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Middle School Unified Manual

2024-2025

Middle School Unified Manual

Updated April 17, 2025


The National Speech & Debate Association is the largest interscholastic speech and debate organization serving middle schools and high schools in the United States. The Association provides competitive speech and debate activities, high-quality resources, comprehensive training, scholarship opportunities, and advanced recognition to more than 140,000 students and coaches every year. For nearly 100 years, the National Speech & Debate Association has empowered two million members to become engaged citizens, skilled professionals, and honorable leaders in our society.

OUR MISSION: The National Speech & Debate Association connects, supports, and inspires a diverse community committed to empowering students through speech and debate.

OUR VISION: We envision a world in which every school provides speech and debate programs to foster each student’s communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creative skills. 


For membership or Honor Society questions not answered here: 

Editor’s Note: For quick reference throughout this document, new changes for the current year are highlighted in yellow. Other recent changes made within the past one or two years remain highlighted in gray.
Table of Contents

To make use of this interactive Table of Contents, select the header of a topic to navigate to that section of the manual. Expanding the sidebar on the left of the document will enable Table of Contents usage from any page of the document.

SECTION 1: Middle School Chapter Manual 4

Honor Society Membership 4

I. School Membership 4

II. Instructor/Coach Membership 6

III. Student Membership 8

Code of Honor 11

Points and Recognition 12

I. Recording Merit Points 12

II. Student Recognition 16

III. Coach Recognition 18

IV. School Recognition 20

National Leadership 20

I. Competition and Rules Leadership Committee 20

II. Board of Directors 22

SECTION 2: Middle School National Tournament Procedures 24

Overview 24

Harassment and Discrimination Policy 24

Tournament Entry 24

Competition Event Procedures 29

Protests and Disqualification 35

Awards 36

SECTION 3: Middle School Competition Event Rules 37

Overview 37

Time Limits 37

Topics 37

Events at the 2025 Middle School National Tournament 37

Overarching Rules for Debate 38

Overarching Rules for Speech 38

SECTION 4: Middle School Judging Instructions 40

Overview 40

General Guidelines for All Judges 40

Guidelines for Judging Speech Events 42

Guidelines for Judging Debate Events 43

Questions? 45

SECTION 1: Middle School Chapter Manual

Honor Society Membership

I. School Membership

  1. Standards for School Membership
    1. An NSDA membership may be established at any high school, middle school or virtual school recognized as an accredited public or private school by the state in which those schools compete. Prospective home school participants should reach out to their state speech and debate organizations to determine their eligibility as a school.
    2. Institutions that meet one or more of the aforementioned criteria are eligible to join or renew their NSDA membership each year by paying annual dues and completing an online renewal with the permission of their administration. Program advisors can visit www.speechanddebate.org and follow these steps to generate their school renewal invoice.
    3. If a school is joining for the first time, the advisor will be prompted to create their account and reach out to NSDA staff to help set up the school if necessary. An Instructor/Coach Membership must be designated before the advisor can renew a school. 
    4. Fees and Payment: Annual school membership is $75. A school becomes active upon payment of this fee. Schools may pay online by credit card or remit a check or money order payable to National Speech & Debate Association. Membership invoices must be paid no later than 60 days after the creation of the invoice. Refund requests must be submitted within 72 hours of creating an invoice and are granted on a case-by-case basis. 
  2. Benefits Access and Eligibility for School Recognition
    1. Degrees: The National Speech & Debate Association’s Honor Society recognizes middle school and high school students and coaches for participation in speech and debate activities. As students earn points for competition and service activities, students and coaches also receive new degrees in the Honor Society. Only paid members at paid schools are eligible for Honor Society recognition.
STUDENT AND COACH DEGREEPOINTSSEAL or BADGE
MemberLess than 25 pointsNone
Merit25
Honor75
Excellence150
Distinction250
Special Distinction500
Superior Distinction750
Outstanding Distinction1,000
Premier Distinction1,500
COACH ONLY DEGREEPOINTSSEAL or BADGE
Donus D. Roberts
Coaching Excellence Award		10,000
1st Diamond15,000 and 5 years
Additional Diamondseach 30,000 and 5 years
  1. Access to the NSDA point recording site and member level instructional resources is immediate upon receipt of payment of school renewal dues.
  2. Visit www.speechanddebate.org/school-membership for a full list of benefits to which coach and student members at NSDA schools have access. 

II. Instructor/Coach Membership

  1. Standards for Coach Membership
    1. There are two types of instructors at an NSDA school: advisor and coach.
      1. Advisors are the main contact for a speech and debate program at a school and serve as the school’s account administrator. Advisors manage the team roster, manage payments, and vote on behalf of the school on topics and in elections. While schools can have multiple advisors, one individual is designated as the primary advisor and is listed as such on the school’s account page. This individual receives mail on behalf of the school, as well as advisor-specific communications. 
      2. Coaches are any adult who has an account linked to their school but is not an advisor. Member coaches have access to all the same benefits as advisors, but fewer of the administrative powers. 
      3. Advisors may designate specific permissions to other coaches at their school(s). To learn more, review the guide for Member Roles and Account Permissions.
    2. Anyone creating an account on the NSDA website, including coaches and advisors, must indicate that they will adhere to the NSDA Code of Honor.
  2. Coach Enrollment and Payment
    1. Account Creation (New Member): Instructors, including advisors, create a new account and follow the prompts to request to be linked to a school. New advisors may be approved at the point of joining or renewing. Midyear (post-renewal) advisor change requests must be accompanied by written approval from the school administration. Non-advisor coaches will be approved by their advisor after requesting linkage to the school. Step-by-step instructions »
    2. Account Creation (Former Student Member): An instructor who obtained membership as a student may have all of their points earned as a student transferred to their coaching record. Past competitor accounts can be located by opening the school’s Coaches roster, selecting Add Coach, searching for the name used while competing as a student or the ID number from the high school student record, then performing a transfer. An instructor who obtained membership as a student prior to 1996 should report that fact to the national office using info@speechanddebate.org for assistance with the points transfer. Step-by-step instructions »
    3. Fees and Payment: Advisors can choose to pay their own or another coach’s one-time $20 membership fee via the coach roster on the school’s online account. Schools may pay this fee online by credit card or remit a check or money order payable to National Speech & Debate Association. Membership invoices must be paid no later than 60 days after the creation of the invoice. Refund requests must be submitted within 72 hours of creating an invoice and are granted on a case-by-case basis. A school with any outstanding debt to the Association will not be allowed to participate in the National Tournament until those fees are paid in full. Step-by-step instructions »
    4. Transfer of Membership: A coach may transfer from one school to another without charge or loss of points. If a new certificate is desired, a replacement certificate can be purchased online from the NSDA Store. Transfers may be done automatically using the points system or by emailing/calling customer service staff. Step-by-step instructions »
    5. School Affiliation: Coaches may be linked to more than one school simultaneously and may accrue points at two levels (high school and middle school) simultaneously, though point earning is different (refer to the High School Unified Manual). 
  3. Benefits Access and Eligibility for Coach Recognition
    1. All paid coaches on a school roster will have access to the school’s online membership resources while the school membership is active. 
    2. All paid coaches on a school roster may earn points during a season. Instructors receive points recorded for the designated students they coach. Multiple coaches on the team roster may earn points for the same student over the course of the year, but only one coach can be designated to receive points for a given student in a competitive event at each tournament. Coach A and Coach B may not both earn or divide the points between them for Student 1’s HI points at a tournament. 
    3. Coaches qualify for advanced degrees like students, but expanded: after reaching 15,000 points and five years of membership, the instructor will be entitled to wear a diamond-set Association key or pin; additional diamonds accrue at 30,000, 60,000, 90,000 and each 30,000 points thereafter, and the minimum time for each new diamond is five years as a member coach. 
    4. Visit the Coach Recognition section for more information and a fuller list of coach recognition opportunities.

