Giving Oral Reasons In
Livestock Judging
Darrell Rothlisberger
Rich County Extension Agent
435.793.2435
darrellr@ext.usu.edu
Oral Reasons
 Teach you to organize your thoughts and
defend your decision to a reason taker
 Maximum time is two (2) minutes
Benefits from
Reasons
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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
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
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
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
Note format
 Use identifying marks
 Don’t memorize
 Visualize
Reasons Format
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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
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
Be comparative
Discuss only the things which you
observed
 Tell the truth !!
 Talk in present Tense
 Ie: (is not was)
Use Comparative terms
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Bigger
Longer
More muscle
Lighter
Smaller
“er” terms
NOTE: Don’t use the same term over
and over. Longer vs more extended.
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
Transition Terms
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Plus
Moreover
As well as
In addition
Furthermore
However
Sure
•I criticize
•I recognize
•I grant
•Additionally
•Even so
•Yes
Taking Notes
 Develop your own system
 So you remember
 For example
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BT = big top
SS= size and scale
BF = bigger frame
VD = vertical dimension
Basic Format
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Greet the reasons taker
Top individual if obvious
Top pair
Middle pair
Bottom pair
Last animal
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
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
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
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
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
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
13 steps to giving Reasons and
taking Notes
 Step 4 – Tell why your 1st place animal
beats your 2nd place animal.
 Step 5 – Tell what you liked better about
your 2nd place animal than you did about
your class winner.
 Step 6 – Criticize your 2nd place animal
 Step 7 – Compare your 2nd and 3rd place
animals or tell why your 2nd place animal
beats your 3rd place animal.
Casper College
13 steps to giving Reasons
and taking Notes
 Step 8 – Grant to your 3rd place animal or
tell what you liked about your 3rd place
animal.
 Step 9 – Criticize or point out your 3rd
place animal’s weakness.
 Step 10 – Tell why your 3rd place animal
beats your 4th place animal.
Casper College
13 steps to giving Reasons
and taking Notes
 Step 11 – Grant to your 4th place animal
or point out his or her major strengths.
 Step 12 – Criticize your 4th place animal
or tell why it is last.
 Step 13 – Closing Statement
Casper College
The end of your
reasons
 Always say thank you