Event Rules and Guidelines

The following are the rules for the various events being offered. In most cases, TFA rules will apply.  The following is a summary of the basic rules. If you are not sure of specific guidelines, please refer to the TFA Constitution found at the following website: txfa.org 

INDIVIDUAL EVENTS

DRAMATIC INTERPRETATION:  Selections shall be cuttings from published-printed novels, short stories, plays, poetry, or any other printed-published materials that are dramatic in nature. Presentation must be memorized, without props or costumes. Cutting may not have been used by this contestant at a T.F.A. tournament prior to this year in this or another event. Time limit will be 10 minutes, inclusive of introduction.

HUMOROUS INTERPRETATION:  Same as Dramatic but humorous in nature.

EXTEMPORANEOUS SPEAKING:  There will be two divisions- U.S. and FOREIGN. The contestants will draw or be assigned three topics, select one, then have 30 minutes to prepare. There will be no discussion or exchanging of information in the prep. room. Published materials may be used in the prep. room (books, magazines, newspapers). Contestants may also make use of electronic retrieval devices. No note cards may be used. The time limit is 7 minutes.

ORIGINAL ORATORY:  The oratory must be the original work of the contestant and not used in a T.F.A. tournament prior to this year. The speech must be truthful- any non-factual information must be identified. No more than 150 words of direct quotation may be used. Quotes must be underlined in red ink on the script of the speech, which must be made available to the tournament director upon request. The time limit will be 10 minutes.

PROSE:  Selection must be from a published prose work NOT  from a play or screenplay. Work must be read from a folder. A memorized introduction stating the title and author is required. Excessive dramatics are discouraged. Time limit is 7 minutes.

POETRY:  Same as Prose but must be poetic in nature.

DUO INTERP:  They may include selection from a published novel, play, short story, or poem. No props or costumes other than the two chairs provided. Scene must be memorized and cannot have been used by either contestant prior to this year in this or another event. Time limit is 10 minutes.

INFORMATIVE SPEAKING--NSDA rules will be used.

PROGRAM OF ORAL INTERP (POI)--NSDA rules will be used.

DEBATE EVENTS

Debate events will follow the NSDA rules of evidence. Please adhere to those expectations.

VARSITY LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE:   4 minutes prep time for each competitor will be used. 

NOVICE LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE:  Same as Varsity.

L-D TOPIC: The topic will be the January/February 2021 topic. We will post it here when we know what it is.

VARSITY CROSS-EXAMINATION DEBATE:  Time limits shall be 8-3-5 with 8 minutes preparation time per team.

NOVICE CROSS-EXAMINATION DEBATE:  Same as Varsity.

C-X TOPIC: We are debating the 2020-21 resolution. Here it is for those of you that forgot:

Resolved: The United States federal government should enact substantial criminal justice reform in the United States in one or more of the following: forensic science, policing, sentencing.

VARSITY PUBLIC FORUM: See rules below

NOVICE PUBLIC FORUM: See rules below

The topic will be the February 2021 topic and will be posted here once it is announced 

Public Forum will use the NSDA rules for the summary speech and preparation time. We will also enforce rules for evidence exchanges. They are as follows:

1. When requested, the team of which the evidence is requested will have one minute to produce the requested evidence. If requests for multiple pieces are made, accommodations will be made for that, but the exchange should occur in a comparable time frame.

2. At the end of the minute, if the team can not produce the evidence, preparation time for that team will then be used to locate that evidence. If the team would rather just have the evidence dropped from the round, they will have that choice. In short, produce the evidence, or the team will need to use prep time to do so, or can choose to drop the evidence from the debate

There are norms that need to be adopted by the PF community. Here are some suggestions that will facilitate the above process:

1. Exchange cases prior to the beginning of the debate. Email chains are great things

2. Have whatever sources of evidence you use readily available and ready to exchange if requested. Embed links in the case if needed; have them pulled up on your computer ready to add to an email chain. Just exchange your evidence once you have finished your speech.

CONGRESSIONAL DEBATE

Rules for Congress can be found on the TFA website. We will continue to hold all Congress rounds with a schedule on Thursday and Friday so that cross entries for individual events will be allowed. The final Congress session will be on Saturday. We will post the itinerary for the Congress under a separate heading on this website. The agenda has been posted under the Congress tab.