III. Student Membership

  1. Standards for Middle School Student Membership
    1. Middle school student membership is available to fifth through eighth grade students at eligible member schools. Ninth grade students in a junior high school may be elected to membership by the high school they expect to attend and may, if local rules permit, participate as members of the high school squad. Students must compete under the school at which they are enrolled. Exceptions may apply for homeschool students. (Refer to the section on School Membership for details.) 
    2. The applicant should have a real interest in speech and debate and should meet the standards of the Code of Honor. 
    3. All students who become members of the National Speech & Debate Association must affirm the Honor Society’s Code of Honor. Member students pledge to uphold the highest standards of humility, equity, integrity, respect, leadership, and service.
  2. Student Enrollment and Payment 
    1. Account Creation: Like coaches, student members may create accounts at speechanddebate.org/join and ask to be linked to a school. Advisors also have the ability to add students directly to their school roster. Learn how students can create and link an account, as well as how advisors can accept linked account requests in our FAQ.
    2. Name Entry: The student or coach must take care to enter the student’s name, capitalizing appropriate letters, exactly the way the student would prefer their name be displayed on official membership and recognition materials.
      1. If a name is entered incorrectly, an advisor may change the name on the NSDA Account. 
      2. If the membership certificate has already been generated, the member may opt to purchase a replacement certificate online from the NSDA Store. If the name change is a result of a student transitioning, please contact the national office at info@speechanddebate.org for a free replacement. 
    3. Fees and Payment: The school will be assessed a $10 membership fee per student enrolled by the advisor. A student becomes a member upon payment of this fee. Advisors will generate a $10 invoice for each new member. Schools may pay this fee online by credit card or remit a check or money order payable to National Speech & Debate Association. Membership invoices must be paid no later than 60 days after the creation of the invoice. Refund requests must be submitted within 72 hours of creating an invoice and are granted on a case-by-case basis. A school with any outstanding debt to the Association will not be allowed to participate in the National Tournament until those fees are paid in full. 
    4. Transfer of Membership (Between Middle Schools): A student may transfer from one middle school to another without charge or loss of points. If a new certificate is desired, a replacement certificate can be purchased online from the NSDA Store. Transfers may be done automatically using the points system, or by emailing/calling customer service staff. Step-by-step instructions »
    5. Transfer of Membership (Middle to High School): A middle school student who obtained membership as a middle school student may have all of their points earned in middle school transferred to their high school record upon completion of middle school. Past competitor accounts can be located by opening the school’s Students roster, clicking Add Student, searching for the student’s name or ID number from the middle school student record, then performing a transfer. The roster transfer itself incurs no cost, but providing the student with the high school membership incurs a $20 fee. Step-by-step instructions »
  3. Benefits Access and Eligibility for Student Recognition
    1. All member students on an active school roster will have access to the school’s online membership resources. 
    2. The advisor will receive a paper copy of the membership certificate for each new paid member. The advisor should inspect certificates for accuracy and report any issues or missing certificates to the national office within 30 days. Beyond 30 days, replacements must be ordered online from the NSDA Store.
    3. All students on a school roster may earn points during a season. Points are recorded online for student participation in interscholastic contests or qualifying service activities. Once a student has paid their NSDA membership and earned 25 merit points (visit the section on Recording Merit Points), the student will earn their Merit degree in the Honor Society. Students with unpaid memberships may earn up to 75 points before their records stop displaying points online.
    4. Visit the Student Recognition section for more information about recognition opportunities.
  4. Student Induction
    1. The national organization prescribes no ritual for the initiation of new members, inasmuch as such procedure might be contrary to local school regulations. In the absence of any school prohibitions, an appropriate ceremony for the induction of new members may be employed.
    2. If an induction ceremony is viable at the school, ideas for hosting can be found on the NSDA website.

Code of Honor

 “As a student or coach member of the National Speech & Debate Association, I pledge to uphold the highest standards of humility, equity, integrity, respect, leadership, and service in pursuit of excellence.”

Humility: A member does not regard oneself more highly than others. Regardless of a person’s level of success, an individual always looks beyond oneself to appreciate the inherent value of others.

Equity: A member is committed to processes, practices, and spaces that recognize and empower people from all backgrounds (including race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and ability) and establish conditions of fairness in our organization.

Integrity: A member is honest, ethical, and adheres to the competition and conduct rules of the organization. A member follows the NSDA discrimination and harassment policy and abides by the rules of their schools, tournaments, and localities.

Respect: A member demonstrates civil discourse in their interactions with others. A member maintains and contributes to a safe space and welcoming environment for all.

Leadership: A member is aware their words and actions influence others. A member commits to thoughtful and meaningful words and actions that reflect NSDA core values.

Service: A member exercises their talents to provide service to peers, community, and the activity. At all times a member is prepared to work constructively to improve the lives of others.

(Adopted September 23, 2007 | Updated February 2021)

Points and Recognition

I. Recording Merit Points

  1. General Guidelines for Earning and Recording Merit Points
    1. Authority to Enter Points: Points can only be approved by an advisor or coach with designated permissions logged in to their NSDA Account. Students may submit points for the advisor or coach with permissions to review and approve. Coaches are responsible for verifying participation in NSDA-approved tournaments and service activities.
    2. Point Earning with Unpaid Membership: Students can be added to rosters and given points before they are made members by paying the fee, and they can earn up to 75 points before an advisor decides to purchase their membership. 
    3. Merit Points: Students earn merit points for participating in interscholastic speech and debate contests with four or more schools. If a tournament has middle school competitors, a high school student may only earn points for rounds against middle school competitors if the tournament has at least four high schools competing.
      1. Visit Recording Interscholastic Debates 
      2. Visit Recording Interscholastic Speech Contests 
    4. Service Points: Students earn service points in non-competitive speaking engagements and other acts of service. Visit Recording Non-Competitive/Service Speaking.
    5. Timing: Please record points promptly after each event in which points were gained. Debate or speech contest points (merit points) may be recorded any time throughout a student’s enrollment in middle school for speaking activities occurring during those grade levels. Advisors and coaches with permissions are able to enter merit points and service points through their accounts for the current and prior year only; to enter points dated further back, coaches must contact the national office. Only the advisor of record may submit emails with changes/corrections to records. Indicate the correct start and end date; separate recording is necessary for Congress, where there is a daily limit of 24 points.
    6. Tournament Location: Under “Where Held,” list the place of each contest. If a school, list the name of the city and the name of the school (e.g., Omaha-North HS). If a college, list the name and city (e.g., Central State Univ.–Edmund). 
    7. High School: Student members retain their points as they move from middle school to high school.
    8. Transfer Students: Students transferring from one middle school to another may transfer their points if their prior school was also an NSDA member and those points remain attached to the appropriate coach on record at their former school. Once a student has transferred, no additional points earned at their previous school may be added to the student’s record.
    9. Deadline for Points Entry: Points earned in middle school may no longer be recorded after July 15 of the year in which a student completes 8th grade or when they are transferred onto a high school roster, whichever occurs first.
    10. Independent Entries: Students may only earn NSDA points if they compete while representing the school at which they are enrolled. 
    11. Autoposting: Points may be added via autoposting at participating tournaments using Tabroom.com or Speechwire to tabulate, or added manually. Refer to the Points Entry guide for reference. 
    12. Asynchronous Merit Points: Students may earn NSDA merit points for asynchronous online competition. Students may only earn points for competing in one asynchronous competition per day. Tabulation software and the NSDA site will not regulate this; it will be the affirmative duty of coaches to ensure that what is posted is in line with this rule.
    13. National Tournament Points: Points earned at the National Tournament are automatically posted. Coaches must accept these points for them to appear on the record.
    14. Scrimmages: Students may earn up to 75 merit points per year for intrasquad and intersquad competitions that do not have the required four schools participating. Tabulation software and the NSDA site will not regulate this; it will be the affirmative duty of coaches to ensure what is posted is in line with this rule. Please contact the national office if you have concerns about points of malfeasance.
  2. Recording Interscholastic Debates

The general guidelines apply to recording points for debates. This section offers additional debate-specific point recording information. 

