Kentucky Youth Storytelling Rules

  1. The contest is for Kentucky residents age 7 - 17 as of June 1st.
  2. Stories may be told by solo storytellers or by tandem teams (2 - 4 tellers). A contestant may compete both as a solo teller and as part of a team.
  3. Stories should ideally be 5 - 8 minutes in length, but absolutely not under 4 minutes or over 10 minutes.
  4. Stories must be told, not read.
  5. Each story must be submitted on a separate video by a link to YouTube or other electronic video source with only one story per link. Every solo storyteller must submit an Entry & Permission form which includes the video link. Each member of a tandem team must submit a form, including the video link.
  6. When creating the video:
  7. A full body shot is not necessary, but judges need to see enough to judge the teller’s use of body language
  8. Use a microphone so the teller can be easily heard.
  9. Do NOT edit- editing may result in disqualification. The judges would rather see how a teller handles a small mistake than view perfection achieved through editing.
  10. The judges want to hear your story. They will learn about it on your entry form, so it's not necessary for you to provide an introduction for them; however, should you wish to include an introduction, you are welcome to do so. Introductions will not be judged, and the length of an introduction will not be counted as part of your overall story length.
  11. Clothing- We suggest your clothing be appropriate for an audience and not distracting. (For example, wearing a T-shirt with a slogan will cause listeners to attempt to connect the slogan to the story, thus providing a distraction. But what if you always wear T-shirts, and they all have slogans? Just wear your T-shirt inside out, and record your story!) We also do not want costuming.
  12. If you are recording with a device that can record with both landscape and portrait orientations, please use landscape orientation, not portrait orientation (so horizontally, not vertically).
  13. Entries will be judged according to the KYS Judging Rubric.