Picture it. Kentucky, early November 2020.

Both Kentucky Schools holding high school speech meets November 21 decide not to.

‘Cuz. You know. COVID.

So what’s a state league to do?

How about hosting an invitational!

And since we consider this gravy to what we normally get to do, and since it’s almost Turkey Day, how ‘bout a little extra gravy? How ‘bout coming to the

Extra Gravy Invitational?

We’d love to have you! Everybody needs a little extra gravy!!!

Events Offered:                   

    Broadcasting

                                                Declamation (grades 9-10 only)

                                                Dramatic Interpretation

                                                Duo Interpretation

                                                Extemporaneous Speaking

                                                Humorous Interpretation

                                                Impromptu Speaking

                                                Improvisational Duo

                                                Informative Speaking

                                                Oratory

                                                Poetry

                                                Program Oral Interpretation

                                                Prose

                                                Storytelling

See the KHSSL Handbook www.khssl.org/handbook for Kentucky rules, time limits, etc.

Broadcasting will use Round 2 format and will not be treated as a Limited Prep event.

Limited Prep:

Extemp, Impromptu, and Improv Duo topics released at 1 PM Sunday, November 15. Students are expected to use expected time limits. Impromptu and Improv Duo should film prep time as well as performances. Extempers do not need to film prep time and may use Internet searches but may not consult human beings by any means in preparation.

Video Info:

All videos (including the three limited prep events above) MUST be uploaded by 6 PM Monday, November 16. Student video links should be set for “anyone with the link” to view. Upload student video links to Tabroom through the “Entries” tab. There will be only one video uploaded, and it will be used for all rounds (Prelims AND Finals). Easy breezy. It’s gravy, baby.

Schedule:

*Prelims will be judged 3 PM Tuesday to 6 PM Thursday.

*Finals will be judged 6 PM Friday to 12 PM Saturday.

*Awards will be announced 6 PM Saturday via video link.

*All times Eastern Standard Time.

 Moolah and Judges and Quotas (oh my!):

Fees:              $6 per competitor per event.

An $8 fee will added to each team’s invoice to cover awards postage. If your team receives no awards, this fee will be refunded.      

Judge hires $40.

Judges:         

Judge quota is one per six entries or fraction thereof; hires are $40.

                    Judges must be available for Prelims AND Finals. If you want to provide two judges to fill one slot

(one for Prelims and one for Finals), sign up one judge and email Steve about the second one by 6 PM Monday. Judges must have a Tabroom account by 6 PM Monday.

            Make checks payable and mail to:

            KHSSL, Inc.  

P. O. Box 23451

Lexington, KY 40523

W-9 form available upon request.

You may also pay via PayPal at www.paypal.me/khssl. Please add $5 to any PayPal payments.

Drop/Add:                 

*$10 per competitor per event nuisance fee + registration fee for drops after 6 PM Monday.

*Judge quotas do NOT change when drops are made.                         

*Dropped judges are $50 and lots of mean looks long distance.

*No adds after 6 PM Monday.

Entries:

*Teams may enter an unlimited number of students in each event.

*Students may enter as many events as they wish to enter.

*Only the top 3 students on each team in each event count towards sweepstakes.

*Duo Interp and Improv Duo entries MUST film on separate screens and should both be visible on screen at all times – even if they live in the same house – just to keep everything fair to everyone as well as to be safe.

Awards:

*Team sweepstakes gravy boats for top six teams. Yes, you read that right. You know you love it.

And you don’t even have to get married to get one.

*The top 6 finishers in each event will receive medals.

*Awards will be mailed after completion of the tournament and receipt of your team’s

entry fees.

More Information for You:

Tabroom.com

Coaches, competitors, and judges need Tabroom.com accounts for registration, online ballots, and video links for asynchronous events. See making a Tabroom.com account https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyTqMwhRJpo

Judges will use Tabroom.com to access their ballots. And, after the tournament is over, students can see their ballots on Tabroom.com and use those comments from their judges to help them improve their performances.

Asynchronous Tournaments & Students

Once a student submits a video to their coach for an asynchronous tournament, there isn’t anything else students need to do except watch out for awards and look at ballots at the tournament’s conclusion. They can also buy have treats delivered to your house because you’re awesome. Suggest it. You deserve a treat.

Ballots

KHSSL Ballots can be accessed here. The ballot will be duplicated and available to you within your online Tabroom ballot as well – this link is just provided in case you want to get a sneak peek.

KHSSL Resources for You

KHSSL Best Practices for Virtual Tournaments; you can probably guess what this is about.

Filming Students for Video Competitions (video from KESDA)--How to Best Film Yourself guide for students filming competition videos -- a new video (that's lots of fun plus very useful) plus some text suggestions from the fine folks at KESDA -- thanks y'all.

KHSSL Video for Judging Virtual Tournaments--Judges, be sure to watch this!

Tech Tips

 #1       For judging, you can use 2 devices: 1 for the video & 1 for your ballots. You can log into Tabroom on each device. Or you can use a desktop computer, open 2 tabs and position them so you can see the video (one tab) & type on the other one (the ballot) at the same time (that’s what Mr. Meadows does when he judges at a desk, and it works swell).

#2     When judging, try to use a fairly large screen to watch the videos. If you’re trying to watch videos    on a phone, you may be losing facial expressions, etc. because the screen is so small.

#3      KHSSL rules require that cameras stay still when filming; competitors may move around as they wish in the camera frame.

 SPEECH SCHEDULE:

Y’ALL COME

Please don’t be shy to email questions about rules or events or how the tournament will work. This is going to be a great event, even though it’s being planned very last minute. Never fear – I got you, and you got this. Now let’s all have some extra gravy together!

Your host –

Steve Meadows, Executive Director

The Kentucky High School Speech League, Inc.