  1. Public Forum, Lincoln-Douglas, Policy Debate, Big Questions, and World Schools Debate are recorded in the “Debate” category, and are worth 2 points per win and 1 point per loss or non-decision. Only one win/loss is recorded per round, so for a panel of judges, the prevailing decision is entered. 
  2. Non-NSDA main debate events, such as Extemporaneous Debate, Mock Trial, Parliamentary Debate, or Spontaneous Argument are recorded in the “Debate” category, and also are worth 2 points per win and 1 point per loss or non-decision. 
  3. Congressional Debate or other assembly speaking is recorded in the “Congress” category. No more than 10 points may be recorded per calendar day. An official scorer must be present. Students earn 1-5 points per speech or per complete hour of presiding (a panel of judge scores must be averaged). When a 5-pt. scale is not awarded, use the following conversion table:
8-pt. scale30-pt. scale60-100-pt. scalePts. to RecordTourney PlacementPts. to Record
828-3097-10061st10
6-723-2790-9652nd9
4-518-2284-8943rd8
313-1777-8334th7
28-1270-7625th6
11-760-691(and so forth)
  1. If an official scorer is present, Model UN team members may earn points according to the “Tourney Placement” chart for Congressional Debate. If no official scorer is present, Model UN participants who are in a leadership position can earn a maximum of 8 points per competition, and Model UN participants who are not in a leadership position can earn a maximum of 6 points per competition.
  2. Wins or losses may not be recorded for debates against non-school entities, such as a civic organization. Public debates held before an audience of such an entity may be recorded under “Service,” but cannot also be recorded with a win/loss under “Debate.” Visit the section on Recording Non-Competitive/Service Speaking.
  3. Recording Interscholastic Speech Contests

The general guidelines apply to recording points for speech contests. This section offers additional speech-specific point recording information. 

  1. Public address or interpretive events are recorded by their individual category name. Student ranks, or rank-equivalents (conversion for point totals or alternate systems) are used.
  2. Only one rank or round placing may be entered for a panel of judges. For elimination rounds prior to a final round, an average of a panel’s ranks may be used. For the final round, tournament placement is the rank.
  3. Main NSDA events may earn 3 points per 1st rank, 2 points per 2nd rank, and 1 point per rank of 3rd and below. Those events include Extemporaneous Speaking, Original Oratory, Informative Speaking, and Humorous, Dramatic, Duo, and Program Oral Interpretation. 
  4. Extrapolate what speech categories best match outside contests. For example, The American Legion Oratorical Contest’s two speaking events are recorded as Original Oratory and Extemporaneous Speaking. Poetry Out Loud, Slam Poetry, and Spoken-Word Poetry are recorded as Poetry.
  5. Use the following table to convert non-rank ratings to ranks for the purpose of online recording:
Non-Rank Round RatingGradePointsPointsRank to Input
Superior2595-1001
Excellent2490-942
Good or Exceeds ExpectationsA20-2371-893
Fair or Meets ExpectationsB15-1942-704
Average or Does Not Meet ExpectationsC10-1410-415
0-9°0-9°None

°Severe deficiency, and therefore, not worth any points

  1. Recording Non-Competitive/Service Speaking

Service point limits, points, and activities allowed were all modified in 2020.

  1. Limits: Middle school and high school students can earn up to 20 service points per day and a maximum of 200 service points may be reported per year; service activities can be recorded retroactively for the current and immediate past school years only. Students may not record points in both contest and service speaking for the same event (this includes final rounds that may have an audience of more than five people). Advisors or coaches with designated permissions may determine what service activities qualify for service points and enter them for students manually within the following parameters. 
  2. Point Value: Points are entered in increments of one. Each approximate hour of activity should be treated as two points and each half hour treated as one point. Points fall under two categories, speaking (for an audience of 5+ adults) and non-speaking.
  3. Audience: An audience of at least five people must be present for each service speaking activity. For non-speaking service activities, an audience is not required. 
  4. Disallowed Activities: Students may not record points for service activities done: 1) as part of a classroom requirement; 2) for competitive performances, whether at a summer institute or as part of a contest; or 3) as work, or for financial compensation of any type. 
  5. Theatre performances may be entered as speaking service. Each hour of performance of fraction thereof for an audience of at least five people should be treated as two points. 
  6. Examples of Service Activities:

II. Student Recognition

Tip: Chapters may find it to be simpler, quicker, and cheaper to establish a small “bank” of insignia so members can trade their pins for jeweled pins as they qualify for them. These members release their plain pins for use by new members, who in turn will qualify for jeweled items later.keycharmsilverkeycharmsilver

Honorary insignia are available as either keys or pins. All items may be ordered either plain or with a designated jewel. To order, visit the NSDA Store.

DegreePointsCertificate SealPin Insignia Jewel
Merit25WhiteNo jewel
Honor75BronzeEmerald
Excellence150Silver on WhiteBlue Sapphire
Distinction250Metallic Gold on GoldRuby
Special Distinction500Silver on PinkDouble Ruby
Superior Distinction750Silver on BlueTriple Ruby
Outstanding Distinction1,000Silver on VioletQuadruple Ruby
Premier Distinction1,500Silver on BlackQuintuple Ruby

III. Coach Recognition

  1. Honor Society Degrees: All paid coaches on a school roster may earn points during a season. Instructors receive points recorded for the designated students they coach. Multiple coaches on the team roster may earn points for the same student over the course of the year, but only one coach can be designated to receive points for a given student in a competitive event at each tournament. Coaches qualify for advanced degrees like students, but expanded: after reaching 15,000 points, the instructor will be entitled to wear a diamond-set Association key or pin; additional diamonds accrue at 30,000, 60,000, 90,000 and each 30,000 points thereafter, and the minimum time for each new diamond after the first is five years as a member coach. 
  2. Coaches may also purchase pins and pendants to symbolize their progress in the Honor Society. Coach insignia is gold and can be ordered online from the NSDA Store by searching “insignia.”
  3. Don Crabtree Distinguished Service Award: A special gold key is granted to a coach member for 20 citations and a bronze plaque is given for each additional 50 citations for the following services:

Activity Citations Earned

Recruiting a new school 2 

Sponsoring a new school 2 

Year as member of the NSDA Board of Directors* 3 

District tournament tab staff (non-District Committee member) 1

Holding a tournament for four or more schools 1 

Tabbing a tournament for four or more schools 1 

Volunteering at the National Tournament 1

Serving in a tab room at the National Tournament 3

Chairing an event at the National Tournament 3

Serving on the National Tournament host committee 5

Curriculum/educational support for national office 1

Pre-approved speech and debate advocacy events 1 

Working as a Belonging and Inclusion Advocate (BIA) 1

*NOTE: Items marked with an asterisk will be automatically entered by NSDA national office staff at the end of each school year.

To submit citations, coaches should:

  1. Log in to their NSDA account on www.speechanddebate.org.
  2. Select the blue rectangle that reads View next to recorded service citations.
  3. Choose the appropriate category of service and provide a short description.
  4. Select that the submission follows the NSDA Honor Code and then select Add.
  1. Hall of Fame: Individuals with 25 years of coach membership in the National Speech & Debate Association, or who are retired from coaching and teaching, are eligible to be nominated for the Hall of Fame. Existing Hall of Fame members and all coaches with three or more diamonds elect each year’s class to the Hall of Fame.
  2. Middle School Coach of the Year: The Middle School Coach of the Year award annually honors middle school coaches who reflect outstanding leadership and commitment to speech and debate activities. Nominations are collected using a standard form available via the Coach Recognition page and are due May 1, annually. The national recipient is determined through a review process coordinated by the national office.

IV. School Recognition

  1. Honorary Membership: A school may elect one Honorary member for each 100 members and degrees earned by that school; not more than one a year. Honorary members must be adults who have contributed in some significant way to the speech program of the local school, but have not earned Association membership as a student or instructor. Honorary memberships may be requested online via the designated form.
  2. Administrator of the Year: The Middle School Administrator of the Year program recognizes outstanding middle school administrators who have succeeded in providing high-quality opportunities for students in speech and debate programming, as well as demonstrated exemplary contributions to the profession. Nominations are collected using a standard form and are due by May 1, annually. The national recipient is determined through a review process coordinated by the national office.

