Brian Tompkins, Solon auctioneer, prepares for Iowa State Fair competition

There's nothing quite like an auction chant, and each auctioneer's is different.

Brian Tompkins, a 40-year-old Solon native who has been in the auction business since he was a child, said he tries to keep it chatty.

'You're talking to them like you're having a conversation, but you're doing it at a little more rapid pace,' he said.

It might sound like gibberish, but auctioneers are actually spitting out 'filler words' — such as 'now,' for example — between numbers. They're telling the audience the current bid and what they're looking for next, eventually leading to the inevitable finale, an exclamation of 'sold.'

'You get to the point where sometimes you don't even think about it,' he said. 'The words kind of roll together.'

If you slow it down, though, it reads something like this: 'I have ten would you go 12 and a half? Bid again, I think I would. Bidder 12 and a half now 15 now 15 dollars there now thank you, now 20, 20 now, 20 and a quarter would you now, 25 now, 30 now,' and so on, until bidders stop bidding.

'A lot of times, people don't even necessarily hear the full filler, but it just adds to it so you're not standing there repeating a number again and again,' Tompkins explained.

Though he'd been helping with auctions since he was 9 — his uncle was an auctioneer, and Brian ran tickets and showed items — it wasn't until his 30s that he started calling bids.

He studied at the World Wide College of auctioneering in Mason City, where he spent a week of 14-hour days learning about the business and practicing his chant.

'We spent a lot of our time doing tongue-twisters and counting,' he said. 'We would count forward and backward, typically between 1 and 100, and then just start getting faster and faster …

. After a full day, your jaw starts to feel it.'

The key is not necessarily speed, but clarity — you want to make sure people understand what you're saying, he said.

During the summer, Tompkins spends his weekends at auctions — usually two to three live sales each week. Sales pick up in the fall with benefit auctions, and it's not uncommon to have five or even six sales per week.

An auctioneer's earnings are based on commissions — the harder they work, the higher they drive the value of items and the more income they receive.

'The idea is that you're working hard to drive the value of the items not just for the seller but for yourself as well,' he said. 'If you're not doing your job, you're not getting paid as well.'

They're also trying to make sure both the buyer and seller are happy.

'You're dealing with folks that are selling something that's been in the family for generations, so there's a lot of sentimental value that may not be real market value to the item,' he said.

He added that the 'sentimental value doesn't necessarily add value to the buyer,' and although they 'try to set expectations,' it's ultimately the bidders who determine the value — and most people attending auctions are looking for a good deal.

Tompkins will be one of 20 competing at the Iowa State Fair's auctioneer competition hosted by the Iowa Auctioneer's Association (IAA) on Tuesday, Aug. 18. This will be his fourth stab at the fair's competition, but his sixth time competing at the state level.

In addition to auctions each week, he also practices at home or in his car to and from his full-time job at Pearson, the education company, in Iowa City.

'I use the fence posts and telephone poles as bidders and chant away,' he said with a laugh.

This year, there will be five out-of-state judges scoring participants on speed, bid-calling ability (clarity), salesmanship and 'other important traits of being a professional auctioneer,' according to the IAA. Tompkins said there is also an interview portion in which auctioneers are judged on how they portray themselves and the IAA.

The top-five-place winners will receive a trophy and the champion will win a $1,000 cash prize.

Regardless of how he places in the competition, Tompkins expects he'll be in the auction business for a long time.

'I'll probably be doing benefit sales and calling live bids forever,' he said.

If you go to the fair

What: Iowa State Fair Auctioneer Contest, hosted by the Iowa Auctioneer's Association — 20 auctioneers from across the Midwest compete through live auction. Audience members also can bid on more than 55 items that will be sold during the contest, including toys, tools and home decor.

Where: Iowa State Fair, Anne and Bill Riley Stage

When: 9 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 18

Cost: Free, with $11 admission to the fair