Chief Judge Guide: You Own the Integrity
of the Contest.
The Chief Judge manages everything on the judging side: recruiting the judges, briefing them, overseeing the ballots, and making sure the results are accurate and fair. You're the one person in the room who knows the results before anyone else. That's a responsibility you take seriously.
Here's how to do it well.
From first ask to contest night
The Timeline
- 3–4
weeks before
Recruit the judges.
You need a minimum of five judges: four voting judges and one tiebreaker judge.
For our own practice contests, there are no qualifications. Any member can judge.
For the official January contests, judges must have been a Toastmasters member for at least six months and have achieved Level 2 or above in any Pathways path.
The same recruiting advice that applies to the Contest Chair applies to you: a personal ask at a meeting works better than a mass email. Show up, talk to people, ask face to face.
Select the tiebreaker judge.
Unlike the other judges, who only score their top three contestants, the tiebreaker judge scores every single contestant. They only get one minute between contestants like everyone else, so they need more time at the end to finalize. Their ballot is only opened if there's a tie. Their identity is known to you and you alone. Not the Contest Chair. Not the other judges. Not anyone. This is a TI rule.
Recruit the other functionaries.
Beyond the judges, you also need to fill the supporting roles: two timers, two ballot counters, and four or five SAAs so they can take turns at the door (see below). Same approach: ask in person at meetings first, then call or text.
Update the shared Google Sheet.
A shared Google Sheet is good practice for every contest: one place where you and the Contest Chair can both see who has confirmed, which forms are in, and what's still missing. The Contest Chair creates it, using the template in the Contest Chair guide, and shares it with you. If you haven't received it, ask for it.
Add your judges and functionaries as you confirm them. Keep the tiebreaker judge's name off the shared sheet. Track that one separately.
- 2
weeks before
Prepare all contest materials.
You'll need:
- Judge's ballots (one per judge, per contest)
- Tally sheets for the ballot counters
- Timer sheets
- Judge's Certification of Eligibility and Code of Ethics forms
Ask the President where to print them.
Verify contestant eligibility with the Contest Chair.
Review the Speaker's Certification of Eligibility and Originality forms together. Make sure every contestant is a paid member in good standing. For the International Speech Contest, confirm they've completed Levels 1 and 2.
- 1
week before
All judges should be confirmed by now.
If someone drops out, find a replacement. Communicate with the Contest Chair, and make sure your list matches their list.
Contest Night
From Briefing to Shredder
- 1
45 to 60 minutes before the meeting
Brief the judges.
This happens when the judges arrive early, before the audience and general members get there. Walk them through:
- The scoring criteria for this contest type
- How to fill out the ballot correctly: voting judges score their top three contestants only
- When to submit their ballots (one minute between speakers to score, then as much time as they need after the last speaker to finalize)
- The rules around confidentiality: judges do not discuss their scores with anyone
- 2
Before the meeting
Make sure every functionary knows their job.
Talk to each functionary as they arrive and make sure they understand their role:
- Timers: when to show each signal, and to record the exact time of every speech on their timer sheet
- Ballot counters: how the tally works
- Sergeants-at-Arms: keeping the doors closed while a contestant speaks, and for Table Topics, keeping waiting contestants out of earshot
- 3
Before the meeting
Brief the tiebreaker judge privately.
Remind them that their role is confidential. They score like any other judge, but no one else knows their ballot exists unless there's a tie.
- 4
During the contest
Oversee all judging activities.
Make sure judges are scoring between speeches. Make sure no one is talking about scores.
- 5
After the last speech
Collect ballots discreetly.
Work with the ballot counters to gather the ballots from the voting judges after the final speaker. Collect the tiebreaker judge's ballot yourself. No one else handles it. Keep it sealed unless there's a tie.
- 6
While ballots are counted
Lead the ballot counting.
Supervise the counters to make sure the tally is accurate. If there's a tie, open the tiebreaker judge's ballot. That's the only time it gets opened.
Check the timer sheets too. A speech's time is the average of the two timers' records. Any speech more than 30 seconds under the minimum or over the maximum is disqualified, without anyone having to protest it.
- 7
Until results are handed over
Keep everything confidential.
You know the results before anyone else in the room. You do not share them with anyone until you transmit them to the Contest Chair. If there are disqualifications, you tell the Contest Chair that disqualifications exist, not who is disqualified.
- 8
Announcing results
When the Contest Chair asks if there are any disqualifications, answer yes or no.
Nothing more. The Contest Chair handles the rest, announcing third place, second place, then first place.
- 9
After the contest
Complete the official forms for the winners.
Give them to the Contest Chair, who keeps them and sends the results to the Area Director.
- 10
Before you leave
Shred the ballots that night.
All of them. Don't take them home, don't file them. Destroy them before you leave.
Plan a rotation of Sergeants-at-Arms.
A Sergeant-at-Arms stays by the door so nobody comes in while a contestant is speaking. The door is far from the stage, so whoever is on duty misses most of the action. With four or five SAAs taking turns, everyone still gets to watch most of the contest.
You and the Contest Chair
Communication Is Everything
You and the Contest Chair are running the same event from two sides. Talk to each other constantly. Share your judge list (minus the tiebreaker). Confirm the contestant list. Check in on materials. Use the shared Google Sheet for everything that both of you need to see.
The best contests are the ones where the Chief Judge and Contest Chair are so in sync that nothing surprises either of them on contest night.
Learned the hard way
Tips from Experience
Recruit in person.
Same as the Contest Chair: emails create awareness, personal asks create judges.
Brief early, brief clearly.
Judges who understand the scoring criteria give better, more consistent scores. Don't rush the briefing.
The tiebreaker judge is your secret.
Not a fun secret, a real one. If anyone else knows who the tiebreaker judge is, the integrity of the process is compromised.
Check on every functionary.
The best way is to talk to each functionary yourself when they step in and make sure they understand their role. If you don't have time, ask an experienced Toastmaster to check on them for you.
Stay calm during counting.
The room is waiting. The Contest Chair is filling time. Your job is accuracy, not speed. Get it right.
Shred everything.
No exceptions. The results are announced, the forms are filed, and the ballots are destroyed. That's the process.
Rare, but be ready
Handling Protests
Protests are rare, but you need to know the process.
The Main Disqualifications
Time is checked by you. The other three are raised by protest, and a contestant can also be protested on eligibility.
Over or under time
A speech's time is the average of the two timers' records. More than 30 seconds under the minimum or over the maximum is a disqualification. You check this from the timer sheets: nobody has to protest it.
Mentioning another contestant
The speaker refers to another contestant or their speech from the same contest.
Too many quotes
More than 25% of the speech is quoted or paraphrased from other sources.
Uncredited sources
Quoted or referenced material is not identified out loud during the speech.
Who Can Protest
Only voting judges and contestants can file a protest. Audience members, timers, SAAs, the Contest Chair, the Contest Toastmaster, and the tiebreaker judge cannot.
How It Works
Contestants submit a protest to the Chief Judge or the Contest Chair. Voting judges submit their protest only to the Chief Judge. This keeps the judge's identity confidential. A judge marks “protest” on their ballot.
Any protest must be lodged before the contest is officially adjourned or before the winners are announced.
When a protest is raised, the Chief Judge asks the person why they are protesting. The Chief Judge then calls the judges and the contestant aside to review the claim, giving the contestant an opportunity to respond before any decision is made.
For a disqualification based on originality or referencing another contestant, a majority of the voting judges must agree.