National Leadership

I. Competition and Rules Leadership Committee

  1. Parameters: The CR Leadership Committee will consist of a minimum of seventeen individuals, of which at least 75% will be active NSDA member coaches. Two appointed members of the Board of Directors will also serve on the CR Leadership Committee. 
  2. Eligibility: Any member coach with five years of Association coaching experience, who is listed as a member coach of record at a paid member school, may become a candidate for election or appointment to the Competition and Rules (CR) Leadership Committee.
    1. Candidates seeking election may submit an application, including a statement of 400 words or less and a high resolution photo, by the designated January date for their election year. Statements will be made available to voters leading up to the election.
      1. In total, eight active NSDA member coaches will be elected to represent eight regions throughout the United States. Representatives must coach at a member school within the region and reside in the region in which they represent. One advisor per NSDA member school will be eligible to vote within the region assigned to that school to elect that region’s representative.
      2. Every two years, an election will be held for half of the regions.
        • The first region includes:
          • California Region (all CA)
          • Northern Midwest Region (IA, IL, IN, KS, MI, MN, WI)
          • East/Northeast Region (CT, DE, MA, MD, ME, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, VT, WV)
          • Northwest/Northwest Central Region (AK, ID, MT, ND, NE, OR, SD, WA, WY)
        • The second region includes:
          • Texas Region (all TX)
          • Southeast Region (FL, GA, KY, NC, SC, VA)
          • Mountain/Southwest Region (AZ, CO, HI, NM, NV, UT)
          • Southern Midwest Region (AL, AR, LA, MO, MS, OK, TN)
    2. Candidates seeking appointment by the Executive Director may submit an application, including a statement of 400 words or less and a high resolution photo, by the designated January date each year. Appointments will be made as needed on an ongoing basis.
      1. At least one coach will be appointed to serve as an international representative.
      2. At least one coach will be appointed to serve as a middle school coach representative.
      3. Additional individuals will be appointed by the Executive Director to fulfill the greatest needs of the committee at the time. There is no cap on the number of individuals the Executive Director can appoint; however, at least 75% of the CR Leadership Committee must remain populated by active NSDA member coaches.
  3. Terms: All CR Leadership Committee member terms will be three years in length. CR Leadership Committee members will be permitted to be appointed and/or elected to two consecutive terms and then a third term after completing a full-term hiatus.
  4. Duties: The CR Leadership Committee’s scope of influence will include:
    1. Assessing student, coach, and school stakeholder needs through personal solicitation and by evaluating surveys and other feedback mechanisms.
    2. Evaluating and providing input on NSDA products, services, and programs related to middle and high school speech competition, recognition, and resources.
    3. Evaluating and establishing official rules and procedures for NSDA contests.
    4. Evaluating other student-centric offerings for educational merit, value alignment, competitive integrity, and diversity, equity, and inclusion.
    5. Assessing the NSDA’s ability to successfully support diverse approaches to speech and debate programming across regions and state boundaries and in partnership with other national organizations.
    6. Interpreting the NSDA to local and regional communities.
  5. Details: For more specifics on the CR Leadership Committee election, terms, and processes, refer to the NSDA Bylaws. 

II. Board of Directors

  1. Parameters: The Board of Directors is a 100% appointed Board of no less than eleven members. The Board will be populated with a minimum of four active NSDA coach members from active NSDA member schools and one current secondary school or school district administrator. The remaining seats on the Board will be appointed based on the greatest needs to meet the mission and vision of the organization. NSDA member coach representatives will never represent less than 30% of Board membership.
  2. Selection: A Board-appointed nominations committee will accept nominations for upcoming Board seats between August 1 and January 1 of the year prior to the availability of the vacancy. Self-nominations will be allowed. The nominations committee will vet and interview nominees and bring forward a recommendation of individuals for Board consideration. The full Board will determine all final appointments to the Board of Directors. These appointments will take place at a special selection meeting, which will occur between January and March of any given year.
  3. Terms: All Board terms will be three years in length. Board members will be permitted to be appointed to two consecutive terms and then a third term after completing a full-term hiatus. Terms and seats will be staggered as to limit the number of vacant seats in any given year as much as possible. At its discretion, the Board may determine by 2/3 majority vote to extend a term by no more than a year to accommodate for unexpected vacancies resulting in too large of a transition in membership. 
  4. Duties: The Board of Directors supervises and controls the business, property, and affairs of the Association. The Board conducts its business by establishing officers and roles, ensuring strategic planning takes place, hiring the Executive Director, and setting up standing committees to provide routine oversight as well as strategic input on financial, development, marketing, membership, and operational objectives.
  5. Details: For more specifics on the Board of Directors selection, terms, and processes, refer to the NSDA Bylaws. 

SECTION 2: Middle School National Tournament Procedures

Overview

This manual offers an overview of competition procedures at the Middle School National Speech & Debate Tournament. Coaches should be familiar with the tournament information posted at www.speechanddebate.org/msnats. The following document serves as a guide to help you understand the tournament’s structure; however, the deadlines and requirements found on the National Tournament website (not included here) are expectations that must be followed by all participants. 

Please refer to the Middle School Competition Event Rules section for specific rules of the various events offered at the tournament. Also refer to the Middle School Judging Instructions section as additional guidance for judges.

Harassment and Discrimination Policy

The National Speech & Debate Association is committed to providing its participants, judges, coaches, and staff the opportunity to pursue excellence in their endeavors. This opportunity can exist only when each member of our community is assured an atmosphere of mutual respect. The NSDA prohibits all forms of harassment and discrimination. Accordingly, all forms of harassment and discrimination, whether written or oral, based on race, color, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital status, citizenship, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by any applicable federal, state, or local law are prohibited, whether committed by participants, judges, coaches, or observers. Individuals who are found to have violated this policy will be subject to the full range of sanctions, up to and including removal from the tournament premises. Any individual or group of individuals who believes they have been a victim of harassment and/or discrimination should report it to the tournament office immediately. (Updated February 3, 2019)

