Tournament rounds

The speech season has officially begun as of February 4th, and the chattering madness of the speechies fills the halls once again. For many not in speech, the activity is often perceived as scary, as many people believe that when you are speaking, you are speaking in front of huge crowds. However, that is nowhere near the truth. Every Saturday when the team goes to anywhere from Northfield to Owatonna, there are three rounds, and finals later on in the season. In these rounds there are usually around 7 other people in the room. Those individuals are, the judge, the timer, and  five other competitors, nowhere near the giant crowds that many imagine. In each of these three rounds one gets a ranking, one to five, with one being the best.This will help determine the final placement amongst competitors or whether one makes it into finals or not. With a 1 in all three rounds, one is guaranteed to make it onto the podium or into finals. This goal is what drives many on the team, and it seems that Cannon Falls was especially driven in the 2015–16 season as they won team State. These misconceptions about speech have driven  away many people from joining, but hopefully this explanation can help calm some people’s nerves so that the team can see another surge in numbers.