General Judging Information
WHAT DO I NEED TO KNOW TO BE A TOURNAMENT JUDGE?
JUDGING IS REQUIRED: each school is obligated by league policy to provide judges at each tournament they attend, usually one judge all day for every two or three students competing. Most of the judging is done by students’ parents, who take turns helping the team meet their obligations.
You’ll need to know:
- how to access Tabroom.com; you need an account to judge
- date and location of the tournament (can be found on tabroom.com)
- start time and length of your judging assignment (e.g. half day, all day) - your child, or the coach of your school should provide this information to you
It is important that you arrive on time and stay for the duration of your judging commitment so your school and its student competitors will not be penalized for insufficient judges.
EVEN WHEN YOU ARE BRAND NEW, YOU CAN BE A COMPETENT JUDGE
Speech and debate is about communication, and we want students to learn to communicate with all kinds of audiences. We will give you standards for each event, so you will know what to look for, but beyond that, you will simply be choosing what you thought were the best presentations or debating. It’s important to realize that a competitor’s self-esteem, college career and future destiny do not depend on your ballot!
- Please review this Culturally Competent Judge Training manual created by the National Speech and Debate Association to ensure the most equitable environment possible.
There will be written instructions either on the ballot sheets or on the tournament live doc found on the tabroom website.
HOW DO TOURNAMENTS WORK?
Students are assigned to panels or rounds, each of which happens in a separate classroom. One or more judges are assigned to judge the panel/round. Everyone goes to their rooms, the students compete, and the judges evaluate them, submitting their ballots as soon as possible via Tabroom.com after the last student competitor has spoken. Judges may add additional comments throughout the tournament, but initial rankings/win-loss results should be submitted ASAP to keep the tournament running on schedule.
Students then return to their designated area and judges return to the judges’ room (tournaments may not have a judge room, it depends on each tournament). That completes a round of competition, which usually takes 1 ½ to 2 hours.
Most tournaments have 3 or 4 rounds of competition followed by an awards ceremony. Judges may leave once they are finished with their last judging assignment or when a member of the tournament staff officially dismisses them.
Please be aware that you may NOT be assigned to judge every single round at a tournament. Not being assigned a round does NOT mean you are excused from judging future rounds; when possible, we give judges occasional rounds off-duty so they have time to write additional comments, take care of personal needs, etc.
WHAT SHOULD I BRING?
- laptop or device to access your online ballot
How to Use Online Ballots Speech
How to Use Online Ballots Debate - Paper and pens or pencils if you want to take notes on paper
- timer for timing speeches, such as a stopwatch, digital watch with a stopwatch function, or phone timer.
- book or other quiet portable activity to fill any waiting time
Wear comfortable clothes, especially shoes. There is no dress code for judges and we encourage you to wear comfortable, casual attire.
WHAT SHOULD I DO WHEN I ARRIVE AT THE HOST SCHOOL?
Most tournaments now have a “Live Tournament Doc” that can be found on the Tabroom website for the specific tournament. The Live Tournament doc will make it clear if there is any Judges Room or Check-In process.
Judges will simply indicate they’ve arrived and are ready to judge by pressing their ‘Start Round’ button on Tabroom.com if/when they receive an online ballot.
WHAT DO I DO DURING THE ROUND?
- Get set up to judge in your assigned room, and make sure you’ve clicked ‘Start Round’ on your Tabroom.com ballot before the round start-time; this notifies the tournament staff that you’ve received the ballot.
- When you arrive at your room, students will probably be waiting for you; they are not allowed to enter the room until the judge is present.
- Sit wherever you’ll have a clear, unobstructed view of the front of the room where the competitors will speak.
- Call the roll of competitors listed on your ballot to make sure the assigned students have arrived. In Congress, the student Presiding Officer calls the roll, not the judge.
- If a student has a ✝ next to their name/entry code, they are double-entered in a second event. These students may depart early/arrive late, and may be permitted to speak out of the order listed on the Tabroom.com ballot.
- Students may be identified by a code, usually a letter/number; this relative anonymity is intended to promote judge objectivity.
- If you discover that your own child is in the panel, or someone you believe you won’t be able to judge objectively, please email [email protected]
- Let the competitors know you’re ready to begin. If you are judging an Individual Event (Speech) round, call the first speaker by name or code number.
LISTEN AND MAKE NOTES DURING THE ROUND
The judge is a silent, non-interactive observer of the round; do not give students constructive feedback, ask them clarifying questions about their speeches, interrupt their speeches, or otherwise involve yourself in the round except to call speakers forward.
THE IMPORTANCE OF PROVIDING FEEDBACK
- Once the last student has spoken, please rank the competitors in the round in order from best to worst. You should submit your ballot with rankings before typing extensive commentary.
- In addition to ranking, the most important role of a judge is to provide helpful feedback for the competitors. The majority of students will not receive any material reward at the end of a tournament, but everyone has the opportunity to learn and grow.
- Please imagine and empathize with how frustrating it is for students to spend months and years trying to improve in their event, and then to get a ballot with a low score and no feedback, or just “good job.”
- Students appreciate comments which specifically explain why they got the score they did, often describing what they didn’t do as well as the people you ranked higher.
- Feedback inspires students to continue learning, growing, and becoming the best communicators they can be.
WHAT DO I DO WITH MY BALLOT?
After all contestants have spoken, or the debate or Congress session is finished, complete your ballots. You may remain in the classroom for a few minutes to do this. (If you find it is taking you a long time to make your decisions, it’s best to move elsewhere to finish, so the next round can use the room.) You should submit your rankings ASAP and then can still access your ballots to provide feedback.