Tournament Entry

  1. The 2025 Middle School National Tournament will be held in person.
  2. Eligibility: Students must have been in the fifth, sixth, seventh, or eighth grade during this academic school year. There is no qualification process; this is an open tournament.
    1. Students involved with non-school clubs must instead be registered with the school at which they are enrolled. Contestants found to be violating this rule will be disqualified.
    2. Membership Notice: The Board of Directors affirms the creation, support, and development of speech and debate programs at the middle and secondary levels through accredited public and private schools. All members of the Association must be school-based. For any club or organization that does not currently have a school-based membership, the NSDA is eager to work with you to create school-based speech and debate teams. Students who are currently members through their area non-school-based clubs and organizations may request to have their memberships transferred to their accredited public and private schools. Homeschools and virtual schools that are recognized by the state in which those schools compete may join the National Speech & Debate Association. Please contact info@speechanddebate.org for more information.
  3. Entry Limits:
    1. Entries, judges, and payment are due May 15. 
    2. Coaches must acquire a signed Entry Release Form for each competitor before the first day of competition, retain these signed forms through December 31, and be ready to produce them at any point during or following the Middle School National Tournament. Forms do not need to be turned in to the national office during registration.
    3. Debate events Big Questions, Lincoln-Douglas, Policy, Public Forum, Congress, and World Schools will be offered. No double entry is permitted in debate events. Students may not register for a debate event and speech events.
    4. Speech events are split into two patterns. Students may enter up to four total events (no more than two per pattern). Students cannot double enter in Pattern A if they are registered for Extemporaneous Speaking.
      1. Pattern A: Duo Interpretation, Humorous Interpretation, Mixed Extemporaneous Speaking, Original Oratory, Poetry, and Storytelling. 
      2. Pattern B: Dramatic Interpretation, Declamation, Prose, Informative Speaking, Program Oral Interpretation, Original Spoken Word Poetry, and Impromptu.
    5. A school may enter up to 8 entries per event.
    6. Visual aids are optional in Informative Speaking.
    7. Once we reach capacity, we will close registration in applicable competition events. This may happen before the entry deadline.
    8. Events with fewer than 25 entries may be canceled. 
  4. Judging: 
  1. Middle schools are required to bring judges for each division in which they have students (Policy, LD, or PF, Speech, World Schools, and Congress) as a condition of registering. 
  2. Judge requirements by event group:
    1. Policy Debate: For every 2 teams or fraction thereof, one judge must be provided by the school.
    2. Lincoln-Douglas Debate: For every 3 entries or fraction thereof, one judge must be provided by the school.
    3. Public Forum Debate: For every 3 teams or fraction thereof, one judge must be provided by the school.
    4. Big Questions Debate: For every 3 entries or fraction thereof, one judge must be provided by the school.
    5. Speech: For every 5 entries or fraction thereof, one judge must be provided by the school.
    6. Congress: A minimum of one judge must be provided by the school.
    7. World Schools Debate: For every 2 teams or fraction thereof, one judge must be provided by the school.
  3. If a school owes more than one judge in a category, they may choose to buy-out their obligation for $160 per judge. However, at least one judge must be provided by the school in each category owed.
  4. Judging paradigm questionnaires for Policy and Lincoln-Douglas Debate judges must be completed on Tabroom.com by May 15. 
  5. All judges are committed through the end of the tournament and are expected to judge any round assigned within their event group. Schools whose judges, including parent chaperone judges, do not report for assignments on time will forfeit their judge bond.
  6. If a school enters high school students to judge, they must have been juniors or seniors with at least 250 Honor Society points in the last academic year. No underclassmen or upperclassmen without 250 Honor Society points will be permitted to judge. A rising junior does not meet this criterion. Students competing at the high school National Tournament cannot cover a school’s judging obligation.
  7. All judges must be registered on the registration site by May 15. All judge paradigms are due by May 15. All judges must certify they have completed the required judge training by May 15. Failure to meet this deadline may result in forfeiture of entry to the National Tournament.
  1. Fees:
    1. School Membership Fee: $75. Every school registered in the Middle School National Tournament must first be registered as a paid NSDA member school. School membership costs $75, and the school will remain a member until the end of the current school year. Sign up for membership at www.speechanddebate.org/join.
    2. Student Membership Fee: $10. Every student registered in the Middle School National Tournament must first be registered as a paid NSDA member student. Each student membership costs $10, and students will remain members until they enter high school. Sign up for membership at www.speechanddebate.org/join.
    3. Entry Fee: An annual fee will be charged per entry and can be found on the National Tournament website. Payment must accompany your registration materials. Schools staying within the NSDA hotel block receive a discount on entry fees. Schools must select the hotel they are staying at in their Tabroom.com registration, and this discount will be automatically applied. 
    4. All fees are non-refundable after registration closes on May 15.
    5. Each school must post a judge bond of $200. This bond is in addition to entry fees and judge fees. If all judges from a school complete all judging assignments, the $200 will be returned after the tournament using the method selected during registration (on the general tab of your tournament registration): refund check by mail or credit toward 2026 NSDA membership. Judge bond refunds will be processed by July 31. A school will not be permitted to gain membership or compete the following year unless all outstanding fees have been paid. 
    6. Overpayments will be processed by July 31 and refunded via the same method selected for judge bond refund.
    7. Payment for hired judges must be received by May 15. No judges may be hired after this date.
  2. Entry Requirements and Deadlines:
    1. Coaches can register online at MSNats.tabroom.com. Entries are due May 15. 
    2. Title, author, and ISBN information for Interpretation events, title, works cited, and topic for Original Oratory, Informative Speaking, and Program Oral Interp, and title for Declamation, must be posted on the registration website by May 15.
    3. Judge names and judge conflicts are due May 15. 
    4. Entry release forms, signed by each student’s parent/guardian, must be procured by the first day of competition and retained by coaches until December 31. Coaches will agree to a disclaimer certifying that they will procure these forms prior to registering. No forms need to be uploaded, but evidence that a school has violated this agreement could result in disqualification of the school’s entries.
    5. Coaches must certify that EACH contestant entered under their school name is a student at this middle school and will be under the supervision of a supervising adult who is the student’s parent/guardian, coach, or school administrator, approved by the school principal by agreeing to the disclaimer prior to registering. No forms need to be uploaded, but evidence that a school has violated this agreement could result in disqualification of the school’s entries.
    6. All fees, including judge bond, must be postmarked or received by the national office by May 15.
  3. Supervision and Logistics Information:
    1. Each student shall be under the supervision of an adult coach, parent/guardian, or other adult approved by the school principal. The adult supervisor must be the student’s coach, a school district faculty member or administrator, or the child’s own parent(s). The supervising adult must stay at the same lodging with student(s) under their supervision. Students without an accredited supervisor staying in the same lodging will not be permitted to participate in the tournament. Coaches from other school districts may not be the adult supervisor without prior written permission of both school district superintendents.
    2. Students are not allowed to enter competition rooms without judges present. Students are required to wait outside the room until the judge(s) arrive.
    3. The tournament may limit spectators in accordance with fire safety codes and room capacities.
    4. All rounds at the Middle School National Tournament are open to any spectator.

