Educational: Oral Interpretation

Registration is INVITE ONLY.

Each school must bring one line judge. Submit your workers name to Dani Walking Eagle one week in advance.

All other tournament positions will be staffed by LNI.

Head Referee – Joe Drabb

Each school must submit a 15 player rooster and team photo two weeks prior to the tournament. Please send to Katie at Clark Printing, katie@clarkprinting.com. If the deadline is missed, schools will not be in the program.

There will be not practice times as games being Friday morning.

Locker rooms will be available.

Please turn in your rooster to the announcers before game starts.

This event will take place on the 1st day of LNI December 17, 2025.

There will be six separate competitions. The event will begin with Radio-Broadcasting @ 8:00 a.m., Indigenous Storytelling will follow @ 9:45 a.m.,

Poetry Recitation @ 11:30 p.m. We will hold our Original Oratory competition @ 1:15 p.m., followed by Readers’ Theatre @ 2:45 p.m. Our final contest shall be Stand-up Comedy @ 3:30 with the Awards Ceremony to follow at 5:00 p.m.

Each team may have no more than one entry in each of the following categories: poetry, stand-up comedy, original oratory, radio broadcasting, readers’ theater & storytelling (indigenous). All events except stand-up comedy, radio broadcasting and storytelling will have a 10minute time limit. Storytelling (indigenous) will have a time limit of 5 minutes. Radio broadcasting will be given a 30 minute preparation period followed by a 5 minute radio broadcast. Stand-up Comedy will have a 3-7minute window in which to perform. Any deviation from that time will result in the lowering of 1 Rank. All poetry and storytelling competitors must use source material not written by the competitor and must be published in print or electronically. Original oratory must be the sole work of the competitor and readers theatre can be either previously published material or original material. Content for radio broadcasting will be provided for at the tournament. Awards for all competitions will be given after the scores for Stand-up Comedy have been tabulated.

8:00 a.m. RADIO BROADCASTING:

Radio Broadcasting is a public address event in which a student presents a classic, “top-of-the-hour” news broadcast in the voice of a single professional broadcaster. In this event, each student will receive a newspaper. The student will report to a preparation area where they will have 30 minutes to select and organize the material into a 5-minute radio news broadcast. Judges will listen (not watch) the presentation. Throughout the broadcast, the timekeeper or judge will keep the student informed of time. Students may use minimal introductory remarks and transitional material. Advertising, including sponsorship taglines, is not allowed even if it is included in the copy provided by the tournament staff.

Time: 5 minute maximum (15 second grace over or under-time), no contestant who goes over or under time can place above a contestant who did not.

9:45 a.m. STORYTELLING (Indigenous):

The purpose of Storytelling is to give students the opportunity to develop the art of creating a mood wherein a spoken narrative transports the audience to the time and place of the story being recounted. A storyteller is a narrator -not an actor or actress -and although gestures, pantomime, movement, and characterization are not barred, they must be used with restraint. The focus of the presentation must be on the narrative, with the teller acting as a presenter and not a performer. The teller must clearly grasp and convey the meaning of the tale. The judge should rate highly the mechanics of superior speaking: fluency, vocal variety, articulation, eye contact, gesture. All things equal, the judges shall give preference to those presentations which are Indigenous in nature.

The use of a manuscript is optional. The storyteller may speak only from a seated position from a chair or stool which will be provided by the contest host. The competitor may provide their own chair or stool if they prefer. Standing during the presentation will result in disqualification. Some preference will be given to those presentations which are considered to be indigenous in nature. No props or visual aids may be used. “When the teller has been successful in bringing the tale to life, the telling will seem entirely natural, almost effortless”. A single published, printed story, anecdote, tale, myth or legend must be retold without the use of props. An introduction may be included within the 5minute time

limit but will not be mandatory. There is no actual theme for this competition, however, students are encouraged but not mandated to make a selection which is Indigenous in nature.

Time Limit:

5 minutes (30 second grace period), no contestant who goes over time can place above a contestant who did not go overtime.

