<p>Does anybody who has done this competition have any tips? Is there anything that i should avoid in my presentation (I am in the paper category), or anything that you know that the judges look for in particular? thank you!</p>
<p>I won nationals twice, once for a documentary and once for a paper. I know that judges like topics that are locally related, and LOTS of sources is really important--we had a 50 for our first project and 80 for the second. Make sure you do more than just report on your topic, too--analyze and come up with original conclusions. A lot of people make that mistake.</p>
<p>thanks! I have about 60 sources... hm. what do you mean by "locally related"?</p>
<p>regional and state judges might like topics that are locally related, but i've never done a locally related topic and have done pretty well myself
sources are important, but only if they are reasonable sources that you have utilized. they like when you personally visit museums or conduct interviews or get involved in the topic (for one ex., last year we participated in a memorial service and interviewed the president of the foundation).
idk too much about a paper, so I can't help you lots though =(
make sure you relate it to the theme =)</p>
<p>curious, whats your topic?</p>
<p>yeah, my topics weren't locally related, either. but locally related usually means that you can get more in depth/original sources than national topics.</p>
<p>original topics probably help the most. if you do anything with the holocaust you are pretty much screwed, we went up against an amazing and semi-original holocaust project both years we participated and ended up topping them, most likely because of our originality.</p>
<p>Agreed. Originality is key. If your topic seems like it might be common (i.e., the Holocaust) make sure to draw original conclusions with original analysis.</p>
<p>Oh, and don't freak out over the interview. I was ridiculously nervous when I shouldn't have been. Just make sure you know your topic well enough that you're able to talk about it comfortably with a stranger. The judges seemed to appreciate enthusiasm.</p>
<p>i think my topic is pretty obscure but very relevant to today. oh well, i will have to see. thank you for your help and if anybody else has any input, i'd like to hear it ! :)</p>
<p>Yeah, but folks do topics like the Holocaust because they are in a specific award category, and usually those are the ones that make it out of the first day at Nationals anyway. My sister was a National Finalist last year.</p>
<p>hm all the people from my school who have ever won did weird topics.</p>