Competition Event Procedures

  1. Judges: At least one judge evaluates each preliminary round. At least three judges will evaluate elimination rounds.
  2. Judging Conflicts: Contestants scheduled to be judged by someone who has, at any point in time, coached or taught them or with whom they have a close personal relationship are responsible for reporting that conflict on Tabroom.com prior to May 15. If someone is scheduled to judge a student that is a conflict, they must report that fact to the tournament office immediately. Failure to comply may result in disqualification from the tournament.
  3. Observers All rounds are open to observers.
  4. Public Forum, Lincoln-Douglas, Policy, Big Questions, and World Schools Debate: 
    1. If fewer than 25 participants sign up for a particular debate event, that event may be canceled.
    2. Preliminary Round Pairing Procedures
      1. There shall be no fewer than five preliminary rounds for each debate category in which all entries are guaranteed participation (except in the event of a bye), unless there are under 40 entries, where at least four preliminary rounds will be held.
      2. In the event of an odd number of entries in a given debate format, one entry in each round will be awarded a bye. That bye will be tabulated as a win, and entries receiving the bye will be awarded speaker points equal to their speaker point average in the other four rounds of competition. The bye will be assigned randomly in rounds one and two. In powermatched rounds, the bye will be assigned to the entry with the lowest SOP scoring entry that does not create a side, school, or repeat debate conflict and has not yet received a bye. If possible given other pairing priorities, the same school will not draw the bye more than once in preliminary rounds. 
      3. Where possible, entries will be constrained from meeting other entries from their school, and other entries they have previously met in prelims. Where possible, entries will be constrained from meeting entries from the same state or region in pre-sets. This cannot be guaranteed.
      4. Rounds one and two of all debate divisions will be paired randomly with exception of the previous mentioned constraints. All rounds following round two will be paired using a high-low within the brackets method of powering.
      5. For Public Forum, a coin toss will be used to determine sides and speaker order in all rounds.
      6. Scheduling judges for preliminary rounds:
        1. All preliminary rounds of debate will be decided by one judge.
        2. No school-affiliated judge shall be scheduled to judge their own entry where possible.
        3. A judge will not be scheduled to judge an entry more than once.
    3. Pairing Procedures for Elimination Rounds
      1. All entries with winning records will advance to elimination rounds in a single-elimination bracket.
      2. Once elimination rounds begin, school constraints no longer apply. An entry may be paired to debate another entry from the same school. In such situations, the coach of record for entries involved may opt to advance either entry without holding the actual debate, or the coach may decide to require the debaters to debate, in which case the tournament will provide necessary judges for the round to take place. NOTE: the final round must be debated for students to earn the awards, and they will be crowned co-champions. This is to ensure a public showcase of the tournament’s best talent, as well as to complete the video archive.
      3. When determining which entries advance to elimination rounds, all entries will be seeded based on the following:
        1. Total number of wins.
        2. Adjusted speaker points with highest and lowest single-ballot points dropped.
        3. Opposition seed.
        4. Total speaker points.
        5. Speaker points dropping the two highest and two lowest point values. 
        6. Judge variance.
        7. Opposition points.
        8. In the event of an unbreakable tie, the seeding of the teams in questions will be determined by a coin toss.
      4. The following guidelines will be used to pair elimination rounds.
        1. In the first elimination round the highest seed will debate the lowest seed, the second seed will debate the second lowest seed, and so on. For example, in octafinals the 1st seed would debate the 16th seed, the 2nd seed would debate the 15th seed, the 3rd seed would debate the 14th seed, the 4th seed would debate the 13th seed, and so on ending with the 8th seed debating the 9th seed.
        2. If the 16th seed defeats the 1st seed in octafinals, for example, then they assume the 1st seed.
        3. For Policy, LD, and BQ – If the entries paired to debate in out rounds met in prelims, then they will debate on opposite sides in the elimination round. If the two entries have not met previously at the National Tournament, then they will flip a coin for sides. In elimination rounds of World Schools Debate, all teams will flip a coin to determine sides. Sides in Public Forum will always be determined by coin toss.
      5. Scheduling judges for elimination rounds
        1. All elimination rounds of debate will be judged by a minimum of three judges.
        2. No coach shall be scheduled to judge their own entry.
  5. Congressional Debate:
    1. Preliminary Round Sectioning
      1. Students will be assigned to chambers of no more than 24 students.
      2. Students from the same school will be separated, except to allow for an affiliated judge to score in a chamber without students from their school.
      3. Preliminary sessions will be evaluated and ranked by at least two judges and a parliamentarian, who will score individual speeches and answers to questions, as well as preferentially rank the students in each session.
        1. A parliamentarian will be assigned to each chamber (or one of the judges will be designated as “parliamentarian”). They will supervise each chamber: to call roll, intervene in case a chamber becomes too deeply involved in parliamentary rules, and correct gross errors in procedure. They should remain in the background, but step forward firmly when their presence is required. The purpose of the Congress is to debate legislation, and it is the parliamentarian’s duty to ensure this is done. 
        2. Interested students may run for election as presiding officer. If no students step forward, the parliamentarian assigned to the chamber shall preside. The presiding officer shall call contestants to speak, serve as timekeeper, and ensure that tournament rules and parliamentary procedure are adhered to. The parliamentarian will assist the presiding officer as necessary. 
    2. Agenda: To facilitate maximum time for debate, the agenda will be set in the order legislation appears in the docket packet. Students may move to Suspend the Rules and alter the agenda in individual chambers, but the parliamentarian may step in and overrule this, if they believe this motion is being used abusively or excessively. 
    3. Elimination Rounds:
      1. If there are fewer than 19 contestants in the preliminary session, no final session will be held. If there are 20-40 students, the top 10-14 will advance straight to finals; if there are 41 or more, at least the top 24 will advance to semifinals and at least the top 12 will advance to finals. The following priorities determine advancement and placing:
        1. Low cumulative rank total
        2. Judge Preference
        3. Sum of Reciprocal Fractions
        4. Low adjusted rank total, after high and low ranks are dropped
        5. Judge preference of adjusted ranks
        6. Reciprocal Fractions of adjusted ranks
        7. Parliamentarian’s ballot
      2. If held, semifinal sections will seed entries into sections of approximately equivalent strength, based on preliminary rounds performance, protecting for school constraints first.
      3. Presiding Officer: if the final session is split into multiple segments, two separate elections may be held for presiding officer.
      4. Judges: The Final Congress will feature a panel of 3 or 5 judges. No school-affiliated judge shall be scheduled to judge a student from their school.
      5. Awards: The top placing six students will be recognized; remaining students will be designated as “finalists.” The final session presiding officer(s) also will be recognized.
  6. Speech Events:
    1. If fewer than 25 participants enter a particular event, the event may be canceled or collapsed with other events.
    2. Material: Students may not use speeches or literary selections they used in a previous academic year. They also may not duplicate the same material in different events. Costumes or props may not be used.
    3. Students may enter up to four total events (no more than two per pattern). Students cannot double enter in Pattern A if they are registered for Extemporaneous Speaking.
      1. Pattern A: Duo Interpretation, Humorous Interpretation, Mixed Extemporaneous Speaking, Original Oratory, Poetry, and Storytelling. 
      2. Pattern B: Dramatic Interpretation, Declamation, Prose, Informative Speaking, Program Oral Interpretation, Original Spoken Word Poetry, and Impromptu.
    4. Speech Preliminary Round Sectioning
      1. Each contestant is guaranteed three randomly sectioned preliminary rounds.
      2. When possible, no student should be placed in a section with another student from their school.
      3. Each student should meet a variety of opposition in each round.
      4. Each student should be assigned a variety of speaker positions in preliminary rounds.
      5. Scheduling judges for speech preliminary rounds
        1. Preliminary rounds of speech events will be evaluated and ranked by one judge.
        2. Where possible, no school-affiliated judge shall be scheduled to judge a student from their school.
        3. No judge shall judge the same student in the same event more than once during prelims.
    5. Speech Elimination Rounds
      1. The number of entries in each speech event will determine the number of individuals that can advance to elimination round competition in that event. If an event has fewer than 24 entries, the event will break directly to a final round of six contestants. If an event has more than 24 but fewer than 60 entries that event will break to semifinals, and any event with more than 60 entries will break to a quarterfinal round. If there are 100+ entries in an event, an octafinal will be held.
      2. Prelim scores will not carry over to elimination rounds except that for the purpose of scheduling the first elimination round or as a tiebreaker. From that point on, scores reset after each round.
      3. Scheduling judges: Elimination rounds of speech events will be judged by at least three judges. No school-affiliated judge shall be scheduled to judge a student from their school. When possible, a judge will not adjudicate a student more than once.
      4. First elimination round: Contestants will advance to the first elimination round after prelims using the following tiebreaks. If the first elimination round is an octafinal, the top 48 entries will advance. If it is a quarterfinal, the top 24 entries will advance. If it is a semifinal, 12 entries will advance.
        1. Lowest cumulative ranks 
        2. Reciprocal fractions
        3. If a tie is unbreakable by this formula, all tied contestants shall advance.
      5. Sectioning in elimination rounds will be snaked as follows in the example of a quarterfinal, protecting school constraints before seeding (speaker order will not necessary follow the seed strength listed):
Section xSection ySection zSection n
24th seed23rd seed22nd seed21st seed
17th seed18th seed19th seed20th seed
16th seed15th seed14th seed13th seed
9th seed10th seed11th seed12th seed
8th seed7th seed6th seed5th seed
1st seed2nd seed3rd seed4th seed
  1. Advancing from an elimination round
    1. The top three participants from each section of an elimination round will advance to the next elimination round. Determine who advances using the following tiebreaks. These are also the tiebreaks for determining final placement after the final round.
      1. Lowest round rank total from previous round
      2. Judge preference of ranks in previous round
      3. Reciprocal fractions of previous round ranks
      4. Cumulative rank total
      5. If a tie is unbreakable by this formula, all tied entries shall advance.

Protests and Disqualification

  1. Forfeits: Judges should notify the tournament office of a student who arrives at their round more than 15 minutes after the posted start time of the round. If there are multiple judges in the round, all must agree that the student was more than 15 minutes late. Debaters who are 15 minutes late forfeit the round, but the tournament office may waive the penalty. For a speech competitor, the tournament office may choose to drop each judge score in the round by two ranks. The judge(s) should not adjust the student’s ranks themselves. The tournament office may waive the penalty.
  2. Wrong Room/Section: If an entry competes in the wrong section of a speech event or against the wrong opponent in a debate round—at no fault of their opponent or the tournament—that student/team will automatically receive last in the section in which they were assigned and zero speaker points for that round. Debaters will receive a loss for that particular round and zero speaker points.
  3. Protest Process:
  1. The tournament office will investigate and adjudicate protests of alleged violations of tournament rules and standards. 
  2. Protests must be presented by a school’s designated adult or “coach of record”—student complaints and protests will not be acknowledged. 
  3. Protests are filed using the online protest form. The form includes: 

a. Name of the school advisor or authorized adult representative(s) filing protest and school, city, state. To file a protest, the advisor or adult representative must be on site. School advisors may appoint one or more adult representatives who are permitted to file protests in case the advisor is absent or incapable of filing a protest due to a tournament-related commitment. Authorized adult representatives must be approved by the school’s administration and explicitly appointed prior to the tournament. 

b. Code of person/team being protested. 

c. Round being protested. 

d. Section/room and speaker number of person/team being protested. 

e. Specific infraction being protested described with supporting detail. 

After the infraction has been observed/discovered, the protest must be filed in a timely manner. After filing a protest, the coach must report to the tournament office. For coaches initiating protests, decisions of the tournament office are final; coaches may not appeal. If a perceived violation occurs in a subsequent round, another protest may be filed. 

The National Tournament Director may reduce the prescribed penalty for a rule violation based on the severity of the infraction.

In case of a disqualification of an entry, all previous ranks and decisions of other entries stand, and no revision of past round ranks will occur.

Awards

  1. Individual Awards: Awards will be given to all students advancing to elimination rounds.
    1. The top 10 speakers in Lincoln-Douglas, Policy, Public Forum, World Schools, and Big Questions will be recognized.
    2. In Congressional Debate, the final session presiding officer will be recognized.
  2. School of Excellence Awards: 
  1. Entries reaching elimination rounds will count toward School of Excellence Awards.
    1. An entry earns their school one point per round they advance. 
    2. In Congressional Debate, students who place 1-6 receive an additional point in addition to one for breaking to the final session.
  2. Debate: Presented to the top five point earning schools with at least one entry in debate and/or Congressional Debate. 
  3. Speech: Presented to the top five point earning schools with at least one entry in a speech event.
  4. Overall: Presented to the top three point earning schools with at least one entry in both debate and speech. The winner of the overall School of Excellence Awards will not also be eligible to win the Speech and Debate School of Excellence Awards.

SECTION 3: Middle School Competition Event Rules

Overview

This manual provides official rules for events offered at the Middle School National Speech & Debate Tournament. Rules are mostly modeled after high school events, rules, and standards, but have been modified in some cases to more appropriately suit middle school students. 

Please refer to the Middle School Tournament Procedures section for information on how the competition is operated. Also refer to Middle School Judging Instructions as additional guidance for judges. For other tournament logistics, visit www.speechanddebate.org/nationals.

Policy Debate novice case limits can be found at www.speechanddebate.org/topics.

Time Limits

Declamation10 min + 30-sec graceCongressional DebateVaries – refer to HS Unified Manual
Dramatic Interpretation10 min + 30-sec grace
Duo Interpretation10 min + 30-sec graceLincoln-Douglas DebateVaries – refer to HS Unified Manual
Extemporaneous Speaking7 min + 30-sec gracePolicy DebateVaries – refer to HS Unified Manual
Humorous Interpretation10 min + 30-sec gracePublic Forum DebateVaries – refer to HS Unified Manual
Impromptu Speaking7 min + 30-sec graceWorld Schools DebateVaries – refer to WS Manual
Informative Speaking10 min + 30-sec graceBig Questions DebateVaries – refer to BQ Manual
Original Oratory10 min + 30-sec grace
Original Spoken Word Poetry5 min + 30-sec grace
Poetry Interpretation7 min + 30-sec grace
Prose Interpretation7 min + 30-sec grace
Program of Oral Interp10 min + 30-sec grace
Storytelling5 min + 30-sec grace

Topics

Visit www.speechanddebate.org/topics for National Tournament topics, available by May 1.

Events at the 2025 Middle School National Tournament

Overarching Rules for Debate

  1. Oral prompting, except for time signals, by a speaker’s debate partner is not prohibited. Individual judges may determine their comfort with this practice and handle it in-round. No protests will be heard by the Rules Protest Panel regarding this issue.
  2. Judging Conflicts: Entries in any debate event who are scheduled to be judged by someone who has, at any point in time, coached or taught them or with whom they have a close personal relationship are responsible for reporting that fact to the National Tournament Director immediately. Failure to comply may result in disqualification from the tournament.
  3. Policy, Big Questions, Public Forum, Lincoln-Douglas, and Congress must use the evidence rules found in the High School Unified Manual. 
  4. Policy, Big Questions, Public Forum, Lincoln-Douglas, and Congress must use the Current Guidelines for Internet-Enabled Devices found in the High School Unified Manual. The use of the internet in round is permitted per these guidelines. Internet use is not permitted in World Schools Debate.
  5. Policy, Public Forum, Lincoln-Douglas, and Congress will use the event rules outlined in the High School Unified Manual. 
  6. Congressional Debate will use preset recency and direct questioning in all rounds.
  7. Big Questions will use the event rules outlined in the Big Questions Format Manual. Only individual entries are permitted at the Middle School National Tournament in Big Questions, not partners.
  8. World Schools will use the event rules outlined in the World Schools Invitational Manual.

Overarching Rules for Speech

  1. Speech events will use the event rules outlined in the High School Unified Manual, except where described below. 
  2. All interpretation events will follow the source material standards outlined in the High School Unified Manual. Poetry Interpretation and Prose Interpretation will follow the event rules outlined in the High School Unified Manual with the exception that Prose and Poetry performance time limits are 7 minutes with a 30-second grace period at the Middle School National Tournament. 
  3. Declamation
    1. Length: Declamation is a 10-minute event with a 30-second “grace period.” Should a student go beyond the grace period, the student may not be ranked 1st. There is no other prescribed penalty for going over the grace period. No minimum time is mandated.
    2. Source: The speech must have been delivered in public and available in print (copies from a publicly available website will also be sufficient). Declamation follows the same publication rules as the high school interpretation events.  See source standards in the High School Unified Manual.
    3. The speaker should present an introduction that states the title, author, and date of the speech they are reciting.
  4. There is no cross-examination in Mixed Extemp.
  5. In 2025: The Middle School National Tournament will pilot a rule that allows Mixed Extemp and Impromptu competitors to use a notecard while speaking. Notes may not be prepared in advance; Extemp speeches, handbooks, briefs, and outlines are prohibited from the Extemp prep room. However, contestants may make notes during preparation time and use the front and back of a 4” x 6” or smaller notecard during their speech.

SECTION 4: Middle School Judging Instructions

Overview

This is a general guide to assist judges in facilitating rounds at the Middle School National Tournament. Judges are expected to understand event rules. Coaches are not able to levy protests to the Rules Protest Panel based upon judging instructions. Whatever your background or experience, you bring unique perspective to providing constructive criticism toward guiding young people in their growth as communicators and performers.

Please refer to the Middle School Competition Event Rules section for specific rules of the various events offered at the tournament. Also refer to Middle School Tournament Procedures as an overview of competition. For additional tournament logistics, visit www.speechanddebate.org/nationals.

Reminder: If a school brings high school students to judge the Middle School National Tournament, they must have been juniors or seniors with at least 250 Honor Society points in the last academic year. No underclassmen or upperclassmen without 250 Honor Society points will be permitted to judge. A rising junior does not meet these criteria.

A Note About Training: All judges should be adequately trained in evaluating rounds of competition. Additional training videos, handouts, and other materials are available online at www.speechanddebate.org/judge-training.

General Guidelines for All Judges

Judge Training: All judges must certify completion of the required judge training in Tabroom.com by May 15. All judges must also attend a judge training in person on Wednesday morning.

Implicit Bias: We are all influenced by unconscious bias or stereotypes that, when unchecked, may influence our ability to judge impartially. Before writing comments or making a decision, please reflect on any preconceived notions you may hold.

