I am actually privy to this sentiment fairly often. Parents mostly know what they like best when they watch interps. They might even know why they liked it best over some other interp. But they want to know how to say that articulately to the students on the ballot. The point of this post is NOT to tell you what should rank higher than something else but to help you identify the bits and pieces that are part of any interp…bits and pieces that you can talk about from your own perspective on your ballots, giving students bits and pieces they can actually work on after the tournament. I was recently in a club meeting where the leader asked the students to share the most helpful comment they had received on a ballot. The students struggled to find one. I want students to have LOTS of helpful, useable things. Things they can take to club and say, “can someone show me how to ___________?” Or “can someone help me change ___________?” I want things filling in those blanks for our kids!
So here goes….How DO you look at an interp speech?