League Policies
A. General Rules for All Speeches (see above or ncfca.org/rules/speech-general-rules/)
B. Academic Integrity
- Citations. All material presented in the speech must be either competitors’ original work or include the source(s) for any supporting material. Plagiarism is not permitted.
- Verbal mention. Sources must be verbally mentioned.
C. Content, Preparation, and Presentation
- Topic. Competitors must prepare for and speak on one of the two topic options assigned to them. The topic must be stated during the speech.
- Materials.
- Storage. During a tournament, notecards and file box(es) must not be shared.
- Prep time. During in-round preparation time, only prepared notecards and the Bible may be used for reference. Prepared notecards must consist of notes written, printed, or affixed on notecards up to 5” x 6”. Any notes taken must be written on additional blank notecards up to 5” x 6”.
- Speech time. During the speech, no written or printed material may be held except notecards and/or the topic card.
D. Timing
- Prep Time. Preparation time is limited to four (4) minutes
- Show. Competitors must show their timepiece (set to count down) to the judges before starting their prep time.
- Start. They must start the timer and then draw the topic card.
- Show. At the end of the prep time, they must show the remaining time on the timepiece OR allow an audible alarm to indicate the end of the four (4) minutes.
- Speech Time. Speech time is limited to six (6) minutes. Competitors must show their timepiece (set to count up) to the judges before starting their speech and after turning off their timepiece at the end of their speech. The timepiece must be started before beginning the speech and kept running until the conclusion of the speech.
- Time Slot. Competitors must present their speech during their prescribed 15-minute slot and are not permitted to infringe on the next competitor’s scheduled time.
E. Online General Rules (see below or ncfca.org/rules/online-general-rules/)
- Citations. All material presented in the speech must be either competitors’ original work or include the source(s) for any supporting material. Plagiarism is not permitted.