Assignments: Judges in the speech judging pool must be prepared to judge any speech event. Judges will not know whether they are being used for a round or which round they are judging more than 30 minutes before each round’s pairing is made public. For each round you are assigned, arrive in the competition room at least 15 minutes prior to each round. Judges that do not receive assignments for a round must be on standby in the judge pooling room in case they are needed as a substitute. Do not swap/trade judging assignments with other judges. Schools whose judges do not report on time or swap assignments will lose their $200 judge bond for the first round missed and then be charged $100 for each subsequent round. Judges who failed to report conflicts prior to the tournament deadline will also lose their judge bond. All judges are committed through the end of the tournament.

Standby: If you are not called for a particular round, you are on standby and should report to the judge pooling room until tournament staff have verified that every room has judges. Failure to appear for standby assignments is the same as failing to appear to judge an assigned round. They can both disrupt and delay the tournament, and we will fine absentee standby judges’ schools. Missing a standby assignment results in the same penalties as above.

Timeliness: Please report to rounds ASAP and do your best to keep the tournament on schedule. 


Writing Evaluations: It is important that you write a complete evaluation. Do not wait until the round is completed to begin writing constructive feedback! Writing during students’ presentations is permitted. It is critical for the contestants and their coaches to have the educational feedback that justifies judges’ decisions. Please be objective (don’t let your own opinions on an idea predetermine your impression of a student’s presentation/argument). Determine your evaluation independently of other judges, and never confer regarding decisions/rankings/ratings. Sharing of decisions/ranks with students is NOT PERMITTED.

Demeanor: Maintain impartiality (never ask students what school/state they are from). While oral critiques can be a valuable teaching tool, they are no substitute for documenting your observations in writing so that the student’s coach can also read the feedback for a more lasting impact. If the round finishes early, you may give brief, general comments that apply universally to all participants in the room. Limit all verbal criticism to constructive comments designed to assist the student. Judges removed from the pool for violating our expectations will result in a forfeiture of the judge bond, plus an additional fee of $100 for each round the judge was assigned. Please give the contestants your undivided attention and respect. You’re in the round to judge, not read books, play video games, text-message, etc. Please model appropriate conduct. Please alert the tournament office with conflicts of interest—i.e., you personally know a student who’s in a room you’re assigned to judge (e.g., past teammate, student you’ve coached, family/relative, personal friend).

Disqualification: Judges will not disqualify a student. Should you believe a student has violated rules, alert tournament officials to the situation with documentation. Evaluate the round as if there were no rules violations; tournament staff will adjust results as needed for disqualification.

Guidelines for Judging Speech Events

  1. Make sure you’re familiar with rules for each event or obtain a copy before judging.
  2. When using online ballots through Tabroom.com, please select “start round” when you begin the round so the tab room knows you are on time.
  3. When you get to your room, you will generally follow the order of speakers as listed, but if students are cross-entered, they may need to go earlier before leaving for their other events, or they may come later.
  4. Ask for the first speaker who is double-entered, and then the first speaker listed who is present. Before the speakers begin, ask them if and how they would like you to show them time signals. The speaker may ask you to show the amount of time remaining. Try to accommodate all speakers’ requests for timing. (Time limits are on evaluation sheets. If the speaker does not wish it to be shown, you nevertheless keep time—just don’t show it. Please wait 10 minutes after the last speaker for any missing double-entered speakers and be sure to alert the tournament office if you had any no-shows.
  5. The ballot should specify the title/topic of the speaker. During the speech, make comments on the ballot for each speaker. Try to make constructive suggestions on how the speaker can improve. Do not simply say “good” or “weak.” Instead, explain HOW or WHY a student is doing well or poorly. If you give a student a poor score, make sure to indicate the problem with the presentation. It is better to focus on one or two specific ways a student could improve, than to give comments that are too general. Begin writing evaluations during students’ presentations, so you are finished by the end of the round. If you spend a lot of time writing comments in between speakers, it makes the students nervous and delays the entire tournament. Where notes/manuscripts are allowed, you may weigh memorization and the effect that the use of notes has on the performance in your rank/scoring.
  6. Please note the amount of time used by the speaker. If there are multiple judges in the round, all must agree that the student has gone beyond the grace period. Should a student go beyond the grace period, the student may not be ranked 1st. There is no other prescribed penalty for going over the grace period. The ranking is up to each individual judge’s discretion. Judges who choose to time are to use accurate (stopwatch function) timing devices. No minimum time is mandated.

    TIME LIMITS

10 minutes: DEC, DI, DUO, HI, INF, OO, POI 7 minutes: EXT, POE, PRO
7 minutes (to both prep and speak): IMP 5 minutes: STO, SW

  1. After all speakers are finished, thank them (at which point, they should leave the room). Do not share any results with students.
  2. On the ballot, write a rank (1-7) for each contestant. The best in the room receives a rank of “1,” the second best a “2,” etc. NO TIES.
  3. Submit your ballot online. Make sure you have confirmed your decision is correct.

Guidelines for Judging Debate Events

  1. Judges influence how much success young people have, so debaters are concerned with your reactions. Therefore, please say nothing throughout the debate. Since middle level students are deeply impressionable and desire success, they will often translate your mannerisms negatively. Be as neutral as possible, saying nothing except a greeting, and appearing interested and supportive.
  2. When using online ballots through Tabroom.com, please select “start round” when you begin the round so the tab room knows you are on time. Ballots must be submitted within 10 minutes of the end of the final speech in the round.
  3. When the debaters arrive, explain if or whether you will be timing. Tell them that they may finish a sentence when time is up, but no more. If they continue, simply stop taking notes and politely say time.
  4. During cross-examination (LD, CX), time belongs to the contestant asking questions, which should be brief and not attempt to refute answers provided by the opposition. The contestant answering questions also should be brief and not argue with the questioner. Note: in partner events, the appropriateness of “tag teaming” during cross-examination is up to the individual judge during a round. The tournament office will not hear any protest over this issue.
  5. During crossfire (PF), time is shared by both sides; questions and answers should be brief and specific. The team speaking first asks the first question. Speakers stand during regular crossfire and sit for the grand crossfire.
  6. No new arguments should be introduced in the last rebuttals. Certainly, new information (data, quotes, etc.) can be used. Additionally, arguments can be extended and developed (or else the debaters would be reduced to mere repetition). However, a totally new idea should not be offered.
  7. Take notes to diagram the flow of arguments offered by each side. Notate each claim made, placing opposing arguments next to one another. That way you can track who “drops” an argument and who misinterprets another’s argument; you can also check when a debater claims the opponent did not attack an argument. 
  8. During prep time, write feedback on the ballot. At the end of the debate, determine the winner (aff or neg). Then assign points. No more than 30, no less than 20. Finally, fill out the Reasons for Decision. Try to say something substantive, NOT “one was more persuasive,” or “one spoke better.” Try to list the winning or losing arguments. To aid in standardizing awarding of speaker/team points, please use the following as a guideline:


30 – Exceptional debating, with minor flaws

29 – Outstanding, with a few flaws

28 – Effective, perhaps with some overlooked details

27 – Effective, with more room for improvement

26 – Average, with some skills that need to be polished and developed

25 – Average, with a major flaw or two

24 – Below average or standards you would expect

23 – The debater spoke well, but had serious flaws in argumentation 

22 – Debating, attitude, and/or delivery is lacking (please specify in written comments)

21 – Serious problems with debating, attitude and/or delivery (please specify in written comments)

20 – Performance was offensive, or attitude was inexcusable

Note: Tenth-points and half-points are acceptable.

  1. Prep Time: Keep record of this and inform the debaters of the amount used/left. “Charge” it to the debater as follows: BEFORE the debater speaks, it is that person’s prep time. If you have warned a debater that prep time has expired, and if they continue prepping, deduct that amount of time from the debater’s next speech time. 

Questions?

We’re here to help! Email us at info@speechanddebate.org or call (920) 748-6206. You may also find more information online at www.speechanddebate.org.

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