Speech Ballot Re-Ranking Tools

Sometimes speech students go over the time limit, use a script, or fail to state the author or title, incurring mandatory penalties; making mistakes is part of their learning process. Although it is tempting as a judge to turn a blind eye to these mistakes, we need to record all penalties on the Tabulation Ballot to create a fair competition.

Penalties can create some interesting Tabulation Ballots! We encourage judges to check in with the Ballot Return staff if there are penalties in the competition room. The Ballot Return staff is happy to help you with the re-ranking process. To support consistency, the Speech committee offers the following tools linked below, which explain the correct procedures for applying penalties. These tools are available for parents, coaches, and tournament staff; both the local tournaments and NITOC Ballot Return staff use these procedures.

• Guidelines for penalty re-ranking

• Penalty re-ranking examples

• Re-ranking worksheet practice

• Penalty re-ranking video basic

• Penalty re-ranking video advanced

Your Speech Committee