11:30 a.m. POETRY RECITATION:

Literature for the poetry contest event shall be selected by the contestants. They shall choose poetry to develop one theme or to illustrate the abilities, moods or characteristics of one author. If they

choose to develop a theme, the contestants may select the works of one or more authors. In any case, the poetry may be one long selection, a cutting from a longer selection, or a series of short selections. The contestants may include in their presentation such introductory or transitory remarks as are necessary to establish mood and to orient the audience properly. Only poetry from the best of literature should be used. This includes plays. The poetry in the selection must have been copyrighted and published in either electronic or print form and be available to the public. The use of a manuscript is optional.

Time Limit: 10 minutes (30 second grace period), no contestant who goes over time can place above a contestant who did not go overtime.

1:15 p.m. ORIGINAL ORATORY:

All original orations shall be subject to the following requirements:

1. PURPOSE: The general purpose of the speech is to persuade. Any other purpose such as to inform or entertain shall be secondary. All orations should be memorized and be presented from memory. The work must be original on the part of the student. The oration may be written on any subject that the student desires, but it must have a title. An oration may not contain more than 150 words of quoted material. Each speech must be submitted electronically to the event coordinator (snethen@hotmail.com) prior to 3:00 December 13, 2025. The student and coach assume all responsibility for understanding all regulations and attest that the speech meets those guidelines. The oration must be available for review at the LNI tournament if requested.
2. COMPLIANCE PENALTIES: If a selection is not memorized, a judge may decide to lower that student by 1 st place. If it is discovered that the work is not original on the part of the student, the student will forfeit the contest. If the contestant’s script contains more than 150 words of quoted material, that contestant will forfeit THE contest. Time Limit: 10 minutes (30 second grace period), no contestant who goes over time can place above a contestant who did not go overtime.

Time Limit: 10 minutes (30 second grace period), no contestant who goes over time can place above a contestant who did not go overtime

2:45 p.m. READERS THEATRE:

Readers Theatre is an event in which a group of three to six students interpretively present literature. Readers Theatre encourages the students to create a scripted ensemble performance that focuses on the use of interpretative skills to present prose, poetry and or drama without the aid of costumes, make-up, set or props. Materials used may include prose, verse, drama, speeches, diaries, letters, essays, original compositions, etc. Preparation and Presentation. Manuscripts are optional. They may be held and/or placed on music stands. If manuscripts are used, members of the group must carry their manuscript as they move from place to place during the performance. Costumes, make-up,

and props are prohibited, but it is allowable for a school to have the participants dress in a uniform manner. Performers may use either a uniform set of stools (between 24″ and 30″ high, having no back and unable to swivel) or a set of straight chairs. A school SHALL NOT use a combination of stools and chairs. The maximum number of chairs or stools allowed shall be no greater than the number of performers in the group.

Schools are responsible for providing their own stools or chairs. NOTE: The performers cannot stand or kneel on the chairs or stools. The chairs or stools are only to be used for sitting. Stage movement shall be allowed. The narrator may move about and the compositional groupings may change. The performers may react to each other’s verbal and or non-verbal expressions, but they may not touch each other. A narrated introduction or transitional material within the cutting may be given by one or more members. Only during the presentation of the introduction and or original transitional material may physical or eye contact be made with the other members of the group. The narrated introduction shall be included in the time limit for the selection.

Time Limit: 10 minutes (30 second grace period), no contestant who goes over time can place above a contestant who did not go overtime.

3:30pm STAND-UP COMEDY

LNI: Stand-Up Comedy

Brand New Event for LNI Oral Interpretation

This event will showcase the competitor’s ability to produce a comedic program which is freshly their own. No hate speech or disparaging commentary will be allowed. Non-adherence to this policy will result in disqualification.

A transcript or outline of each stand-up routine must be submitted at least 24 hours prior to the competition. If it is determined that the proposed comedic material is problematic, the contestant will be duly notified so that they may make adjustments to their material before performing.

• 3-7minute routine.
  • Deviation from this will result in the lowering of 1 rank position.
• Self-created routine.
• Family listening appropriate.
• No adult language.
• No hate speech,
• No inappropriate material.
• Must be in good taste…determined by each judge.
  • Judges are expected to lower the rank of each individual which violates this principle.

5:00 AWARDS