I sat down to write an article on a recent PPTQ, but didn't seem to have enough event-specific content for a tournament report. I did however manage this piece on making announcements, which I have deemed good enough to share with my local community. Also posted at my event blog butlerwpn.blogspot.com.

Now Announcing …

I'd like to talk about how a set of effective announcements can curb or eliminate certain problems. To do this I'm going to review some of my standard announcements, and what goal they accomplish. A set of announcements needs to be brief, clear, and target specific needs of the players, the staff, or the event as a whole. In the interest of full disclosure, I don't have a hard ‘script’ for my announcements, but I do have an outline, which makes sure I hit the same major points in every event I head-judge.

“Welcome everyone to <store name>'s <format> <event>. I am Dan, and I will be your head Judge today.”
I start my announcement with a very basic introduction. Where are we? What kinda magic are we playing today? Who am I who is speaking to you? The risk that someone sat down in the wrong event space is slim, but I have had at least one player slink away during announcements. Some people like to stick a joke (or bad pun) here in the beginning. I personally don't do that, but if your player's expect it, it helps grab attention, elicit a response (a quiet chuckle, or groan), and gives you something to hook your audience. So, good for you if you can be that creative.

“The first thing I would like you to do is take a look at your deck lists. Please make sure that your NAME is somewhere on your deck list. Also be aware that your main deck should be at least 60 cards, and that your sideboard should be somewhere between 0 and 15 cards.”
Hopefully the player's have done their due diligence and have correct and legal deck lists to submit. The reality is there's one player somewhere frantically scratching out something to re-write it. Also mentioning ‘name on deck list’ has probably saved me more than one headache of having to figure out who deck list X belongs to by process of elimination. Also please note that I direct the player's attention to their deck list first, because I often don't collect it until I finish with announcements, which often gives those frantic players a full minute-or-two to correct whatever they need to correct.

“This event is Competitive REL, so please be slightly more precise. Maintain good communication with your opponent about how and when you wish to act. Please refrain from asking for or giving play advice for any match in progress.”
These 3 sentences have probably been my best friend over the last few years. A quick reminder to ‘be slightly more precise’ cuts down a lot on sloppy play and random GRV, at least in the early rounds. Maintaining good communication with your opponent has a similar effect. That last sentence about play advice, pretty sure that one comment is the reason why I haven't had to field an outside – assistance penalty since I started to include it in my announcements. Outside assistance comes with a match-loss penalty, which is a pretty serious deal and likely to ruin somebody's event.

“If you do encounter a rules question, or any other issue or problem arises, please raise your hand and call JUDGE! I will do my best to resolve the issue. Also please be aware that use of electronic devices that can take notes AND access the internet are restricted during a match (boogie boards are fine).”
These comments are really just about setting expectations. Hopefully everyone present knows how to call a judge, but I still demonstrate by raising my own hand and trying to project the word ‘judge’ a bit louder than the rest. Players have yet to get into the groove of being in a magic event, or they may be a bit self-conscious about calling a judge. The announcement about electronic devices is just enforcing tournament policy. Usually I don't have to speak to people about using the wrong device at the wrong time, so I judge it to be mostly effective.

“To make the most out of today DO NOT offer anything in exchange for a match result. Also please resolve your matches using sanctioned <format> magic, and not some other means like rolling a die, revealing cards from the top of your library, or mud wrestling.”
I think just about every event I've ever been to has had some announcement that has attempted to help players avoid bribery and improperly determining a winner. This is also something that if it happens, somebody's day is over. I like to tell players what TO do, in addition to mention a few things not to do. Also I like including the bit about revealing cards from the top of the library, since that can be a gray area (did they already concede or not?)

“There are <number> players in today's event. We are looking at <num> swiss rounds followed by a cut to top <4/8>. My tardiness policy for today is <num> minutes game-loss, 10 minutes match-loss.”
I save these comments for last, because (1) they don't fit with the other categories of information that I've established in the rest of my outline, and (2) They are perhaps the most relevant to the actual progress of the tournament, which we are just about to get to.

