League Policies
Manage the Room
- Competitors are scheduled in 15-minute intervals and are only allowed to speak within their allotted 15-minute window. Please make sure that competitors conclude their speeches by the end of their speaking window so that the next competitor can start on time.
- If a student arrives with less time remaining than is allowed for the speech (less than 10 for a platform or interp, for example) please remind them to be mindful of the time and conclude speaking at the end of their allotted time.
- Unless instructed to do so by staff, do not allow a student to begin early, speak past their allotted time slot, or speak in a different time slot.
- Speakers experiencing technical difficulties or other challenges are not eligible for additional time or accommodations, or re-addition at the end of the round.
- For In-Person Tournaments, ensure that the competition room door remains open between speakers.
- If necessary, graciously remind other judges not to confer about speakers or rankings.
- Graciously remind other judges to pause note-taking between speeches when it is time for the next speaker to begin.
Confirm and Announce the Speech Times
- Competitors should stop the timepiece at the conclusion of the speech and show the time to the judges.
- Announce the time exactly as recorded on the timepiece to the rest of the judge panel and to the speaker for confirmation.
Preparation Time for Apologetics and Impromptu
- The speaker will set the timepiece to count down from 4 minutes for Apologetics or for 2 minutes for Impromptu and show it to the judges. You may remind the student to start their timepiece before the topic is drawn.
- Please also remind them to look for their name on their topic card at in-person tournaments.
- When preparation time is over, students should start their timer for the speech and begin speaking promptly.
Announcing Did Not Compete, Script Use, or Timer Issue
- If a student does not compete—either does not arrive or does not give any portion of his or her speech—announce “did not compete.”
- If a student uses a script for a platform or interpretation speech, announce “script use” at the end of the speech.
- If a student has a time issue, announce “timer issue” at the end of the speech.
- Competitors are scheduled in 15-minute intervals and are only allowed to speak within their allotted 15-minute window. Please make sure that competitors conclude their speeches by the end of their speaking window so that the next competitor can start on time.