Speech Change Boundaries for Championships

Congratulations on qualifying for championship-level competition! 

You have rehearsed your speech dozens upon dozens of times! No doubt you have received a lot of great feedback from peers, coaches, and judges! In the weeks before the championship tournament, you may be considering all that feedback and have ideas on how to improve your speech. But how much is too much?

Both the piece and the person must be the same. If competing in a platform or interpretation event, the applicable Academic Integrity rule describes this:

During championship tournaments, competitors must perform the same piece that they performed when they earned the invitation to compete at the championship tournament. In other words, it is the combination of both the piece and the person that is awarded an invitation to the higher level of competition.

If you will compete in a platform event, the second part of that Academic Integrity rule describes what changes are allowed:

Minor revisions, such as changing examples, stories, or analytical rhetoric are allowed. The competitor should not go so far as to change the main points of a speech while preparing for advanced competition with a speech that has already qualified.

If you will compete in an interpretation event, the second part of that Academic Integrity rule describes what changes are allowed:

Minor revisions, such as revising a cutting, are allowed. The competitor should not go so far as to change the main theme of a speech or take a cut from a different section of a literary selection while preparing for advanced competition with a speech that has already qualified.

Here are some questions to help guide your editing:

1. Are you altering a significant percentage of the script?
2. Are you removing a substantial portion of previous content in order to add more content? 
3. Is your revision changing one of the main points (or scenes), or is it simply improving, clarifying, or expanding your main points?
4. Does the change add clarity or a deeper impact without fundamentally changing your theme, thesis, or main points?
5. Would a judge who had heard your speech before recognize it as the same speech, only improved?
6. Would you consider your change a major or minor revision?

We are praying for all of you to finish this season well! To communicate truth with integrity and grace takes perseverance, and we are rooting for you! Enjoy your competition!

If you still have questions or concerns as you consider revising your script, we encourage you to write us at SpeechCommitteeobfsctd-968237@NCFCA.org.  

P.S. Please remember to review all of the rules for your event carefully. Even if you reviewed them carefully at the beginning of the season, you will want to be sure that your whole speech still complies with the rules now that small changes have been made.