Judging 101

1. Judging 101 A Speech and Debate survival guide for everyone

2. Why Judge? • Without judges, there are no tournaments! • Each school is required to provide judges in order for their students to compete. • The number of judges each school is required to bring is directly related to the number of students and the events in which they are entered.

3. As a judge, what should I bring to a tournament? • Your favorite pen • If you are judging debate events, it is helpful to have 2 different colors of ink. • Paper or legal pads • It is especially helpful for judges of debate events. • A digital timer • A watch with a second-hand is NOT acceptable. • Reading material or business work • Most judges usually have at least 1 round off. • A copy of the judge manual • This can come in handy for questions during rounds.

4. Guidelines For All Judges • DO: • Attend all judge calls to receive judging assignments. • Report to the assigned room on-time. • Ask students to turn off all electronic devices. Make sure you have turned yours off as well!

5. Guidelines For All Judges • DO: • Take careful notes of each speech. • Keep time on all presentations and provide time signals to the contestants if you have a digital timer. • Complete the ballot(s) with as many substantive comments as possible.

6. Guidelines For All Judges • DO: • Use a pen and press down hard on debate ballots with multiple copies. • Provide a clear reason for each of your ranking/win-loss decisions. • Complete the master ballot for speech events properly. • Turn in your ballot(s) promptly after the round’s conclusion.

7. Guidelines For All Judges • DO NOT: • Judge any round in which a student from the school you represent is competing (except Congressional Debate). • Switch ballots with other judges or take other judges’ assignments. • Allow anyone to video tape, audio tape, or photograph any round.

8. Guidelines For All Judges • DO NOT: • Allow students to keep time for you. • Ask students for a copy of their scripts or orations. • Ask students what school they are from. • Discuss the students you judged, or your ranking/decision, with other judges.

9. Guidelines For All Judges • DO NOT: • Penalize speakers for their attire. You can, however, penalize a student for attire that is distracting to his/her performance. • Allow interruptions once a speaker or performance begins.

10. Guidelines For All Judges • DO NOT: • Confer with other judges. Each judge should make his/her decision independently. • Observe student performances when you have a round off, as you may be asked to judge those students in a future round.

11. Disclosure/Critiques • It is NOTpermissible to talk to students after a round about how you voted/ranked their performances. • Please keep all ranking decisions to yourself. • If you have a comment or question about a performance, please direct it to your school’s coach or a tournament official.

12. Event Distinctions • Debate • Lincoln Douglas, Team/Policy Debate, and Public Forum • You are determining a win and a loss in the round. • Individual Events • Original Oratory, Declamation, Extemporaneous Speaking, Oral Interpretation, Duo Interpretation, Dramatic Performance • IE competitors are ranked from 1 to 6 in the room. • Congressional Debate • Each student to give a speech receives points from 6 to 1 (zero if less than 60 seconds) • Then students are put in order from 1-6 for best legislator • Unlike IE, 6 is the highest value on the individual speaker sheet.

13. Lincoln Douglas Debate • Lincoln-Douglas debate is a two-person format where the affirmative supports the resolution and the negative attacks it. • The resolution, which changes every two months, is always a question of value. • The debaters will try to show why their position supports the more important, fundamental principles inherent in their position and why that position is superior to the opponent’s.

14. Lincoln Douglas Debate • The debaters will construct their cases using logic, theory, and philosophy. • Arguments are to be substantiated by analysis, testimony, comparison and contrast, analogy, example, and/or factual data. • The most important requirement for a debater’s delivery is that you are able to understand them and write down their arguments. • If the arguments do not make sense to you, be sure to comment on that problem on the ballot.

15. Lincoln Douglas Debate • A balance between relevant content and persuasive delivery is optimal. • Judges ought to put aside their own attitudes and preferences where the issues in the round are concerned. • The judge’s purpose is to decide who has done the better job of debating, and not to decide which side is the “correct” one.

16. Lincoln Douglas Debate • Judges should write comments to the debaters on the ballot. • Debaters want to know what didn’t work, what the judge didn’t buy as an argument or strategy, and how they can improve. • Comments on delivery problems that affected the judge’s ability to comprehend the arguments are always helpful. • Judges should always give a Reason For Decision outlining arguments which you felt were the important ones in the round and who you think won them.

18. Public Forum Debate • Public Forum values persuasion as much as it values argumentation and reasoning. • The topic is a current event and changes monthly. • The pro team must uphold the resolution, and the con team must negate the resolution.

19. Public Forum Debate • Judges should look for clear, well-structured cases that use logical arguments and evidence as support. • Judges should expect to see clash, meaning the debaters refute their opponents’ arguments, showing why they are flawed or insufficient.

