Events Descriptions

Television Speaking
Television Speaking is a spontaneous event where competitors are given a choice of several different fictional
news headlines from which to choose and use to create a seven-minute maximum speech in the form of a television
news broadcast.

Drawing: Each contestant will draw a sheet of five distinct headlines for each round, being called to draw by speaking
order and panel. Contestants must draw their headline sheets in the correct speaking order and from the correct panel.
Contestants will draw their topics from their correct panel in seven-minute intervals. The contestant will be given
fifteen minutes of preparation to choose three headlines from his/her sheet to make a seven-minute maximum TV
broadcast-style speech.

A minute of the seven minutes is set aside specifically for commercials (the topic(s) of the commercial(s) may be chosen
by the competitor); the minute used for commercials may be spread throughout the speech or done in one segment.

Notes: One sheet of paper is allowed during the presentation of the speech. Judges should give NO penalty in rank for
referring to the note sheet.

Presentation: the six minutes of the news broadcast will be done sitting down behind a desk (with one sheet of paper
placed flatly on the desk to be used for reference). The mandatory minute for commercials shall be presented standing
up and using whatever space is available in the room.

Time: Contestants will speak for a maximum of seven minutes, with a minute of mandatory commercials. There is no
minimum time. Exceeding this time limit by more than 15 seconds shall be penalized by a lowering of one rank.

Character Spontaneous Argumentation

Summary: Character SPAR is a spontaneous event where competitors face off against each other in debates about a
variety of issues, from current social and political issues to “Paper bags are better than plastic bags” as specific famous
literary, political, and popular figures.

The debate will proceed as follows: the Pro is given a topic, which states the topic, his/her character, and the Con’s
character; 1-minute prep for Pro; a 1-minute opening argument for Pro (in which the Pro MUST state the topic AND the
Con’s character); 1-minute prep for Con; 1-minute opening for Con; 3-minute cross-examination (or “clash”) period
between Pro and Con; 1-minute closing for Con; 1-minute closing for Pro.

Three Rounds of topics and characters will be used:
Round 1: Popular people debating political/social issues
Round 2: Political figures debating popular quotes
Finals: Literary figures debating the “paper/plastic” type questions

Competitors may not look at each other during opening and closing speeches or cross-examination. The competitor’s
speech should be delivered to the judge.

Team Spontaneous Argumentation
Summary: Team SPAR is a spontaneous event where competitors face off against each other in debates about a variety
of issues from current social and political issues to “Paper bags are better than plastic bags” in teams of two.

The debate will proceed as per the normal rules of SPAR, with one notable exception. The minute opening and closing
speeches for each team are shared by the teammates. Teams should be judged not only on how they present their
arguments but also on how effectively they work as a team.

Competitors may not look at each other during opening and closing speeches. The competitor’s speech should be
delivered to the judge.

The “clash” period between teams will work very similarly to the “Grand Crossfire” in Public Forum Debate. It will be a
3-minute period where all four speakers are allowed to ask and answer questions, with the questions and answers being
directed at specific speakers.

Stand-Up Comedy
Summary: Stand-up comedy is a spontaneous event where competitors are given two minutes of preparation time to
create a five-minute maximum speech in the style of a stand-up comedy routine.

The topics include famous people, movies, political/social issues, everyday objects, and abstract nouns. The topics will
be mixed in all three rounds.

The performance is intended to be humorous, so competitors are expected to use their wits and senses of humor
(although jokes at the expense of audience members, fellow competitors, and/or judges is strictly forbidden and will
result in an automatic dropping of two ranks).

Drawing: Each contestant will draw a card with five topics from a judge in the round, from which the contestant shall
immediately select two.

Preparation: A maximum of two minutes will be available for the speaker to use before the speech. Timing begins the
moment the selection of the topic has been made.

Notes: no notes shall be allowed in the presentation of the speech.

Time: Contestants will give a speech that is a maximum of five minutes in length. There is no minimum time. Exceeding
this time limit by more than 15 seconds shall be penalized by a lowering of one rank. Judges should use discretion if the
speaker is forced to exceed this time limit due to audience reaction.

Impromptu Eulogy
Summary: Impromptu Eulogy is a spontaneous event where competitors are given two minutes of preparation time to
give a five-minute maximum speech about the chosen person (three people are given as a choice in each round) as if
that person is dead, and the person is giving a eulogy speech at the person’s funeral.

Topics: Three rounds of topics shall be used.
Round 1: political figures
Round 2: popular people
Final: Movie Characters
*All of the choices in Round 1 & 2 will be people who are still living.

Drawing: Each contestant shall draw three people/characters from a judge in the round, from which the contestant
shall immediately select one.

Preparation: A maximum of two minutes will be available for the speaker to use before the speech. Timing begins the
moment the selection of the topic has been made.

Notes: No notes shall be allowed in the presentation of the speech.

Time: Contestants will give a speech that is a maximum of five minutes in length. There is no minimum time. Exceeding
this time limit by more than 15 seconds shall be penalized by a lowering of one rank.

Acceptance Speech
Summary: Acceptance Speech is a spontaneous event where competitors are given two minutes of preparation time to
give a five-minute maximum speech in the style of an award show acceptance speech.

