Judging Instructions-

​

Using Tabroom.com

CBSR - Citrus Belt Speech Region

What are tournaments like?

Judging is for the students

• Rank students as fairly as you can.
• Students are REALLY disappointed when they do not get comments.
• Positive:
• “I really liked…” “It was very effective when you…” “I could see your passion in…”
• Constructive:
• “It didn’t work that well when…” “You might try…”
• ​

Common Terms: General

1. Ballot: the sheet of paper or online location where judges write the results of an individual round of competition, which they submit to the Tab Room or online tabulation system.
2. Divisions:categorizations of competition at a tournament, such as “varsity/JV”, “novice,” and “open.”
3. Posting: (v.) process or (n.) location of prelim schematics or list of contestants breaking to elims. “Postings” usually indicates what room a judge will go to on their Tabroom Account
4. Tab Room: (Or “Tab”) short for tabulation, this is the tournament headquarters, where results are computed.
5. Tabroom: An online tournament software hosts can use for registration, creating rounds, and results calculation.

Common Terms: Speech

1. Blocking: movements made during a performance.
2. Cut: to take only selected sections from a literary piece; to cut to meet time limits or to cut inappropriate material. This is done in Interp Events.
3. Time Signals: hand signals showing how much time a competitor has left to speak. Students may need these, being that it is the first speech competition of the season.
4. Patterns: different groups of events. Events may be divided into “Patterns” and run at different times.
5. Pop: when an individual performer suddenly changes characters when performing an Interp event.
6. Speaker Order: the order contestants are listed on the schematic for each round is the order in which those students should present.

Common Terms: Lincoln Douglas

1. Contention: An argument that should also have….
1. A claim (a simple sentence expressing the argument’s position)
2. A warrant (analysis and evidence proving the position to be true)
3. An impact (analysis indicating why the position is important and how it proves the criterion).
2. Value: What the debater thinks is the most important thing that you can achieve. LD is considered a “Value” debate because both should provide a value to weigh the debate on. Ex: Freedom, Justice, Safety, Democracy
3. Criterion: criterion is how the value will be achieved. It is often is used to narrow the scope of the value to apply it to the resolution. Ex: Utilitarianism, Cost-Benefit Analysis, Social Contract , etc.
4. Flow: This is a special way the students will take notes of the round. They will often say “on the Flow” or “dropped from the flow.”
5. Burden of Proof: A debater who offers an argument must show that it is valid in order for it to be accepted. In LD debate, the affteam has the burden to prove the resolution true while the negative has the burden to prove the resolution false.

Note: Some of these debaters may bring in philosophical terms for their arguments. If you do not understand or don’t want to deal with these arguments, please make a note of it in your tabroom paradigm.

Tabroom Login and Ballot Access

• Log in, and then click on your email address at the top of the screen:

​

• ​

Create Standing Conflicts

• In order to avoid being assigned a ballot for your child, add a standing conflict.

​

• ​

Create Standing Conflicts

Search by name or email. If searching by name, be sure you select the correct person!

​

Do NOT add a school conflict!

​

• ​

Ballot Entry and Comments

• Completing ballots is fairly intuitive and you will not be able to submit an improper ballot. Once you have confirmed your ballot, you cannot make changes to the results/points without contacting the tournament director.
• However, if you would like to add additional comments, you can access them by viewing previous ballots you've entered and clicking "Edit Comments:"

​

​

• ​

Tabroom Debate Ballot/RFD

BALLOT

Debate Ballots

• Select the winning side.
• Speaker points are awarded based on overall quality of style, substance, clash, and sportsmanship.
• No ties - Low point win
• Instead of an overall comment, there will be a spot for your “Reason for Decision” (RFD). In a couple of sentences, explain what you based your decision upon.
• Comments may be given to each team, specified to a person.
• ​
• ​
• ​

Individual Comments

Individual Comments

ONLINE DEBATE BALLOT

• SPEAKER POINTS (S/B on ballot)
• 24.0 - 25.0...Rude / Discourteous
• 25.0 - 26.0...Unprepared
• 26.0 - 27.0...Needs Improvement
• 27.0 - 27.4...Below Average
• 27.5...Average Debater
• 27.6 - 28.0...Above Average
• 28.0 - 29.0...Very Good Debating
• 29.0 - 29.9...Phenomenal Debating
• 30.0...Perfection (In other words - don’t give a 30).
• ​
• ​

Speech Ballots

• Rank the speakers in order of 1st to last by typing 1 for 1st, 2 for 2nd, 3 for 3rd… etc. Please also list their times
• Instead of an overall comment, there will be a spot for your “Reason for Decision” (RFD). In a couple of sentences, explain what you based your decision upon. Here you can tell students what you were looking for in the round.
• Please also give speakers at least a couple lines of individual feedback, but be extra kind to novices.

​

Rank: 1 = BEST

Time: in minutes and seconds

Violation: typically overtime or use of script; if in doubt, check in judges room before submitting

No show: Self-explanatory

ONLINE SPEECH BALLOT

Please give individual comments - only the student and their coach will have access

​

BE SURE TO SAVE COMMENTS BEFORE LEAVING THE PAGE!

​

Pieces will not always save in Tabroom. Please write these down on paper if possible.

Submitting Your Ballot

Please try to submit your ballot as soon as possible!

​

You can save and edit feedback after the round, but submitting those ballots as soon as the round is over helps us run the tournament smoothly and efficiently.

​

Remember! Only you can prevent (ballot related) tournament delays!

• Speech and Debate is an educational activity.
• As a judge, you are part of the educational process through your comments.
• Please do your best to:
• Provide a Reason for Decision in debate rounds.
• Provide both positive and constructive feedback to each competitor.

The students WANT to improve - your comments help them to do so!

​

THANK YOU FOR JUDGING!

Culturally Competent Judging