RULES AND EVENTS
Rulebooks and resources
You can find the latest version of our event manual by following this link: BEST Foundation Tournament Manual 2024/25
BEST has a zero-tolerance policy for plagiarism. We have a new Plagiarism Guidebook that will help coaches and students understand BEST’s plagiarism rules. Read it here.
You can find the latest version of our debate rulebook here. More Debate Coaching resources can be found in our relevant section.
If you're struggling to find a published piece to work on, please refer to our list of resources for interpretive events!
If you’re a coach, then we will share the latest coach list at training.
Duo Interpretation
A pair of students perform a scene together from any published book, play, or poem. Eye contact, props, and touching are NOT allowed. Maximum time limit is 10 minutes.
Original Oratory
Students perform an original, memorized speech of up to 10 minutes in length, written by the student, to address a problem, raise awareness of an issue, or rally support for action. Students should educate the audience on their topic, as well as convince them with a call to action. All topics are welcome and creativity is highly encouraged.
Poetry interpretation
Students read one poem or a selection of poetry expressively. The piece must have an ISBN, ASIN, or ISSN and cannot be an original work of the student. Students will have the text in front of them in a black binder or folder. The time limit is 7 minutes, including the introduction.
Prose Interpretation
Students read a piece of prose expressively. Students will have the printed text in front of them in a black binder/folder as they read. For BEST, we allow a mixture of stories, plays, and other material that would be considered “drama” to give our students a wider variety of sources. The piece must have an ISBN, ASIN, or ISSN and cannot be an original work of the student. Maximum time is 7 minutes, including the introduction.
World Schools Debate
Teams debate on provided resolutions and are given the opportunity to offer arguments to support their position. Teams follow a specific speech order including every member speaking within a specific time limit, with one team member speaking twice. Teams are expected to prepare extensive research around every given theme. Teams will have three Prepared motions posted on their respective tournament portal 4-5 weeks before the tournament. Students must prepare for all Prepared (known well before the tournament) and Impromptu (not known until the day of the tournament) debate topics related to the theme.
An archive of past Debate Motions can be found here.