62nd Society for Range Management Annual Meeting

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Student Activities Information
Undergraduate Public Speaking Contest

The Undergraduate Public Speaking Contest at the 2009 SRM meeting in Albuquerque will be held on Monday, February 9.

Eligibility

Any undergraduate student who is a member of the local student club shall be eligible to compete in this contest held at the annual meeting of the Society for Range Management. Only four members from any one college or university may compete in the contest. If more than four members from any one college or university wish to compete at the annual meeting then the college or university shall determine the four individuals who shall participate. The Student Conclave executive officers shall not be eligible to compete in this contest.

Rules and Procedures

Each contestant shall give one extemporaneous speech for not less than five minutes or more than seven minutes. Every student will have the same amount of time to prepare for their speeches (2 ½ hrs). This ensures that everyone has an equal advantage in preparation for their speech. Students will sign up for the contest on Sunday night during the student contest registration after the student business meeting. Up to 25 students will be allowed to compete. Participating students will receive contest rules when they register. When registering on Sunday evening, students will draw for one speaking time that will coincide with the time they need to draw for their topic. (For example, if a student draws for a speaking time of 3:00 PM they will then draw for their topic at 12:30 PM.)

Late registration will begin Monday from 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM. Students will only be allowed to sign-up on the morning of the contest if there is room for more contestants (25 max.). The student who has the first speaking time will draw for a topic at 10:30 AM and will speak at 1:00 PM. The final speech will be given at 5:20 PM if the maximum numbers of students compete. Competitors are responsible for being PROMPTLY ON TIME to draw topics and for speaking times. No excuses allowed! Students who are late for their topic drawing time will still speak at their original time, but will have lost time to prepare. If someone is late for their speaking time they will not be allowed to compete.

When drawing for a topic, the contestant shall draw three slips containing the titles for speeches. These slips shall be prepared by the Society for Range Management Standing Sub-Committee Chair in advance of the contest. The speech titles will number no less than 150 titles and shall be made available to the contestants. The contestant will select a title from the three choices and report that title within one-half hour to a contest official. The two rejected slips shall then be returned to the pool of titles.

The contestant must produce an original speech in English. Factual information may be obtained from any source including reference materials brought to the contest, local libraries, and interviews with authorities at the annual meeting. The contestant must write the speech without assistance, although the speech may be critiqued by the contestant’s friends and advisors. Observe that friends and advisors may not write or dictate any portion of the speech and may only critique the contestant's physical manner, voice, and use of notes.

Contestants may use note cards or the equivalent.

The contest shall be open for the general public to watch. No contestant shall enter the room prior to their speech. There shall be no applause from the audience until the contest is concluded.

Judging

There shall be no fewer than three judges and no more than five. Judges shall be appointed in advance of the contest by the Society for Range Management Standing Sub-Committee Chair. Each judge shall be provided with a speech contest evaluation from for each contestant, a list of contestant names and the contest rules. No judge shall be seated next to another judge nor will they confer among themselves or with the audience.

The contest is moderated by the Student conclave President. The moderator will slowly and clearly announce the contestant's name and topic. The contestant's place of residence shall not be mentioned. Neither the name nor the location of the club or university to which the contestant belongs shall be mentioned to the judges before or during the contest. There shall be no preliminary remarks about any speaker.

A short interval shall be allowed between speeches to allow the judges to complete their notes. Judges shall disregard under time or overtime. The official timers shall take into account under and over time. Each judge shall score a contestant on the 100 point basis. At the conclusion of the speeches, each judge shall hand the evaluation forms intact to a contest official so the judges’ scores of each contestant may be added. The contestant with the highest total score shall be the first place winner.

In the event of a tie in one of the top five places, the high and low scores will be dropped and the average of the other scores will beak the tie. If a tie still exists the judges shall review their own score sheets then vote of the two contestants with a secret vote. The vote shall be counted by the contest officials. The decision of the judges shall be final. After the contest has ended a final tally of the scores will be done by contest officials and given to the SRM meeting officials for their records.

Timers

There shall be no less than two timers who shall be provided with stopwatches. Timers are usually the Student Conclave Secretary and Reporter. The timers shall record the time of each contestant's speech, submitting the written results to a contest official at the conclusion of the speeches. The timers shall be seated in a position such that the time cards will be clearly visible to the speakers. Contestants shall be allowed the choice of using time cards. Timing shall begin when the speaker addresses the audience.

Penalties

Time penalties shall be as follows: