Tips for Judging High School Speech Competitions

As a former speech competitor, it was a great challenge to cross over to the side of judging. Although some aspects of the competition are highly subjective, there are many elements that judges should look for to help with evaluating competitors. The following tips have helped me fairly score and evaluate many competitors, and they will hopefully bring judges success this season as well.

1. Arrive early and come prepared. Much like the competitors, judges are also often rushing to find their rooms. Find a map, learn your school's code, and make sure to be in your room early to write down the double-entered competitors.

2. Collect your competitors' ballots a few minutes before the round begins. Make sure you determine a speaking order that makes sense. Have the double-entered speakers go first, then follow the schematic to determine the rest of the order.

3. Don't let students leave the round unless they are double entered. Most competitors feed off of having an enthusiastic audience, and it's often awkward for students to compete only for a judge.

4. Make sure you know the basic rules of the events you're judging. Even if you're judging an event that you previously competed in, double-check the rulebook to see if anything has changed. The judging table or the tab room should have a copy, so all you need to do is ask.

5. Bring the right materials to judge events. I also bring a number of pens, as one is inevitably bound to die. Also, bring a stopwatch for timed events like Impromptu, Radio, and Extemp.

6. Also, make sure to see if the competition is timing all events. In some of the harder competitions like Regionals or Sectionals, all events are timed to help make scoring a bit easier.

7. When judging, give the competitors good notes. It's disheartening to write a low score and "Tough Round!", which I have seen happen numerous times. Those sorts of comments aren't helpful, provide no constructive criticism, and leave the competitor feeling disheartened.

8. While watching students compete, pay attention to both verbal and nonverbal communication. I like to listen to tone, emphasis placed on words, rate, and so on. I also like to watch for eye contact, gestures, facial expressions, stance, and walking patterns. When judging events with characters, I watch for smooth transitions from one to the next. I will write notes on all of these aspects of the performance.

9. When judging Radio, Impromptu, and Extemp, keep track of flubs. These can help you decide which order to place the competitors in. All of these events focus on having few flubs in an allotted time, so you should keep track.

10. If a competitor doesn't show up, make sure to visit the judge's table. Often times, there are competitors who drop the day of the competition, so it will save you time to track down the contestant. If the competitor doesn't show up and hasn't been dropped, wait until the last possible moment, then tell the judge's table.

Although judging will come easily in time, it does take a while for one to feel comfortable rating students. The above tips will hopefully allow judges to make good choices during the competition. Above all, sit back and enjoy the performances and have fun!