SpeechWire Tournament Services - Forensics Tournament Software

A judge fine of $75 per round will be owed for judges who do not pick up their ballots or for judges not qualified to judge a round (for example a student judge not being indicated as such and judging Varsity rounds).

1. Make sure you create accounts for each of your students in Speechwire. You will be unable to enter your students without them successfully creating and activating their accounts. This video tutorial will walk you through the process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcGivaEKSuk

We are unable to provide any support with student accounts! All inquiries must be sent to support@speechwire.com

2. Once you have created accounts for your students, make sure they can login and subscribe to live updates. These updates tell students when schematics for rounds are posted and most importantly, tell students if they broke to elimination rounds.
It is imperative students subscribe to updates so that they can be informed of schematics and not miss their round.
This video by Ben Stewart of Speechwire is an excellent walkthrough for your students. Please share this with them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQgqptPqNtA

3. In speech 1 judge is needed for every 5 speech entries, for debate 1 judge is needed for every 2 entries per division (1 PF team and 1 LD competitor = 2 judges needed).

PLEASE be proactive and share this video with your judges for each tournament so they know how to login to their Speechwire account (this will be created for them, you do not need to do anything after you provide their email address on the registration form) as well as how to receive their ballot, use it, and subscribe to updates: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJXxeVS-KgM

I guarantee that if judges do not watch this brief tutorial they will find judging the tournament difficult. This will result in a delayed tournament and a less than optimal experience for you, your students, and your fellow coaches and competitors.

4. Our virtual tournament rooms will be hosted on the NSDA Campus platform. GOOGLE CHROME IS THE ONLY BROWSER COMPATIBLE WITH NSDA CAMPUS!

Students, coaches, and judges must test the microphone and camera they will be using on tournament day ahead of time. The website https://campus.speechanddebate.org has a Test Competition Room which can be used to test and explore.

Please have everyone use this resource before the tournament to get familiar with how to use NSDA Campus, as well as to check system functionality.

NEW FOR 2021-2022 SEASON: If you or your students are competing at your school, please confirm NSDA Campus still works this year. Over the summer many institutions update their hardware, software, and IT policies which may cause NSDA Campus to no longer work. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE DAY OF THE TOURNAMENT TO DISCOVER YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO COMPETE!

We do not have time on the day of the tournament to troubleshoot microphones and video cameras! This is something that must be done before the tournament to ensure a prompt and reasonable start and end time for the day. Competitors unable to complete the round due to technical issues may be ranked last/forfeit the round and judges unable to judge an entire round may be assessed a missing judge fine if it is found to be a technical issue that could be resolved with proper preparation.

5. FOR EXTEMP ONLY: The Speechwire platform allows for draw to be conducted via the student’s Speechwire account and the question will automatically be displayed on the judge’s ballot in the round. For those curious, Ben Stewart of Speechwire has released a video showing how the process works for the student: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhB9U1iQaLY&t=8m21s

If you have any questions, contact me immediately! I would much prefer that you ask 100 questions via email before the tournament rather than on the day of the tournament. Good luck!

John Cierpial
Email address: john.cierpial@gmail.com
Phone number: 908-727-3290

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