Hello colleagues and friends!

 

February was looking mad dead on the speech wire calendar but not to worry!!!! Illinois State University Grad-birds are here to dab on you and bring non-stop asynchronous fun!!!! Our tournament is running Feb 2nd-6th. We will offer all 11 AFA events. Rounds will be asynchronous (please make sure your videos are set to "unlisted"). LP prompts will be released on Friday @ noon CST before the tournament starts. Videos will be due by Monday night @ 8PM CST. You can find the tournament and invite on Speechwire!

    

    

    Sincerely,

    Prem Ganesan and Evangeline Cruz

    Graduate Teaching Assistants

    School of Communication

    Illinois State University

    

    

    

    RULES OF EVENTS

    

    GENERAL:   All programs and speeches must not have been used by a student in any competition (high school or college) prior to September 1, 2025.  We will be following the rules and ethical standards of the AFA-NST.

    

    ENTRIES:  Each student may enter as many events as they want.  Events that have 7 or fewer entries will be judged "head-to-head" by three judges.  Events with 8 or more entries will be judged by two judges in "preliminary" rounds and then broken to a "head-to-head" final with at least one judge (3 if the pool allows).  From prelims into the final, ties will be broken by speaker points.  In "head-to-head" rounds, ties will be broken by speaker points and then by judges' preference.

    

    Events Offered    

    Extemporaneous Speaking       Informative Speaking

    Persuasive Speaking           Impromptu Speaking

    Duo Interpretation            Dramatic Interpretation

    Prose Interpretation          Communication Analysis

    After Dinner Speaking         Poetry Interpretation

    Program Oral Interpretation    

     

    The deadline for receiving entries and videos is 8:00, Monday, Feb 2nd.  Entries and video links must be posted to Speechwire.

    

    LP Events only need to provide one video for all rounds.  Prompts will be posted to Speechwire by Friday Jan 30th.  Impromptu videos should include prep time.  Extemp should NOT include prep time.

    

    JUDGES & FEES:  Entry fees are $8 per slot.

    

    Each school should furnish one judge for every six slots.  Hired judges are available at $12.00 per uncovered slot (hired judges will be paid $12.00 per round).  We will gladly pay any clean judges a school can provide beyond their obligation to ensure better ballots for your students.  Judges dropped after noon on Tuesday will incur a $25 drop fee, but name changes are free and encouraged!

    

    Checks should be made payable to ISU Forensics and mailed to us at Campus Box 4480 Normal IL 61790.  If you prefer to pay online with a credit card you may do so here: https://square.link/u/5PXDtkC6

    AWARDS:  To keep costs down, we will not be giving out trophies for finalists.  Your qualification will be your award!  

    

    MODALITY:  This is an asynchronous tournament.  Please make sure your videos are set to be "unlisted" so they can be accessed by our judges.

    

    SCHEDULE:  All times listed are CENTRAL

    LP prompts released                    Friday Jan 30th 4pm

    Entries and video links due            Monday Feb 2nd 8pm

    Preliminary round ballots released      Monday Feb 2nd 9pm (ish)

    Preliminary round ballots due           Wednesday Feb 4th 8pm

    Final round ballots released            Wednesday Feb 4th 9pm (or asap)

    Final round ballots due                    Friday Feb 6th 11am

    Results posted to Speechwire            ASAP

 

        There will be prizes and celebration for the first ballots returned in Prelims and Finals; public heckling will take place for any ballots returned after the deadline. Prem will dab on anyone at their discretion for accomplishing or not accomplishing one's duty as a judge when we return in person. 

 

(vr24)