BERMAN

BERMAN SPEECH INVITATIONAL

27 February 2021

DEADLINE

To register: 19 Feb 2021
To drop: 21 Feb 2021

ELIGIBILITY

Open to middle and high school students

PLATFORM

Online through NSDA Campus

Information

Greetings to All,

El Cerrito High School Speech and Debate and public speaking non-profit The Practice Space welcome you to attend our Berman Speech Invitational, a one-day tournament to encourage participation in individual events. The tournament will feature traditional 7-10 minute long California speech events, in addition to shorter 3-5 minute unconventional events in poetry, storytelling, and issue speeches. This tournament is open to middle and high school students. Novices are particularly encouraged to attend.

The tournament will be held on Saturday, February 27, 2021, online using NSDA Campus. All speech events will be performed live (no videos required).

Cathy and Sandy Berman were beloved long-time coaches here at El Cerrito, who were both devoted to promoting diversity and inclusion in the speech and debate community. We dedicate this tournament to them to continue their legacy of helping every student use their voice. This tournament will also feature a lunch-time guest speaker, Patrick Seals, a former speech and debate competitor and expert storyteller, who will be delivering inspirational remarks on life after forensics.

Speech Events
Conventional Events (5-10 minutes long)

Dramatic Interpretation (DI): a 10-min dramatic performance of a published piece.
Humorous Interpretation (HI): a 10-min humorous performance of a published piece.
Oratorical Interpretation (OI): a 10-min performance of a speech by a famous speaker.
Expository Speaking (EXPOS): a 10-min original speech to inform about a topic.
Original Oratory (OO): a 10-min original persuasive speech by the student, drawing attention to a societal issue or problem.
Impromptu Speaking (IMP): a 5-minute original speech by the student, prepared in only 2 minutes out of a choice of 3 prompts.
Extemporaneous Speaking (EXTEMP): a 7-minute original speech commenting about domestic and international events, prepared in 30 minutes out of a choice of 3 prompts.

Divisions
We plan to offer novice and varsity divisions in all events, but reserve the right to collapse divisions based on entries. Novice is defined as the first year of competition. This tournament is especially geared towards novices and first-time competitors.

Double and Triple Entry, and Beyond
Competitors may enter as many events as they like, as long as they are responsible for being in the right place at the right time.

Finals and Awards Ceremony
Each event will have 3 preliminary rounds of competition, with no final rounds. Awards will also be presented via livestream. Instead of finals, the top speaker in each event will be featured in a public livestream performance at a later date (with permission).

We look forward to seeing you on February 27th!
AnnMarie Baines, Speech Tournament Director
El Cerrito Speech and Debate Team
The Practice Space Team

Entry Price

One speech event $70
Two speech events $85
Three speech events $100

If you don't provide a judge, you will pay an additional $70

Registration will not be complete until payment is received.
NOTE: We will charge set up fees if we have to create tabroom.com accounts for judges. It is recommended you do so on your own.

Schedule

Please note that all times are in PACIFIC STANDARD TIME (PST).

Events
DI, HI, OI, OO, Imp, Extemp

Tentative Schedule
8:30am: Check-In through GSA Slack
9:00am - 11:00am: Round 1
11:00am - 12:00pm: Lunchtime Guest Speaker
12:00pm - 3:00pm: Rounds 2 and 3
4:00pm: Awards

Drop Fee

Drop fees will be the same amounts as the entry fee PLUS any fees the tournament charges us for late drops. Drop requests should be made to Victor and Nadia.

Please do not drop out last minute to avoid being charged these fees.

Contact Info

Victor Rivas Umana
Contact email: [email protected]
Nadia Budiman
Contact email: [email protected]
Or [email protected]

Registration Form

STUDENT INFORMATION

* Indicates required field

Student Name *

First

Last

Student Email (DO NOT USE PARENT'S EMAIL) *

Student Phone Number *

Does the student have a Tabroom account? *

Yes and it is linked with GSA's account(s) Yes but it is not linked and we need you to add to your roster No but I will create one before submitting registration No but I will pay the additional $35 setup fee

PARENT CONTACT INFORMATION
Your email address will be the one included when we send the logistics email.

Parent Name *

First

Last

Parent Email *

Parent Phone Number *

EVENT SELECTION
Make sure you have checked the double-entry policies. We are not responsible for schedule conflicts.
Descriptions of each speech event can be read above.

Speech Division *

Novice Varsity

JUDGE PROVISION

Are you supplying a judge? *

Judge Name *

Judge email (Must be linked to a tabroom account. Register first at tabroom.com before completing this sign up) *

Judge phone *

Does your judge have a Tabroom account? *

Yes No but I will create one before submitting registration No but I'll pay the additional $35 setup fee Not judging

Signing up a judge without having a Tabroom account will result in us charging you for the set up fee. You can do this easily on your own by going to tabroom.com. It takes less than a minute.

First time judging? Click here to learn how to do it! Or watch our Youtube playlist here.

This tournament requires judges to have a paradigm on their Tabroom account, which can be a few sentences on your preferences of debating styles, etc. See here for example. It doesn't need to be this long, but make sure to add something before you sign up. For example: "I am a parent, please speak clearly and slowly and avoid technical jargon".

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

I will keep a copy of this form for reference. *

YES

We are signing up with the understanding that my child will work to be ready by the tournament date. If we choose to drop out because my child is not ready that will be considered when making assessments for future classes. *

YES

I understand that if I fail to drop the tournament before the deadline that I will still be responsible for the fees of both my son or daughter, along with that of his or her partner and the fines. *

YES

I understand that if payment is not received we won't be registered and our spot will be given up to someone else. *

YES

I confirm that I have completed all necessary paperwork for this tournament. *

YES

I understand that The Golden State Academy has no control over tournament entries other than the initial sign up. I understand that my child's priority will be based on either the last time I signed up OR the date paid, whichever is latest. *

YES

I understand that my child must check in and check out periodically at the tournament with the coach and that if I do not my child will be barred from participating in following tournaments. This is to ensure coaches can see where students are at competitively and to give any initial feedback for improvement. *

YES

I understand that I can check my entry status through tabroom.com. *

YES

I am a consenting adult. I understand that by submitting this form I agree to all that has been covered. *

YES

Submit/take to payment

We would love to have you visit soon at one of our open houses.
Check our home page for the schedule!

School year Hours

M-F: 3:45 pm - 8:30 pm
Sun: 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Telephone

510-270-8480
510-470-0531

Email (preferred)

For more info email us at: [email protected]

Locations

Fremont: 200 Brown Rd #201, Fremont, CA 94539

Cupertino: 20432 Silverado Avenue Suite 211, Cupertino, CA 95014

Aborn Institute: 2804 Riedel Road, San Jose, CA 95135

Dublin: Loving Tree Academy, 6693 Owens Dr, Pleasanton, CA 94588

BERMAN SPEECH INVITATIONAL ​