20. Public Forum Debate • Delivery is an important part of this event. • Debaters should be fluent, articulate, free of slang and jargon, have good vocal variety and good eye contact with the judge. • Argumentation should be organized and vigorous but civil. • Teams should not be obnoxious, rude or loud.

21. Public Forum Debate • You must decide which team was most persuasive in the debate. • Judges should do their best to be objective about the issues, setting aside their own opinions and attitudes. • The judge’s job is to determine which team did the better job of debating, not which side is right and which side is wrong.

22. Public Forum Debate • The ballots should explain your reason for decision, which should include which arguments were most persuasive. • Suggestions for improvement in delivery are also helpful.

23. Public Forum Debate • For NCFL tournaments, the sides are set prior to the students entering the rounds. • In National Competition (NFL) ONLY, a coin toss will determine the organization of the round. • Generally one team will flip and the other will call. • The coin toss must be witnessed by the judge(s) assigned to the round.

24. Public Forum Debate • The team that wins the coin toss shall select EITHER: • 1. Which side of the topic they wish to uphold (Pro or Con) OR • 2. Which speech they would like to give (First or Last) • The team which lost the coin toss will select from the remaining option.

26. Congressional Debate • Contestants in Congressional Debate become legislators charged with the task of fulfilling the responsibilities of the legislative branch of the federal government. • Prior to the tournament students receive the topics and research those areas to prepare speeches.

27. Congressional Debate • Each Congress session is approximately 2 1/2 hours. • The session is run by a student Presiding Officer. • The PO’s job includes: • Recognizing speakers • Conducting vote • Keeping order

28. Congressional Debate • At all tournaments, you will be given lots of copies of a Speaker Ballot. • All speeches are a maximum of 3 minutes in length. • Each time a student is recognized for the purpose of making a speech, you should complete a ballot.

29. Congressional Debate • Fill out all identification information on the ballot. • Write comments telling the speaker what you thought of delivery and content. • Assign a score on a scale of 1 (very poor) to 6 (excellent).

30. Congressional Debate • Unlike other speech events, you will give the same number to several different speakers. • It is always a good idea to save the score of 6 for truly outstanding speeches. • Likewise, scores of 3 or below should be reserved for short, poorly delivered, or inappropriate commentary. • If a speech is less than one minute, it gets a score of 0.

32. Congressional Debate • When you receive your judge packet, you will also receive a Master Ballot, a blank grid on which to record scores. • Write the last name of the legislators on the left side. Indicate who is the PO in the round • Circle the score (6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0) you entered on the speaker’s individual ballot for that speech. • When the session is done, add up the total points and enter that in the right side column.

34. Congressional Debate • You may also be asked to judge the Presiding Officer. • This person is referred to as the Parliamentarian • At most tournaments, the Presiding Officer’s score will be based on a maximum of 12 points. • In these cases, total scores below 8 should be reserved for extreme circumstances.

36. Congressional Debate • Your other major responsibility during the session is to note how well each legislator performs with respect to: • Participation in questioning periods • Level of involvement in parliamentary disputes • Interaction with other legislators • Decorum • Behavior • Attendance

37. Congressional Debate • You will be asked to select a designated number of students as the Best Legislators in the session. • Look for students who were excellent speakers and excellent legislators (may include PO). • A tournament official will tell you how many legislators to select.

39. Extemporaneous Speaking • Students are given 30 minutes of preparation time to deliver a 7 minute speech that answers a question about a topic of public interest, almost always pertaining to current events. • Only the judge and one contestant at a time will be present in the room. • The first speaker will arrive when his/her 30 minutes have elapsed. • Each subsequent speaker will come into the room at approximately 7 minute intervals.

40. Extemporaneous Speaking • Each speaker should hand the question to the judge when he/she enters the room. • Speaker should be judged on: • Content organization • Valid and varied evidence • Effective delivery

43. Original Oratory • Oratory is a speech of up to 10 minutes that must be: • composed by the student delivering it • memorized • The purpose of the oration should be to inform and/or persuade. • The topic should be interesting, stimulating, and of some importance.

44. Original Oratory • Speakers must not be penalized for expressing views with which the judge happens to disagree. • The Speech should be organized for easy understanding. • Content should be developed with varied support and effective language. • Vocal and physical delivery should enhance the content.

47. Declamation • In Declamation, students present a memorized speech that must have been actually delivered in real life. • Selections may include, but are not limited to: • professional speeches • public orations • Eulogies • sermons, etc.

48. Declamation • The introduction must: • name the work and author • provide necessary background information • establish the mood • Judging should be based on effectiveness of: • Presentation style • Vocal delivery • Physical delivery • Ability to interpret and convey speech’s original message