Topics: Each round will compromise one particular award show. Each contestant should create their idea of what has
won, not use an existing song, move, etc. (For example, if you draw “Academy Award for Best Director”, you are NOT a
real director winning for one of their movies, but you winning for whatever movie you want to create. Use your
imagination!)

Drawing: Each contestant will draw one award which they have “won”.
Preparation: Each contestant will have two minutes of preparation time, beginning when the award is chosen.
Notes: Notes may be made on the topic paper and used during the speech.

Time: Contestant’s speeches will not exceed five minutes in length. There is no minimum time. At the 4:30 mark, music
will be played, a la an awards show, to signal to the contestant to “wrap it up”. At 5:00, the speech must end.
Exceeding this time limit by more than 15 seconds shall be penalized by a lowering of one rank.

Infomercial Speaking
Summary: Infomercial Speaking is a spontaneous event where a team of two competitors is given an item that they must
“sell” to the judge and audience like in an infomercial. Once selecting the item (which can be used as a prop in the
presentation), teams are given ten minutes of preparation time to create a five-minute speech to “sell” the chosen item.

Each team will draw an item for each round, being called to draw by the judge in their round. Teams must draw their
item in the correct speaking order. The teams will draw in five-minute intervals. The team will then be given ten
minutes of preparation time to make a five-minute maximum infomercial-style speech. Students are recommended to
prep directly outside of their room so that several teams can prep at one time.

Teams are HIGHLY recommended to use their item to enhance their performance in rounds; due to this, teammates are
allowed to touch each other only when handing off the item.

Team members are allowed to look at each other, but teams should still focus the majority of their attention and
speech on the audience since they are attempting to persuade the audience, not their teammates.

Teams may not touch the audience members or the judge in rounds, but they may pose yes-or-no questions to the
audience members (like when hosts of infomercials pose questions to audience members about the product being sold).Audience members may answer, but only “yes” or “no”.

Notes: absolutely NO notes are allowed during the presentation of the speech.

Time: Teams will speak for a maximum of five minutes. Exceeding this time limit by more than 15 seconds shall be
penalized by the lowering of one rank.

Trio
Summary: Trio Impromptu is a spontaneous event where three-person teams will be given two minutes of preparation
time to make a five-minute maximum performance based on the chosen topic (where there are three topics given to the
team and one is chosen).

The topics will be various scenarios for the teams to act out. An example could be “One teammate has just seen an
alien, another teammate is unconvinced of the sighting, and the third teammate is the alien spotted”.

Drawing: Each team will be given three different scenes from a judge in the round from which the team shall
immediately select one.

Preparation: A maximum of two minutes will be available for the speakers to use before the speech. Timing begins the
moment the selection of the topic has been made.

Notes: No notes shall be allowed in the presentation of the speech.

Time: Teams will give a performance that is a maximum of five minutes in length. There is no minimum time.
Exceeding this time limit by more than 15 seconds shall be penalized by a lowering of one rank. Judges should use
discretion if the speaker is forced to exceed this time limit due to audience reaction.

Team members are allowed to look at each other, but teams should still focus the majority of their attention and
speech on the audience since they are performing for the audience, not their teammates.

Teammates may touch each other, but not audience members or the judge in rounds. Additionally, teams may not
pose questions or directly interact with audience members, other competitors, or judges.

Humorous Presentation

This event will be run exactly like informational speaking, but the winner will be
judged by the most humorous, off-beat, creative presentation. Students may use poster boards if they like,
but Etch-A-Sketch is also acceptable.

Character Congress

Presiding Officer: The Presiding Officer, or PO, runs the Character Congress.They keep track of whose turn it is to speak or ask a question during the
clash. POs are also to be judged on their ability as standup comedians butare not to be blatantly offensive to any particular member of the Character
Congress. There will be two PO’s per session, each switching halfway throughthe round. The senators will run PO elections before a session to decide who
the two PO's for a session will be, excluding the final round, where the top2 PO's will alternate the session. A senator may compete as both a senator
and a PO in the final round.

Character Congress Senators: Senators in Character Congress are to be judged on their ability to become the character they choose, in the areas of voice,
physical composure, costuming, or the speech given by the senator as the character. Senators may use props. Senators may move freely about the room
when speaking. Senators may sing or dance during their speech.

Structure: The PO will call the session to order, and use the eeny-meeny-miny-mo method to determine which piece of legislation the chamber will debate
first. He/She/It will then call for an affirmative speaker, and if nonerises, he/she/it will choose randomly from the chamber a senator to speak in
the affirmative. The senator will then (willingly or unwillingly) give a 3-minute speech, followed by 1 minute of questions by the chamber. Then the PO
will call for negative speakers, and if none rise, the PO will chooserandomly from the chamber a senator to speak in the negative. After yetanother 3-minute speech and 1-minute questioning, the cycle starts all overagain until a motion is called for on the legislation and a 2/3 majority vote
is reached to vote on the bill. There will be 2 pieces of legislation perround/session, and senators must debate and vote on both.

Special Remarks: If a specific senator is brought up during another senator’sspeech on the affirmation or negation, he/she/it reserves the right to yell
out in the middle of that speech, “You lie!”, but nothing more.

Rankings: The speakers will be ranked by the judges 1st through 8th. Therewill be two volunteer POs in each chamber, and the winner will be voted on by
the judges and the speakers. The top two ballot-getters after two preliminaryrounds will advance to finals. The same voting system will be in place for
finals, though the second place.