“Are there any questions?”
I rarely get any questions at the end of my Head-Judge announcements. OK, I rarely get any serious questions, there's one player that likes asking me ‘how are you?’ at my home store. But I leave this at the end to try to cover anything that a player feels they need to know, but is not in my outline. Like I said, I rarely get questions, but the opportunity is there if I need it.

Speaking of which, I'll open the floor to questions and comments. Is there anything in my outline you would leave out for brevity? Anything you feel you need to add?

I also like mentioning that players shouldn't have any cards in their deckbox that aren't a part of their deck or sideboard. It cuts down on a lot of Game Losses for a rule that many players don't know exists.

Thanks for all the great advice! I still have hiccups with my announcements sometimes–I wouldn't say I have a terrible fear of public speaking, but I have to control both my tendency to speak fast and my naturally quiet voice, and I can end up stammering a bit when I'm being too conscious of it all.

Sometimes I like to try to add just a single line about the penalty I seem to issue the most, which is LEC when drawing a card, and I also add a line specifically addressing slow play and that I will be watching for it, since it's always a hot topic in the judge/player community. Other things you can include if time permits is a reminder of recent format or rules changes e.g. bannings, the communication policy updates. There's so much I want to add but I understand that you really only have about 30-60 seconds of the players' attention so keeping concise is just as important. But if I could, I'd add:

- electronic device policy
- what to do if you need to use the washroom
- other MTR issues without a clear fix (the one that comes to mind is a player using a spindown to track life total, and the store doesn't have pen/paper available to everyone)

This is great Daniel, and I've found that my announcement outline is very similar. Over the years, mine have gotten shorter and shorter, because as both a judge and teacher, I am well aware that people don't have a great attention span for someone talking loudly at a group of people.

I usually do a quick “hi, welcome to X event, it is Y format, and my name is Matt, I'll be your head judge.” I'll remind players it's Competitive REL, that they should play carefully, and always call a judge if they have a question or need help. We do a quick decklist check, during which I describe where the bathroom(s) is/are, and just before collecting, remind players to be in their seats when the round is beginning (I don't usually tell players I have a 1/10 tardiness policy, otherwise there will be those who abuse the 1 minute and push it each round). I also save the player count and rounds until the start of round one in case we get any late players.

Since, as I said, players don't pay that much attention, I really don't like adding more to my announcements. It is Competitive REL, players should know the rules, and if you add too much, they'll stop listening (probably talk to their neighbors) and could miss the essential information.

I like to announce to players to check their deck lists toward the end of my speech instead of in the beginning.

If players start counting their deck lists at the beginning they'll probably miss the rest of the announcements.

I always give the players a minute or two at the end to verify their lists before I collect.

Thanks all for the comments. Two suggestions I may take to improve my own process include:
I like the ‘don’t put cards in your deckbox that aren't part of your deck' bullet point. As such it hasn't been an issue in my circle, but prevention IS better than cure.
Slow play, because slow play.
- Cheers!

Hey Daniel and thanks for sharing your own best practices!

Originally posted by Daniel Regewitz:

I save these comments for last, because (1) they don't fit with the other categories of information that I've established in the rest of my outline, and (2) They are perhaps the most relevant to the actual progress of the tournament, which we are just about to get to.

What do you think about having the most important informations first?

Originally posted by Matt Braddock:

This is great Daniel, and I've found that my announcement outline is very similar. Over the years, mine have gotten shorter and shorter, because as both a judge and teacher, I am well aware that people don't have a great attention span for someone talking loudly at a group of people.

I have the same habits: I often tell judges that after each sentence, half of your audience stop listening, so you want everything to be as short as possible.
Also, after each meaningful pause, you reset that attention, so it's good practice to divide announcements in small blocks, and try to deliver them as close as possible as when they are relevant: for example, bribery and prizes announcements are usually more relevant at the end of the event than as the start, so they can be made at the start of round 3 out of 5 for example.

- Emilien