The Iowa High School Speech Association (IHSSA) consists of member high school

High school

High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

s from four districts

School district

School districts are a form of special-purpose district which serves to operate the local public primary and secondary schools.-United States:...

 in Iowa

Iowa

Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

, and offers three categories of competition: debate, large group, and individual events. At the end of each of the three contests, the Cooley Sweepstakes Trophy is awarded. To get to the all-state speech tournament, one must first proceed from the district and state tournaments. At district for speech, there is one judge (except for One Act Play, which has 3 judges) who issues ratings and every team or individual who receives a "I" goes on. At State (there are four "state" tournaments) there are three judges, and two out of three must not only give a "I" rating, but also give a recommendation.

Tournaments

The State Debate Tournament is typically held the first weekend of January each year. Schools are only allowed to enter a certain number of debaters in each category, aimed at getting the best debaters from Iowa to the tournament. Events include Student Congress and Lincoln-Douglas Debate, as well as others. The IHSSA uses the same rules and resolutions as the National Forensic League when hosting these events.

District tournaments are held for both large group and individual events separately.

State tournaments are also held separately for large group and individual events. There are four state tournaments in Iowa.

The All-State Festival is actually not a tournament because there are no judges or superior tournaments to compete for. Instead, the best in each category are showcased at two separate events. Critics give comments instead of ratings given by judges.

Large group events

• One act play. A group performs either one act
  Act (theater)
  An act is a division or unit of a drama. The number of acts in a production can range from one to five or more, depending on how a writer structures the outline of the story...
  
   from a longer play
  Play (theatre)
  A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...
  
  , or a whole play consisting of only one act; no limits are placed on cast
  Cast member
  A cast member is:* An actor who performs in a theatrical production, motion picture, or television program. The actors who perform in the show are collectively referred to as the cast....
  
   size and scene
  Scene (fiction)
  In fiction, a scene is a unit of drama. A sequel is what follows; an aftermath. Together, scene and sequel provide the building blocks of plot for short stories, novels, and other forms of fiction.-Characteristics of a scene:...
  
   changes.
• Reader's Theater. A group performs a presentation of a work, read from a script
  Manuscript
  A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...
  
  ; There are no props besides chairs.
• Choral reading. Also known as voice choir
  Choir
  A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
  
  , where group members recite a work from a script, whether in unison or not; movements and voice changes are used for effect.
• Ensemble acting. Any type of acting scene requiring more than one participant. No costuming or props allowed except for chairs and a table.
• Group mime
  Mime artist
  A mime artist is someone who uses mime as a theatrical medium or as a performance art, involving miming, or the acting out a story through body motions, without use of speech. In earlier times, in English, such a performer was referred to as a mummer...
  
  . A group acts out a scene in silence. Background music (without lyrics) is allowed.Also, traditional mime facepaint is no longer used in competition as it was deemed "racist."
• *Solo mime. An individual acts a scene in silence, usually to background instrumental music, although this is not required.
• Television news broadcasting. A video "broadcast" is prepared in advance by a group, and displayed for judging; the video includes sections on news
  News
  News is the communication of selected information on current events which is presented by print, broadcast, Internet, or word of mouth to a third party or mass audience.- Etymology :...
  
  , weather
  Weather
  Weather is the state of the atmosphere, to the degree that it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. Most weather phenomena occur in the troposphere, just below the stratosphere. Weather refers, generally, to day-to-day temperature and precipitation activity, whereas climate...
  
  , and even commercials
  Advertising
  Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
  
  .
• Radio news broadcasting. A radio "broadcast" is prepared in advance by a group, either on tape
  Compact Cassette
  The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...
  
   or CD, and is played for judging. As with the video-based competition, the "broadcast" includes news, weather reports, and commercials.
• Group improvisation
  Improvisational theatre
  Improvisational theatre takes many forms. It is best known as improv or impro, which is often comedic, and sometimes poignant or dramatic. In this popular, often topical art form improvisational actors/improvisers use improvisational acting techniques to perform spontaneously...
  
  . A group of 2-6 people choose one topic from a list of three, and are given two minutes to prepare a scene lasting five minutes or less.
• Musical theater. A group of 2 - 6 students performs a series of selections from a musical play
  Musical theatre
  Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
  
  , with background music
  Music
  Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
  
  . This category has a maximum time limit of 10 minutes.

Individual events

• Acting-a one act play or a segment of a play, book, or other published material
• Poetry-speak a poem or poems
• Prose-speak a section of a book or other published material
• After Dinner Speaking-a speech like what would be given after a formal dinner about anything
• Improvisational Acting-a short made-up skit, often humorous. 3 characters and 2 situations are drawn, must include 2 characters and one situation from those drawn
• Radio News Broadcasting-a radio program made up of current news and drawn up and performed by one person (not to be confused with LG radio) that should cover most news including a commercial and a news flash.
• Spontaneous Speaking-a short made-up speech concerning important issues such as the War in Iraq, padlocks on lockers, etc. Draw 3 topics and choose 1.
• Original Oratory-a speech created by the speaker.
• Review-A general review of a book, movie, compact disc, or other published material.
• Storytelling-speaker tells a short story, memorized. Speaker must sit on a stool and pretend to be telling the story to an audience. The story may be a children's story or have an adult content.
• Literary Program-a combination between poetry and prose categories
• Public Address-speaker gives another persons' speech. Such as the "Gettysburg Address
  Gettysburg Address
  The Gettysburg Address is a speech by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln and is one of the most well-known speeches in United States history. It was delivered by Lincoln during the American Civil War, on the afternoon of Thursday, November 19, 1863, at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery...
  
  " by Abraham Lincoln, however the Address is too short to be given at contest.
• Expository-a "how-to" speech; a speech that explains how something works; an explanitory speech.
• Solo Musical Theater-speaker sings a song and acts it out. The speaker may record his voice to the song ahead of time, however the voice and the song must be together.