Late registration will begin Monday from 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM. Students will only be allowed to sign-up on the morning of the contest if there room for more contestants (25 max.). The student who has the first speaking time will draw for a topic at 10:30 AM and will speak at 1:00 PM. The final speech will be given at 5:20 PM if the maximum numbers of students compete. Competitors are responsible for being PROMPTLY ON TIME to draw topics and for speaking times. No excuses allowed! Students who are late for their topic drawing time will still speak at their original time, but will have lost time to prepare. If someone is late for their speaking time they will not be allowed to compete.
When drawing for a topic, the contestant shall draw three slips containing the titles for speeches. These slips shall be prepared by the Society for Range Management Standing Sub-Committee Chair in advance of the contest. The speech titles will number no less than 150 titles and shall be made available to the contestants. The contestant will select a title from the three choices and report that title within one-half hour to a contest official. The two rejected slips shall then be returned to the pool of titles.
The contestant must produce an original speech in English. Factual information may be obtained from any source including reference materials brought to the contest, local libraries, and interviews with authorities at the annual meeting. The contestant must write the speech without assistance, although the speech may be critiqued by the contestant’s friends and advisors. Observe that friends and advisors may not write or dictate any portion of the speech and may only critique the contestant's physical manner, voice, and use of notes.
Contestants may use note cards or the equivalent.
The contest shall be open for the general
public to watch. No contestant shall enter the room prior to their speech.
There shall be no applause from the audience until the contest is concluded.
The contest is moderated by the Student conclave President. The moderator will slowly and clearly announce the contestant's name and topic. The contestant's place of residence shall not be mentioned. Neither the name nor the location of the club or university to which the contestant belongs shall be mentioned to the judges before or during the contest. There shall be no preliminary remarks about any speaker.
A short interval shall be allowed between speeches to allow the judges to complete their notes. Judges shall disregard under time or overtime. The official timers shall take into account under and over time. Each judge shall score a contestant on the 100 point basis. At the conclusion of the speeches, each judge shall hand the evaluation forms intact to a contest official so the judges’ scores of each contestant may be added. The contestant with the highest total score shall be the first place winner.
In the event of a tie in one of the top
five places, the high and low scores will be dropped and the average of
the other scores will beak the tie. If a tie still exists the judges
shall review their own score sheets then vote of the two contestants with
a secret vote. The vote shall be counted by the contest officials.
The decision of the judges shall be final. After the contest has ended
a final tally of the scores will be done by contest officials and given
to the SRM meeting officials for their records.
Printible copy of rules here:
Who to contact:
Anna Ferguson
USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service
113 South Madison Street, Suite 100
Winner, SD USA 57580-1313
Work: 605-842-0603 ext 3
Fax: 605-842-0738
Home: 402-497-3987
email
These rules and this page were updated on October 4, 2004, by Chuck Butterfield.
