NORTHWESTERN ASYNC

Speech Invitational at Northwestern University

30 March 2025 for speech link submission deadline
3-6 April 2025 for asynchronous speech judging

DEADLINE

29 Mar 2025 @11.59 pm PST
NO REFUNDS AFTER THIS DATE

ELIGIBILITY

Open to middle and high school students

PLATFORM

Asynchronous, online through NSDA Campus

Information

Welcome all to the Speech Invitational at Northwestern University!

We’re excited to feature all the speech events offered at the Tournament of Champions in both Middle and High School divisions. For those not planning to attend one of the TOCs, we hope the format allows teams to access a high level of competition regardless of resources. We’re looking forward to providing an accessible tournament at a time in the season when opportunities that don’t require qualification have lulled.

Judge Notes and Fines

Requirements
- Judges must be 18 years of age or older. They must hold a high school diploma or equivalent and can speak/understand English proficiently. We recommend judges complete the NSDA’s Intro to Judging Speech training course.
- We strongly suggest that judges read through the NSDA’s Culturally Competent Judging handout and complete their Multicultural Competence course/judge accreditation.
Obligations
- If all students are eliminated from the tournament, your judges are obligated to judge one round after your last team is eliminated. For example, if your furthest advancing team is out by the end of prelims, your judges must be available to judge semifinals.
Fines
- If a competitor does not submit their video by the deadline or notify Nadia of a dropped entry, they will be fined $100.
- If a judge does not submit their ranking for their assigned rounds by the necessary deadline, they will incur a $100 fine.
Instructions
- A quick guide to judging speech and its respective events can be found through the NSDA’s “Judging Speech” webpage. Due to the unique asynchronous nature of the tournament, please pay close attention to our judging instructions on receiving and submitting ballots. Judges will submit via Tabroom’s asynchronous judging function.

Events and Rules
Students may enter in as many events as they’d like, provided that it is within their relevant division. We will follow the rules and conventions outlined in this year’s National Speech and Debate Association High School Unified Manual.

Here is a list of our event offerings:

Declamation - Declamation will adhere to the National Catholic Forensic League By-Laws.
Duo Interpretation - Partners must be in the same room for their recording.
Extemporaneous Speaking - Topic packets will be emailed to coaches of extemp entries on 3/29. Students must choose one of the three topics within their respective package. Students should only record the length of their speech, not preptime. Our pairings are intentional and rely on everyone following these instructions. If you register after this big initial blast, we will email you personally with your students’ topics.
Humorous Interpretation
Dramatic Interpretation
Informative Speaking - Visual aids may not be digitally edited into the video. They must be physically present in the student’s environment.
Original Oratory
Program Oral Interpretation
Impromptu - Students’ videos should include the whole 7 minutes of their prep and speech. Judges need to know how students choose to split the time. For information on receiving a topic, see instructions for Extemp.

The following are rules and guidelines regarding video submissions. If a judge finds a video to be in violation of a rule, they should report it to tournament staff immediately.

Professional equipment enhancements may not be used. This includes professional lighting kits, professional-grade camera recording and audio devices, and softboxes. Lavalier/lapel microphones and ring lights are permitted.
Recordings may not be edited using any software. All submissions must be one continuous clip of non-stop footage.
Competitors may not use green screens, virtual backgrounds, or on-screen text.
The camera being used must remain stationary throughout the entire performance. No zooming or panning is allowed. A student may not turn off their video at any point during their recording.
Students may cover the camera with their hands or body. They may also move out of the frame.
There must be no audience interaction (laughing, applause, etc.) included in the performance.

Submission Guidelines
When submitting your video, please put your speaker code, your name, and the title of the piece and its author (if applicable) in the title of the video (“Speaker Code - Name - Piece Title - Piece Author”). We recommend uploading the video as Unlisted on YouTube, but any platform that gives you a sharable link is acceptable (eg. GoogleDrive video, shared to anyone with the link).

