On this page you will find useful information for judging at the Hereford High School speech tournament. We appreciate your offer to help at our tournament!  Your input is very helpful for those students competing. 

Click here to fill out a judging interest form.

Click here for the judges guide.

Click here for the current judging schedule.

FAQ's

Are you sure I'm qualified to judge?

Of course or you wouldn't have been asked!  To be a qualified judge, you must have graduated from high school, be able to see and hear, and be able to read and understand English.  The competitors should be able to entertain you or convince you of their point regardless of your level of experience. 

Where do I report?

You will pick up and return your ballots in the main office at the high school.

How do I fill out the ballots?

You need to make sure to fill in the blanks at the top of each ballot.  See the sample ballots for each event in the column to the right.  Please make comments about each performance on the ballot.  Students use this information to help improve themselves.  A blank ballot with a low rank does not tell the students what they need to work on and what you as a judge liked or didn't like about their performance.

How do I rank the students?  Can there be ties?

There cannot be ANY ties.  You must rank them 1 through the total number of speakers.  1 = best speaker, 2 = 2nd best and so on.  In LD debate, you must establish the winner of the round and give speaker points to both competitors.  In CX debate, you must award a win to one of the teams, give speaker points to all competitors and rank the speakers 1-4.

What is my affiliation?

Unless you're a coach from another school, you do not have to put anything under affiliation.  Just be sure to sign the ballot.

What is the master ballot?

After you have filled out individual ballots and decided your rankings, you need to fill that information on the master ballot which is the first sheet that lists all the competitors.  Your rankings on the individual ballots must match the master sheet.