Virtual Tournament Instructions and Troubleshooting

Pairings/Sectioning & Tech Check In:

• We will strive to release round schematics at least 30 minutes before each round. When the pairings are released, judges should confirm they have received their ballot by “CLICKING START ROUND.” Please do not wait until the round actually starts to mark “Start Round”. Please do this (in tabroom) as soon as you receive your round notification.

• 15 minutes before the round begins, students and judges are expected to check into their room. This tournament has designated tech time where each participant should check their video, audio, and set up the email chain. If a student and/or judge has not arrived 10 minutes before the round starts or if there is a tech issue, you should contact Tab. If you are not in the room during this tech check period, the tabroom can forfeit you.

• If you have tech issues upon checking into the room, please contact the tournament immediately so that we are aware.

• If you do not, we will assume that you are a no show and either replace the judge and fine the school, or forfeit the competitor.

• Make sure when you email us that you specify the event/division, your name, your entry code, and your room (if applicable).

Extemp Procedures:

We will be using a separate Zoom room for Extemp Prep. The prep rooms WILL NOT be Campus rooms. Extempers will use Campus rooms for competition. All Extempers will proceed to the main prep Zoom room (the link will be made available Saturday morning (2/5) with the Tabroom Extemp schematic blast. Make sure cell numbers are entered into Tabroom. For Round 1, competitors should report to the main Zoom room by 8:45 am CT once the blast is released. Alma Nicholson, the extemp proctor, will provide reminders about rules and procedures before draw begins at 9:00. 

Attendance will be taken and announced in the main extemp room. Any adjustments in speaker order to accommodate cross-entry will be made only by tournament staff. Any extemper late to draw will get what prep time remains for their speaker position. Always report to draw first even if you’re double-entered in another speech event!

How Draw/Prep Will Work

• Draw will occur in 10 minute intervals from when Speaker 1 draws. When it is time to draw, the prep room moderator will post three topics for the speakers. After choosing a topic, the speaker will inform the moderator of their selection and begin prep. 

• All prep must occur ON CAMERA. At any point during prep, the prep moderator could also ask a competitor to turn on their mic. 

• When 30 minutes of prep expires, competitors will be dismissed from their breakout prep rooms; they will then login to Campus and find their competition rooms.

• Competitors must stay signed in in their draw room throughout the entirety of draw unless they have been allowed to leave by Alma Nicholson (ex: a speaker is allowed to go speak first in another event and then return to draw – this is highly unlikely since we are keeping rooms to no more than 6 speakers). Individual draw room proctors will only dismiss you to leave when prep time is complete.

• Prep Room Moderators will give competitors prep time reminders and let competitors know when they can leave for their competition rooms. Competitors may NOT leave early – If a competitor leaves early, this could result in the tabroom ranking the competitor last, or getting disqualified from the event.

• Computers may be used for research only. Extempers may NOT draft speeches on a computer.

• Extempers are not allowed to use notes while speaking. If a judge sees notes while you are speaking, you will be ranked last. If a judge suspects you have notes, they may consider using it in their ranking. It is advisable to make sure you do not even give the appearance of speaking with notes. 

Impromptu Procedures

• Judges will see a link to the impromptu topics ON THEIR ELECTRONIC BALLOT in tabroom. Topics will be grouped on the document with three for each speaker. The judge will share the three topics designated for speaker one with the student via the chat. Please copy and paste only three topics at a time into the chat. Each set of topics corresponds to a specific speaker position (Topic group 1 is given to Speaker 1, Topic group 2 is given to Speaker 2, etc.).

• The student will choose and announce their topic and then will begin prep in the NSDA Campus room, with the camera turned on. Time will be monitored by a judge; however, students are free to time themselves as well.

• Each speaker has a total of 7 minutes, which includes Prep Time. 30 seconds of grade period is permitted. Thus, if a speaker uses more than 7 min but less than 7:30, the judge should not assess any penalty due to being over time.

• Judges are expected to keep verbal time during prep and count down via hand signals once the student starts speaking. 

General Technology Tips

Before the tournament:

1. DO YOU HAVE CHROME INSTALLED ON YOUR COMPUTER/ DEVICE? IF NOT, CLICK HERE

2. DO YOU KNOW YOUR TABROOM ACCOUNT EMAIL AND PASSWORD? LOGIN HERE, TRY TO RESET THE PASSWORD, OR IF THAT FAILS, CONTACT YOUR SCHOOL’S COACH/MODERATOR TO ENSURE THEY ENTERED THE CORRECT EMAIL ACCOUNT FOR YOU. 

3. Share these video tutorials about using NSDA Campus with your students and judges: Instructions for Competing On Campus and Instructions for Judging on Campus

4. Have your students/judges test their tech. It is essential that your students and judges practice logging in to Tabroom prior to Friday. Students and judges can test their microphone/camera in NSDA Campus rooms prior to competition here.

5. If your students are competing using school internet, please check the "What do I need to tell my IT department to ensure I can access NSDA Campus from school?" section of this FAQ before Friday.

STILL HAVING PROBLEMS WITH NSDA CAMPUS? 

NSDA CAMPUS TIP: IF YOU ARE HAVING PROBLEMS, THE FIRST THING YOU SHOULD DO IS CLOSE THE BROWSER (NOT THE TAB). COMPLETELY CLOSE GOOGLE CHROME AND RESTART THE APPLICATION. THEN TRY AGAIN. THIS HAS SOLVED 98% OF PROBLEMS.

NSDA Campus Problems