Questions commonly asked by judges….

What if I have a group or individual who just aren’t ready? We’re judges but the best part of our job is to act as encouragers. Do what you can to make their performance as painless and pleasant as possible then rate them accordingly. Re-starts are permitted.

What if I forget to start my timer? Don’t ever let a contestant be penalized because of a judge’s mistake. Mark the time as “okay,” and inform the contest office what happened.

Can the contestant(s) be prompted? As we have recommended in the judges’ instructions, students may have a prompter in the room. If they require more than one prompt, this is justification for lowering the ranking by one.

Do I give them any time indications? Only the events of Impromptu Speaking and Storytelling require the judge to indicate how much time is remaining. It’s important that you go over this procedure with each contestant before they begin. Remind them that your upraised fingers will indicate the time remaining.

What if I don’t have time for oral critiques? Oral critiques are not required. The IESA encourages you to use whatever time you do have to speak with the contestants after their presentation.

Is videotaping allowed? Yes. The IESA however takes no responsibility for the taping of material.

The contestant’s memory problems caused them to go overtime. The event is timed from start to finish, no matter the time taken because of memory problems.

If I know they’ll be dropped a rank for a time violation, may I rank them higher? No.