B. An orator holding a manuscript or notes with be ranked last.

C. The orator must be truthful. Any non-factual reference, especially a personal one, must be so identified.

D. There is no minimum time. No oration shall exceed 10 minutes.

E. The oration may not contain more than 150 words of quoted material. Extensive paraphrasing from other sources is prohibited.

F. For Regionals the orator’s script must be sent to the Regional Chairperson with the team’s preliminary registration. It must have the OO cover sheet attached to the front and completely filled out. The OO that is submitted with the registration is the one with which the competitor must compete.

G. For the State Tournament the orator’s script must be sent to CHSAA with the team’s registration. It must have an OO cover sheet attached to the front and completely filled out. The competitor may change his/her OO from Regionals to State; however, the OO that is submitted with the registration is the one with which the competitor must compete.

H. If an orator submits an oration with more than 150 quoted words, the meet director will give the orator a chance to correct the error. Those who fail to do so by the deadline given by the tournament director will not be allowed to compete.

I. No props or visual aids may be used in OO.

J. Orators caught plagiarizing or extensively paraphrasing will be disqualified.

1. Orations must be submitted with regional registration forms to the Regional Director. Not more than 150 words of the oration may be a direct quotation from any other speech or writing, and such quotation shall be identified in a type written copy.

2. Schedules and room assignments are furnished the students. Speakers are required to follow the assigned schedule and speaking order.

3. The student will deliver the speech without manuscript or notes. Anyone holding a script will be ranked fourth, or last in the round.

4. Maximum time ten (10) minutes. The starting and ending time should be marked on each ballot. If the contestant continues beyond the maximum time, the STOP card must be shown and an audible “STOP” provided at the end of the 15-second grace period. If the contestant continues beyond the STOP signal, the contestant will be ranked fourth or last in the round. Total elapsed time must be indicated on the ballot.

5. Critics will rate and rank speakers and give constructive criticisms. The total score automatically provides a rating by use of the rating scale on all evaluation forms.

6. Completed ballots, plus the summary sheet should be turned in to the tabulation room promptly. After tabulation, each ballot is given to the participant via his/her coach the end of the tournament.