1-2 Weeks Prior or Earliest Reasonable Time
- Secure venue
- Order trophies
- Confirm roles
- Provide rulebook to contestants and judges
- Provide Judges Training book to judges
- Provide link to video tutorials
- Verify elibigility of contestants and judges
Venue
- Sequester location for Evaluation & Table Topics
- Speaking area
- Timers table or other reserved seating
- Audio / Visual equipment
Roles
All roles must be performed by paid members of a Toastmasters club.- Contest Master
- Chief Judge*
- 3-5 judges*
- Tiebreaker judge*
- 2 timers
- 3 ballot counters
- Contestants
- Test speaker for evaluation (not a member of a club with any of the contestants)
* Judges additional requirements:
- Judges at Area and higher must have finished 6 speeches fromtheCompetent Communication Manual or Levels 1 & 2 from a Pathways path.
- Judges at Area and higher must be physically present.
- Judges at Division and higher must not be a member of the same club as a contestant. (I don't see this listed in the rules, but it is in the Judge's Code of Ethics on the Judge's Eligibility Form.)
- Judges at InternationalSemifinals and higher must be an ATM-B or an ACB or have fully completed a Pathways path. (Like anyone coordinating at this level would even look at my checklist!)
Materials
- Timing lights
- Timing cardss
- Stopwatches (2)s
- Batteriess
- Lecterns
- Banners
- Gavels
- Envelopess
- Pens!!s
- 50/50 ticketss
- Trophies!s
- Speaker eligibility forms
- Judge eligibility forms
- Judge forms
- Tiebreaker judge forms
- Timer forms
- Ballot counter forms
- Evaluation contestant notes
- Certificates
- Door Signs
- Results Forms
- Notification of Winners forms
Contestant Briefing
- Collect eligibility forms
- Remove TM titles
- Get speech titles
- Confirm name spelling and pronunciation
- Test speech for Evaluation
- Evaluation contestants must use official notes sheet, no other materials (besides pen/pencil)
- Sequester for Table Topics and Evaluation
- Timing, technical failure +30s
- Originality
- Speaking area
- Sergeants-at-arms
- One for each door
- At least one to monitor sequester for Evaluation and Table Topics
- At least one to collect and return contestants' Evaluation notes
- Speaker's responsibility to prepare props during minute of silence
- Disqualification
- Disputes
- Announcement of winners
- Draw for order
Functionary Briefing
- Judges
- Collect eligibility forms
- Speech not speaker
- Presentation not content
- Be objective
- Do not consider timing
- Speaking area relevance is your discretion
- Report dispute on originality to Chief Judge immediately
- Must fill in 1st, 2nd, & 3rd (unless < 3)
- Must sign ballot
- Disputes for originality
- Failing to cite does not disqualify, but may affect scoring
- Destroy forms
- Do not discuss
- Timers
- Start on first communication with audience (unless delay is excessive)
- One handles the stopwatch
- One handles the lights or cards
- Green starts displaying at 1/2/5
- Green stops and yellow starts at
- Yellow stops and red starts at 2/3/7
- Red displays until speaker finishes
- Record time on timer sheet
- Indicate technical failure on timer sheet
- For evaluation contest, one timer accompanies contestants to sequester in order to time the 5-minute preparation period
- Immediately interrupt announcement of winners if time-disqualified speaker is announced as a winner
- Ballot Counters
- Designate to specific judges for collection
- Each verify arithmetic (1st-3, 2nd-2, 3rd-1)
- Immediately interrupt announcement of winners if order is wrong
- Tiebreaker judge (briefed SEPARATELY and not present here)
- Must list EVERY speaker IN ORDER
- Same requirements for other judges
1.5/2.5/6
Program
- Call to Order
- Recognition of Dignitaries
- Skip any dignitaries who are contestants
- Announcements
- 50/50
- Food
- Purpose of contest
- Summary of contest rules
- Timing
- +30s on failure
- Speaking area
- Remain present or not
- Disputes limited
- Results final (unless wrong and immediately interrupted)
- Announce order of contestants
- TURN OFF DEVICES
- Do not interrupt! (or enter/leave)
- Test speech (Eval only)
- Dismiss contestants (Eval & TT)
- 5 minutes prep time (Eval only)
- Acknowledge target speaker
- Announcements
- Table Topics
- For each contestant
- 1 minute of silence
- Name, Title/Table Topic/Contestant #,Title/Table Topic/Contestant #, Name
- Presentation
- 2 minutes of silence
- Direct judges to complete and sign ballots
- Direct timers to deliver sheets to Chief Judge
- Direct ballot counters to collect ballots and join Chief Judge
- Intermission or interviews or next contest!
