|
Competitive Speech is organized "sport" in which students from teams from each school compete in individual events against other students from other schools in speaking and debating events. Each competitor competes in his/her events to earn a individual score, which could be reflected in the awards ceremony, and to earn an overall cumulative team score. Highest team scores win awards, lowest cumulative scores from each individual students earn awards. |
|
What different types of events are there? |
|
There are four main categories in speech and debate events: |
|
Spontaneous - Extemporaneous, Impromptu |
|
Original - Original Oratory, Original Prose-Poetry, |
|
Interpretive - Dramatic Interpretation, Humorous Interpretation, Oratorical Interpretation, Duo and Duet |
|
Debate - Lincoln-Douglas, Policy Debate, Student Congress, Cross Examination |
|
What does each event mean? |
|
Feel free to check out my event descriptions. Links are available to them on the home page. |
|
How can I join speech? |
|
Look around your school. There should be at least a small speech and debate club or organization. In some cases, the only events made available are debate events (LD, CX), as debate is a bit more widespread than speech. |
|
Who are my judges at the tournaments? |
|
Often times, judges are community members who volunteered their time to judge for the tournament. No judging experience is required to be a judge, as good speaking style should be evident whether you're a coach or not! However, coaches sometimes judge as well. Usually coaches judge at qualifiers. |
|
How many events can I compete in at one tournament? |
|
Most tournaments allow a maximum of 3 events to be competed in at one tournament. You may enter in two individual events, called "double-entering," and then one debate event. The student would be paneled as first speaker in one event, and last speaker in the other IE. |
|
How can I go to State? Nationals? |
|
Is speech just for nerds? |
|
Of course not...well...see for yourself! |