A Chief Judge--MOFA Toastmasters Club’s In-House Speech Contest

Seldom do I worry about Toastmasters contest rules, as I'm more of a speaker or an evaluator than a helper in Toastmasters. Year 2013-1014 is a learning year for me to know all contest rules in order to serve well as a chief judge or a contest chair upon request!

The opportunity to be a chief judge came sooner than later. I was invited to serve as a chief judge at MOFA's in-house humorous speech and evaluation contests Thursday noon, September 26th. I sent the contest rules to Education Vice President Weiling Chen in advance. We enjoyed a successful contest featuring three humorous speakers Eric Lahdekorpi, Vincent Liu and Pierre Chen; four evaluators Erik Lahdekorpi, Pierre Chen, Charles Teng, Sammy Su and target speaker Moses Mo, President of Galaxy Toastmasters Club.

All contestants were requested to fill out a certificate of originality and eligibility before the contest begins. A chief judge should not be a judge unless absolutely necessary. When contest is over, make sure that 1st and 2nd place winners fill out the notification of contest winner form. Make sure that the next level chief judge receives this form along with the each speaker's certificate of originality and eligibility.

At the club level, use five judges if possible. At the area level, at least five judges or equal representation from the clubs composing the area are required. At the division level and above, at least seven judges or equal representation from the Areas composing the Division or the Divisions composing the District are required. One of the judges must be a tiebreaker judge. This judge should be a member of a club that is outside of the contest jurisdiction; i.e. for a club contest, a member from another club; for an area contest, a member from a club from a different area, etc.

Three ballot counters and two timekeepers are required. All judges, timekeepers, ballot counters and sergeant-at-arms should be briefed before the contest begins. Judges sign the bottom part (below the dotted line) of their ballots. Contestant names are filled across the top of the ballot according to the draw of order. Along the side of the ballot are the judging items. When a contestant finishes his/her speech, write what the contestant's score to the right of each judging item and in the column for that contestant.

One minute of silence will be given after each contestant finishes his/her speech for judges to write down the score and to add up for the total score for that contestant. When the contest is over, keep silent till judges complete the ballot and fill in the bottom part. Only write down the choice for 1st, 2nd or 3rd place contestant, plus judge's signature and printed name. When the contest is over, turn in the bottom part of the ballot to the ballot counters, who will be collecting them. Destroy top part of the ballot at some location away from the contest site. Try not to sit next to or near any of the contestants. As the tiebreaker judge, every contestant must be ranked on the ballot, not only the three winners. The ballot will only be used if there is a tie for 1st, 2nd or 3rd place; otherwise, the ballot will not be used.

Only judges or contestants can make a protest. Protests can only be based on eligibility or originality. A protest must be made to the chief judge or contest chairman before the announcement of the winners is made. After that, it's too late. The contestant must be given an opportunity to respond to the judges on a protest regarding originality. Then, the judges will vote as to whether or not they concur. A majority vote of the judges is needed to concur.

The contest chairman will privately tell a contestant that he was disqualified on the basis of eligibility before the contest adjourns.

Timekeepers should start the stopwatch, when the speaker utters his/her first world or obviously begins speech with gestures or sound equipment. Lights/signals/flags for low, middle, and high times should be shown. Leave high light/signal/flag on; do not turn it off even if speaker goes over time. Backup timer keeps time in case primary timer does not pay attention or his/her stopwatch malfunctions.

Sergeant at Arms should secure doors at the beginning of contest. Nobody can enter/leave room until the contest is over and all ballots have been collected. However, if anybody insists on leaving/entering the room, they can only do it during the one-minute of silence between the speeches.

Oly the chief judge, a ballot counter or a timekeeper can bring the error to everyone's attention, when the announcement of the winners by the contest chairman is incorrect or in the wrong order. The contest chairman should be immediately interrupt while making the announcement and should be told privately by the chief judge what the correct order should be or why a contestant should not be identified as a winner.

Ballot counters go around the room to collect the ballots from the judges when the contest is over: Get the timer sheet from the timekeeper. Leave the room with the chief judge once all ballots and the timekeeper sheet is collected. The chief judge and the ballot counters should count the ballots in a different location other than the contest meeting room. Tiebreaker ballot shouldn't be used unless there is a tie. All ballot counters and the chief judge observe ballot counting to make sure no errors occur. Make sure to look at the timekeeper's sheet for any disqualifications based on time. Each judge's ballot must be signed. If not, the ballot is discarded and not counted. Use the Counter's Tally Sheet form to tally the score. Write the names of the contestants along the top of the form. Write the names of the judges along the side of the form. Don't write down the tiebreaker judge's name. Write the appropriate number of points given by each judge under each contestant's name. Then, add up the score for each contestant. If there is a tie for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place, follow the tie breaking procedures. Refer to tiebreaker ballot, only if a tie exists. Look for contestant names on tiebreaker ballot that are tied. The highest ranked contestant on tiebreaker ballot wins tie.

Once the 1st place contestants are determined, the chief judge will write this down and give it to the contest chairman. If any of the contestants went over time, write down that “a contestant was disqualified on the basis of time” but not the contestant's name(s).

Code of Ethics of a judge: 1, to demonstrate the utmost objectivity; 2, neither to time the speech nor to consider the possibility of under-time or overtime of a contestant's speech; 3, support the contest rules and judging standards, refrain from public criticism and revealing scores and ranking.