- Announce dignitaries that were contestants (unless they are also in next contest!)
- Do not interview contestants who are also in next contest
- Address disputes
- Chief Judge fills out Notification of Winners form
- Acknowledge contestants
- Acknowledge functionaries
- Food
- 50/50
- Ballot counters
- Timers
- Judges (anonymous)
- Chief Judge
- Contest Master
- Contest Chair
- Announce next level contest time and place
- 50/50 drawing
- Finish ALL other announcements and business
- Announce winners
- Announce if any disqualifications have taken place
- 3rd place (only if 5 or more participants)
- 2nd place
- 1st place
Timing
- Make sure timing lights work
- Make sure timing cards are on hand
- Make sure you know how to start, stop, and reset stopwatch(es)
- Know the timing windows for the contest
- Table Topics: 1-2 minutes
- Evaluation: 2-3 minutes
- Speeches: 5-7 minutes
- Time one minute of silence before each speech, use red card/lights to signal time has elapsed.
- Time two minutes of silence (or as directed) after final speech, use red card/lights to signal time has elapsed.
- Time speeches
- Begin with first communication of any type to the audience by the speaker or a speaker's assistant
- Stop timing when speaker definitely ends the speech and returns control to the Contest Master.
- DO NOT GET ENGAGED IN THE SPEECH. Watch the stopwatch.
- At minimum time display green and keep displaying until:
- Halfway between minimum and maximum time stop displaying green, display yellow/amber, and keep displaying until:
- At maximum time stop displaying yellow/amber, display red, and keep displaying until speaker finishes.
- For contestants (not test speaker), record time on timer form.
- After final speaker, give timer sheet to the Chief Judge
Counting Ballots
- Know who the judges are and where they are sitting before the contest starts
- After final speaker, once judges have finished scoring, collect ballots from the judges you are responsible for.
- Each ballot counter individually records and scores every judge's ballot
- For each ballot
- Make sure it is valid
- Judge has signed the ballot
- 1st, 2nd, and 3rd are all named (unless fewer than 3 contestants)
- On counter form, enter 3 points for a first place vote
- On counter form, enter 2 points for a second place vote
- On counter form, enter 1 points for a third place vote
- Add up points for each contestant
- Compare results with other ballot counters to ensure all are in agreement.
- List top three point recipients as 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place at bottom of form.
- Ask Chief Judge to break ties from the tie-breaker ballot.
- No indication of disqualified contestants appears on the ballot counter forms
- Give form to the Chief Judge
Chief Judge
- After final contest speaker
- Collect timer sheets
- Collect tie-breaker judge's ballot
- Accompany ballot counters to location for counting ballots
- Make sure all ballot counters agree
- Remove disqualified contestants from consideration
- Use tiebreaker judge's ballot to break ties if needed
- Tied contestants are listed in the relative order they appear on tiebreaker judge's ballot
- Tiebreaker judge's ballot may NOT be used to change order of contestants that are NOT tied
- Record winners on Results Form
- Indicate if any disqualifications
- Do not list 3rd place if less than 5 contestants
- Fill out contestant names on 1st, 2nd, 3rd place certificates (if any)
- Deliver Results Form and Certificates to Contest Master when time to announce winners
- Fill out Notification of Winners form
- Include EVERY contestant that qualified
- List EVERY contestant in order, breaking ties as needed with the tiebreaker judge's ballot
Disputes for Originality
The process for handling disputes is briefly described in 7B of the official rules. This is how I would handle a dispute.- Handle in private!!!
- Standard is specified in 4D of the rules
- Must be substantially original
- No more than 25% "may be devoted to quoting, paraphrasing, or referencing another person’s content" and such content must be so identified
- Disputer can only be a Judge or Contestant
- Only judges, Chief Judge, disputer, and disputed present
- Disputer explain the dispute
- Disputed provides response
- Disputer & disputed dismissed. Chief Judge leaves.
- Remaining judges discuss and vote. Majority must agree in order to disqualify.
- Judges notify Chief Judge.
After
- Notification of winners form delivered to chair of next level contests
- Destroy other forms
- Restore venue
- Return borrowed materials