For Extemp and Impromptu events, please indicate the topic packet number and your chosen question. If you chose question B of topic packet #1, your video title would be “Speaker Code - Name - 1B”

Equity and Inclusion
The Northwestern University Invitational staff is committed to ensuring a healthy and equitable debating environment. Our designated equity officer is available for the duration of the tournament to help facilitate relevant conversations and respond to instances of conflict. They are the primary resource for students, judges, and teams to express concerns directly to tournament staff.

We understand that the online tournament introduces unique obstacles pertaining to equity. Judges’ ranks should not be affected by factors outside of students’ control, such as dress, backdrop appearance, or video quality.

Cheating will not be tolerated. If a judge reports to the tournament that they’ve identified cheating in a video submission, and the staff determines that a violation has occurred, the entry will be dropped without a refund.

Entry Price

One event and parent is judging $85
Two events and parent is judging $120
Three events and parent is judging $155

One event and parent is opting out of judging $180
Two events and parent is opting out of judging $220
Three events and parent is opting out of judging $260

Each person in a Duo team would be responsible of providing their own judge, so one Duo team would need to either provide two judges, both pay the judge fee, or one of each option.

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 CENTRAL STANDARD TIME (CST).

Schedule Outline
All Events:
April 1st: Submissions are due at 12pm on Wednesday. --- 10:00 AM PST
April 3rd and 4th: Preliminary Rounds Judging. Rounds released at 12am on Thursday and due 12pm on Friday. --- 10:00 AM PST
April 5th: Semifinal Judging. Rounds released at 12am on Saturday and close at 12pm. --- 10:00 AM PST
April 6th: Final Judging. Opens at 12am and due at 5pm. Award Video release shortly after. --- 3:00 PM PST

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

LIMITED PREP PROMPTS & INSTRUCTIONS
You can access it in the google docs below once you are ready to record your video
TBA

STUDENT INFORMATION
Suggested attire for the tournament can be found here.
More tournament resources can be found here.

* 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

If this is your first time competing, make sure to first create a Tabroom account here: https://www.tabroom.com/user/login/new_user.mhtml
It's super simple and quick (<1 minute), but follow the guidelines here in case anything is confusing: https://docs.tabroom.com/Sign_Up

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 to list the unlisted Youtube links here or send to Nadia by 30 March 2025.
!!! Please make sure you are submitting a video that is unique to this tournament. Do not use videos that have been used for other tournaments !!!
Lastly, keep in mind that you can only enter in an event once. For example, you can only choose DI once. You can select other events along such as HI, but you cannot choose DI twice.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

When submitting your video, please put your speaker code, your name, and the title of the piece and its author (if applicable) in the title of the video (“Speaker Code - Name - Piece Title - Piece Author”). We recommend uploading the video as Unlisted on YouTube, but any platform that gives you a sharable link is acceptable (eg. GoogleDrive video, shared to anyone with the link).
For Extemp and Impromptu events, please indicate the topic packet number and your chosen question. If you chose question B of topic packet #1, your video title would be “Speaker Code - Name - 1B”

JUDGE PROVISION
Please make sure you are available for the asynchronous speech judging schedule and that you won't submit your judging duties late. The fine is $100 per missed ballot.
Descriptions of each event can be found here.

Will you (parent) be judging at this tournament? *

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 Not judging

Does your judge understand that he/she is responsible for the entire tournament schedule and that missing a round incurs fines from the tournament? *

Yes, understood Not judging but understood as well

Click here to complete the highly recommended Cultural Competency judge training course

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 literally takes less than a minute.

First time judging?
This is a great collection of short videos that one of the leagues have put together to learn each event: click here.
There are also these training cards available that include a summary of each event's rules and comments.
Click here to find other training and official certification resources. Or watch our Youtube playlist here.

Tournaments encourage 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".

More tournament resources can be found here.

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

​Speech Invitational at Northwestern University

30 March 2025 for speech link submission deadline3-6 April 2025 for asynchronous speech judging