Honor Society Membership and Degrees
Students earn membership and advanced standing within the National Forensic League by earning League points. Points are earned through the following activities:
- Interscholastic Competition
- Debate tournaments:
- Public Forum, Lincoln-Douglas, and Policy Debate: 6 points for a win, 3 points for a loss.
- Congressional Debate: Between 1-6 points for each speech or hour of presiding, up to 24 points per day.
- Other Debate Events: 4 points for a win, 2 points for a loss.
- Speech contests:
- Each time a speech is performed, it is ranked from 1st through last place. Each performance earns points once, even if it was judged by more than one person.
- Extemporaneous Speaking, Original Oratory, Humorous or Dramatic Interpretation, and Duo Interpretation: 6 points for 1st place, 5 points for 2nd, 4 points for 3rd, 3 points for 4th, 2 points for any lower rank.
- Other Events: 5 points for 1st place, 4 points for 2nd, 3 points for 3rd, 2 points for 4th, 1 point for any lower rank.
- Debate tournaments:
- Community Speaking Engagements (including many JSA activities):
- Students earn points for each speech of at least 4 minutes given to an audience of at least 25 adults beyond high school age.
- The number of points earned depends on a student’s degree at the time the speech is given:
- Non-Member: 1 point
- Member: 2 points
- Degree of Honor: 3 points
- Degree of Excellence: 4 points
- Any Higher Degree: 5 points