
Superior rating! Wahoo!

*Many judges ask if there can be ties in Ranking the speaker, but no, there needs
to be one #1, one #2, one #3, etc.

10. Sign the ballots and you are done! Bring the ballots back to the ballot table
as quickly as possible so that the tournament keeps moving and get another ballot
to judge another round. Congratulations! You did it!
The Speech Events
1. Original Oratory

2. Foreign or U.S. Extemporaneous (Extemp)

3. Impromptu

4. Interpretation events: Humorous Interp, Dramatic Interp,

Duo

5. Informative
Oratory
Oratory is a speech event where competitors write their own persuasive-type
speech. I like to tell judges its a lot like their own TED talk. This speech can have
up to 10% of other peoples words, but it is mainly the competitors writing.

This speech is 7-10 minutes long. Competitors should have a topic they feel
strongly about. If you disagree with them, please put that aside and judge them
on their speaking ability and the quality of the writing.

By the end of Oratory, speakers will usually have a Call to Action. They should
have excellent delivery and, hopefully, make you think. Our kids are brilliant!
Enjoy their analysis and passion.
Extemporaneous Speaking: Extemp
Extemp speakers will speak on questions given to them on current topics in the U.S. or the world. Before
they came to the tournament, they did research on a variety of topics, not knowing what question they
would get, but a great extemp speaker will use many sources/dates in their speech to back up their
analysis. If a speaker has no sources at all, they should not be ranked very high, since it is important that
they have demonstrated their research. I keep track of sources by directly writing them in a corner on
the ballot.

Unlike any of the other events, Extemp speakers prepare in another room, where they have 30 min to
look over their research and write and practice their speech, so they will be coming in one at a time, 7
min apart, since their speeches can last up to 7 min long. Please give them time signals so they know
when to end!

*Remember, if you disagree with or politically oppose the side they chose, please dont hold it
against them! They dont know your beliefs and are just doing their best :) Be kind and judge on
performance and depth of analysis.
Impromptu Speaking
Impromptu speakers will be creating their speeches right in front of you! You will be given a
list of topics for them to use. These may be abstract words, quotes, people or social issues.

When the round begins, call up the first speaker and hand them the first bunch of
topics (they will be in groups of 3). As soon as the speaker looks at them, start the timer
at 7:00 min counting down. You are welcome to ask one of the other speakers if they will
do the timing for you. If you do it, tell them when they have used 30 sec, 1 min, 1 30, 2
min, etc (do this out loud). The speaker will pick one of the 3 and start to prepare their
speech. Many speakers will write some notes down on a sheet of paper, which is great, but
they shouldnt be using the notes as they give their speech. Speakers usually get up after
using 2-3 min prep. Dont stop the timer! The rest of the time, they will be giving their
speech. At this point, give hand time signals. Speakers will be judged on their delivery,
analysis of the topic (usually relating to life), their organization, etc.
Interpretation Events: Interps
Interps are drama/comedy pieces that are performed without the use of props,
costumes, etc. Actors may play many roles or just one--its up to them. The
contestants are judged on how well they can do the characters and create a
spellbinding scene. They have 5-10 min to present their piece.

Dramatic Interp (DI) are pieces that are usually serious.

Humorous Interps (HI) are pieces that are funny :)

Duo has 2 people performing, but they arent allowed to look at each other or
touch each other. These can be funny or serious or a combo.
Informative Speaking
Informative Speaking is a 10-minute presentation written and performed by the student. Informative requires
students to balance that content with delivery and style. Students in Informative must be articulate, engaging, and smooth
with their delivery at both a vocal and physical level. The purpose of the event is to inform and educate the audience on a
topic of significance. Students may or may not employ the use of visual aids in the performance.

Research is a very important component in Informative. All claims should be backed up with evidence that verifies the
information the speaker is conveying. 3 Ways to Evaluate: First, relevance: to assess the relevance of the speakers
Informative, focus on the timeliness of their topic.

Second, relatability: relatability is how the speaker connects the audience to the topic. Judges should consider
whether they are personally educated and examine whether they feel the student educated the audience.

Third, originality: when evaluating originality, it is important to note that there are few truly original topics. Instead,
consider how inventively the speaker addresses the topic. Judges ought to consider whether the rhetoric is unique, as
well as how new and exciting the approach is to the topic.
PROGRAM ORAL INTERPRETATION
Program Oral Interpretation is a 10-minute performance that can include some combination of Prose, Poetry, and
Drama. All students must have at least two out of the three genres included in their performance. The use of a manuscript
is required. The focus of the event is development of a theme or argument through the use of narrative, story, and/or
characterization.

There are three key areas of a POI that come together to create the performance the judge will evaluate.
First, programming, or the process of piecing together different types of literature into one cohesive performance.
The program should create a compelling performance centered around a theme or idea.

Second, blocking, or the movements a performer makes to convey space, emotion, and action. Blocking should
enhance the performance, not distract from the story. In POI, the student is allowed to use the manuscript as a prop to
enhance blocking as long as they maintain control of the manuscript at all times.

Third, characterization: characterization reveals the personality of the character through line delivery, vocal, and
facial expression, and varying levels of levity and intensity. Each piece of literature in a students POI should have
unique and engaging characters that can be distinguished from other pieces in the program. Additionally, each character
should adequately represent the genre of literature from which they are drawn. The student should display command of
poetic delivery when performing a selection of poetry, for example.
Thats it! You will be a great judge :)
*Fill out ballots as quickly as you can and return them to the ballot table.

**Just remember, you are a mentor as much as a judge.

*Be kind and encourage the students. They are gaining valuable skills for
life!

*Enjoy their brilliance :)

THANK YOU!!!!