1. Giving Oral Reasons In Livestock Judging Darrell Rothlisberger Rich County Extension Agent 435.793.2435 darrellr@ext.usu.edu

2. Oral Reasons  Teach you to organize your thoughts and defend your decision to a reason taker  Maximum time is two (2) minutes

3. Benefits from Reasons  Think more clearly  State your thoughts clearly  Improve your speaking voice  Develop memory  Learn to recall a situation clearly  What happened several hours ago or even longer

4. Benefits from Reasons  Become organized  Get your thoughts in line with what you have on paper  Express yourself in a convincing manner  Defend your decisions  Sell yourself and your ideas

5. Steps to a high score  Stand up straight and put hands behind your back.  Speak in a louder than normal speaking voice.  Greet the reasons taker with Good Morning, Good Afternoon or simply Hi or Hello  Look at the reasons taker in the eye or forehead or just over their head

6. Steps to a high score  Stand 5 to 6 feet from reasons taker  Avoid words and phrases that do not add meaning  Talk the obvious ie; the most noticeable points first  Keep reasons short and to the point  Be descriptive and complete  Do not use notes

7. Note format  Use identifying marks  Don’t memorize  Visualize

8. Reasons Format  Pleasant to hear  Easy to listen to  Easy to follow  Cover major points in the class  Use correct gender and terms specific to the particular class  Given in comparison terms

9. Reasons Format  Breaks a class of four animals into three pairs  Top, middle, bottom  Each pair is discussed in three areas  General or broad statements  Reinforcements or specific statements  Grants or criticisms

10. Be comparative Discuss only the things which you observed  Tell the truth !!  Talk in present Tense  Ie: (is not was)

11. Use Comparative terms  Bigger  Longer  More muscle  Lighter  Smaller  “er” terms  NOTE: Don’t use the same term over and over. Longer vs more extended.

12. Transition Terms  Words or phrases that help your reasons flow more smoothly.  Allows reasons taker to follow your thoughts more easily  Use voice inflection  There are lists on the internet  Search words like livestock judging reasons or terms

13. Transition Terms  Plus  Moreover  As well as  In addition  Furthermore  However  Sure I criticize I recognize I grant Additionally Even so Yes

14. Taking Notes  Develop your own system  So you remember  For example  BT = big top  SS= size and scale  BF = bigger frame  VD = vertical dimension

15. Basic Format  Greet the reasons taker  Top individual if obvious  Top pair  Middle pair  Bottom pair  Last animal

16. Top Pair  General Statement  Tell reason for placing 1 first and over 2 in the top pair  Reinforcements  Go into more detail to further describe your general statement  Grants  Was 2 better that 1 in any area?  Criticize 2

17. Middle pair  General Statement  Tell reason for placing 2 over 3.  Reinforcements  Go into more detail to further describe your general statement  Grants  Was 3 better that 2 in any area?  Criticize 3

18. Bottom pair  General Statement  Tell reason for placing 3 over 4.  Reinforcements  Go into more detail to further describe your general statement  Grants  Was 4 better that 3 in any area

19. Bottom animal  Explain why it is the last place animal  As compared to the rest of the class  In “est” terms  Smallest framed  Lightest muscled  Structurally most incorrect

20. The Grid Format Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Step 6 Step 7 Step 8 Step 9 Step 10 Step 11 Step 12 Step 13 closing statement

21. 13 steps to giving Reasons and taking Notes  Step 1 – Give name of class you are placing  Step 2 – Your opening statement should briefly explain why your top animal wins the class.  Step 3 – Criticize your top place animal, tell them what you see, not what you would change. Casper College

22. 13 steps to giving Reasons and taking Notes  Step 4 – Tell why your 1 st place animal beats your 2 nd place animal.  Step 5 – Tell what you liked better about your 2 nd place animal than you did about your class winner.  Step 6 – Criticize your 2 nd place animal  Step 7 – Compare your 2 nd and 3 rd place animals or tell why your 2 nd place animal beats your 3 rd place animal. Casper College

23. 13 steps to giving Reasons and taking Notes  Step 8 – Grant to your 3 rd place animal or tell what you liked about your 3 rd place animal.  Step 9 – Criticize or point out your 3 rd place animal’s weakness.  Step 10 – Tell why your 3 rd place animal beats your 4 th place animal. Casper College

24. 13 steps to giving Reasons and taking Notes  Step 11 – Grant to your 4 th place animal or point out his or her major strengths.  Step 12 – Criticize your 4 th place animal or tell why it is last.  Step 13 – Closing Statement Casper College

25. The end of your reasons  Always say thank you