Introductory Talks/ Announcements

1. Introductory Talks/ Announcements National Judge’s Conference 2014

2. When Making Announcements • Have notes, even if they are just bullet points, just in case …… • Speak clearly, slowly and loudly. And remember to breathe • Annunciate • Keep it simple, just include the important points, but try not to make it sound like you are giving a list of orders • Tailor what you say to the audience, if it is a beginner shoot you may want more detail, if it is the UK Masters you may want less • If it is something important, repeat it, for example the restart time of the competition • Don’t be afraid of the microphone, but practice with it, some of them work better when held to the mouth, some better when held away from the mouth • If it is a large field and there is no microphone you may need to repeat the message at each end of the line to ensure it is heard • When talking to a crowd, look around and remember to smile – body language is important! • Don’t forget to say Please and Thank you!

3. Assembly Speeches • When giving an Assembly Speech some ideas of things to include are – • Start by saying Good Morning/Afternoon/Welcome • If the Organiser has not already done so introduce the rest of the Judging Panel • Remind them of the Round being shot and whether it is to Archery GB or World Archery Rules – this also acts as a coverall as archers are supposed to know the rules • Tell them how many ends of sighters or practice there is • Tell them how the shooting will be done – Method 1 timed, World Archery timed, Untimed 3 and 3 and go into more detail if needed • Is it 5 zone or 10 zone scoring • If Indoors remind them that compounds use the Inner 10 and there are no Xs • If a World Archery Round remind them to mark the arrow holes • Remind them if they have a problem deciding the value of an arrow or write it down incorrectly then to call a Judge • Remind them if they have an equipment failure or bouncer they should call a Judge

4. Assembly Speeches • Remind them of anything that is specifically unusual about the round, for example if it is a Worcester remind them about the change half way through • It might be worth letting them know if there are going to be any plan comfort breaks during the distance, for example 3 dozen into the long distance at a York/Hereford or 70m/50m Round • Is there anything specific about that tournament, for example Best Gold through the day, be careful as there are cables on the ground or the fire alarm is due to sound at 10am • Remind them that Mobile Phones should be off or on silent, and this includes the archer’s guests as well • Always finish your Assembly Speech by saying – If anyone has any questions please just ask. We will start Practice / Sighters / the tournament in xx minutes’

5. Other Announcements • Change of distance • Invite all the archers to give any assistance they can in moving the targets to the next distance • Discuss a re-start time with the Organiser / DOS / COJ before hand, remember to add some time on to allow the archers to score their arrows. You may want to leave a little longer if the field party are also shooting to allow them time to rest. Always round the time up, so if the re-start time would be 2.56pm, round it up to 3pm – it makes it easier to announce and people are less likely to hear it incorrectly • Ask the Organiser if they would like any other announcements, such as a reminder about Raffle tickets being on sale, catering being available or leaving the scoreboards somewhere accessible for the scoring team • Reminder of restart time • Following a change in distance or after lunch you may want to give a reminder – ‘xx minutes to restart, Ladies and Gentlemen, xx minutes to restart’ • When doing this do not give them less than the promised time, so if you announce 5 minutes, do not restart in 3 minutes

6. Other Announcements • Equipment failure or Bouncer • If the shooting is going to be held up let the archers know, also let them know how many arrows are to be shot if possible so they know if it is only going to be a few seconds or a few minutes delay • End of the Tournament • Check with the Organiser before hand to see if there is anything special they want announcing, for example if they require the archers to take the targets somewhere, a reminder about catering/raffle tickets, when and where the presentation is going to be. • The general one is – ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, can you please check your scores, total all the columns and sign the scoresheet and leave it on the shooting line’ • Prize Giving • Sometimes, at the end of the prize giving the Judges are called forward to receive a small gift as a thank you. This is an ideal time for the Senior Judge to thank his team of Judges publicly, and also to thank the Organiser, Field Party and the rest of the volunteers for all their hard work and to thank their archers for their company during the day. • Other Announcements • There might be many other announcements during the day, keep them simple, to the point and easy to understand – and keep them clean as well!!