GUIDELINES FOR SPEECH EVENTS:
Here are some more specific guidelines for impromptu and interpretive reading that might be of use as you help your kids prepare for our tournament (if you’ve been working from last year’s guidelines, have no fear, the below are identical). We will use the DANEIS parli rules posted on our website: DANEIS Parli Rules

INTERPRETIVE READING–Time: 5-11 minutes (including an introduction of up to one minute)

General guidelines:
Each participant will read a passage of prose or poetry (or a selection of poems) of literary merit, serious or humorous, with an appropriate introduction included in the time limit. The introduction should give an indication of the context of the reading and convey the reasons why it has been chosen. The introduction should be a direct address to the audience, personal and informal.

Judges will be instructed to mark readings of material written principally for children by severe standards relating to the simplicity of the material presented and the lack of demand on the resources of the reader.

Specific guidelines:

• Dramatic interpretations of the text must be avoided.
• Dramatic gestures/techniques should be used rarely and only to enhance the text.
• Books written for children can be interpreted as books that would read by primary school readers ie children under the age of 13.
• Nonfiction is not allowed.
• Plays and scripts are not allowed.
• Recitations of historical speeches are not acceptable, though the reading of a fictional one is allowed.
• Speakers must ideally balance reading of the text, knowing the text, and eye-contact.
• Speakers may sit or stand.
• Speakers may read from the book or from a photocopied script.