Throughout my seven years competing in Speech and Debate, I heard the same phrase echoing throughout the competition halls: “I just want at least ONE judge to cry in my speech this time”. Pathos, the emotional appeal of your words, is admittedly an effective tool when it comes to evoking strong reactions amongst your audience, but is it the best way to approach your limited prep speeches?
Sign up for Annie’s Impromptu Class, which starts Mon. Feb. 10, HERE or continue to read on…
Are you looking to enhance your communication skills? Are you needing more practice in your impromptu speaking abilities? Are you not able to get into the impromptu speech category because it’s too full or your league doesn’t offer it? Would you believe, working on these skills will help in all aspects of speech and debate, including LIFE!?
There is no doubt the benefits you can gain by being bold and trying Impromptu! But it can be so much easier than just jumping in… let Annie Rogers be your guide! Lasting Impact! is adding another Impromptu Class/Club to help our students navigate one of the harder speech categories… but probably one of the events with the most benefits.
Annie says, “Practicing and preparing for Impromptu can better prepare you for real life. Trust me, you cannot win a scholarship, receive a job offer, or earn a prestigious internship with out the skills to think on your feet. Most colleges, businesses, and fellowships are concerned with your ability to think critically, speak coherently, and process information quickly. One of the purposes of competing in high school speech and debate is to prepare students to communicate effectively in any environment they end up in, and focusing on developing the structure of your Impropmtu’s is a small, albeit effective tool in pushing you closer to that goal.”
Join Annie Rogers in her weekly quest to better prepare communicators. This class is limited in size. Her goal is to enhance your skills in Impromptu, Limited Prep, Debate, and beyond! Click HERE to sign up and learn more!
Impromptu. The word itself used to scare me. Why not play it safe and do informative and persuasive speeches? Aren’t I too old to start a new speech category?
For a long time, I stuck with this philosophy; playing it safe, until I felt that God was calling me to do something very bold, something completely out of my comfort zone and on my “never do” list….impromptu.
Breaking the Fourth Wall results when people on a stage detach from the scene to reach out to the audience, speaking directly to that audience as though they were characters in the scene. I recently read an article comparing an Interpretive Speech to a movie, and that interpers should stay in their little bubble- in other words, the article suggested that interpretive speakers should NOT break the Fourth Wall that stands between themselves and the audience. Kristi and I both agree with each other that we could not DISAGREE more with this concept...
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Hallelujah! Humorous Interpretation has returned to the NCFCA. We should all celebrate our triumph in overcoming the great injustice that has been the last two humorousless years. How could they have done this to us? Do they even care? Well, it may come as a shock, but the answer is a resounding yes. They care for the judges who were forced to sit through eighty minutes of poorly timed jokes, an overuse of Patrick McManus, superficial characters, and hyper teens using Humorous as an excuse to be obnoxious. This event was misused for years, and it is my hope that it’s return this year will be stronger and more powerful than ever.
Mister Chief Justice and may it please the court…
Moot court is something special. It transcends the everyday and takes you to a higher plane of thought. At least, that’s how I think of it. I LOVE moot court, but I’ll be the first to tell you that it is HARD. However, I have learned that if you invest in it, moot court will grow you into a stronger, smoother speaker who gives mic-drop answers using razor-sharp reasoning skills.
I would like to give you a few tips to approaching moot court that makes you a better advocate and helps you have more fun. These aren’t just abstract tips. I’ve actually done these. In fact, I’m doing them right now as I prepare to compete at Nationals in collegiate moot court.
Fullyimmerse yourself in mootcourt Moot court can be daunting at first. And two months in. And six months in. In all honesty, I’m still intimidated by it to this day. That’s ok. The Supreme Court of the United States is daunting too. Ask anyone who has argued before the Supreme Court.
“Come on, Hope,” you say. “It’s just pretend. We’re not actually arguing for a real person in front of the real Supreme Court.” To which I say, “but what if it were real? What if you actually were arguing for a real person before the real Supreme Court trying to affect real change?”
That is the attitude you should have when you compete in moot court. Take it seriously! Fully immerse yourself in the role of The Attorney: arguing passionately on behalf of your client, who has been seriously injured; or defending the United States of America, who has done nothing wrong. Don’t do it half-heartedly. You get out of moot court what you put into it. So throw your whole self into it! Treat every round as if it were your one chance to speak before the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS). Your client is counting on you for justice. Act like it.
Read the cases Real talk: life is busy. Between high school (or college) classes, SAT prep, and everything else you are doing, your time is very limited. I get it. But actually reading the cases is invaluable to your moot court preparation for a few reasons:
Quotes
SCOTUS has some pretty punchy lines. Use them to your advantage. Memorize them to use as answers to questions. Incorporate them into your arguments. Respond to opposing counsel’s arguments with them. They are wonderful little tools.
Actually understanding the cases
This one seems like a no-brainer, but I can’t tell you how many times I have heard cases misrepresented or misquoted because counsel hasn’t actually read the case. Read the whole thing. Read the footnotes. Read the concurrences and dissents. Read it all.
Commentary on other cases
It is common for cases to comment on past cases. Sometimes, SCOTUS overturns past cases (a fancy way of saying that they were wrong). They may even comment on cases you have available to you. That can increase your understanding of those cases, show you how to apply them to different circumstances, and distinguish the rule from dicta. (if you have no idea what I just said, let me explain: the “rule” is the part of a case that is binding on lower courts. It is the actual decision and the reasoning behind it that causes real change. It is how they answer the question presented to them. Anything else, like commentary on other cases or thoughts about potential future cases, is “dicta,” which is the non-binding opinion of the court. Dicta can be great for persuasive or rhetorical appeal, but it is not binding on the court.)
Tune into Hope’s next article for tips on – how to read cases…
Hope Turner is a Lasting Impact! Team Member and Coach. She is the reigning Moot Court Champion, along with her partner Hope Rawlson. For more one on one coaching, contact us.
Most of us dream of being that person whose speaking was so outstanding that it lived in the memories of its audience years after it was presented. For me, one of the most vivid recollections of a speech I listened to was one I saw over six years ago, yet I can still picture it as perfectly as if I was there last week.
If I could change anything about my first season, I would tell my past self what I wish I had known: being in a club, especially an online one, is one of the best things you can do for your journey through the world of speech and debate…
Before we begin this article, let us introduce you to Hope Turner. She has been going to Speech and Debate Tournaments before she could compete, and hit the ground running when she was 12. She has been to a plethora of competitions during her Speech and Debate years, which culminated in 2019, her senior year, as Moot Court Champion with her partner, Hope Rawlson. If you want to know how to survive the long days of a tournament, read on…
One of the things they told me when I went off to college was that finals would be stressful. They were. What they didn’t tell me was that after you finish your first semester final exams, Christmas break can seem incredibly boring. As it happened, I made it home for break while my siblings were still in the thick of their own midterms. For almost two school weeks, I had little to do except sit around and keep myself occupied while by brother and sisters studied and prepared for their tests. Perhaps it was out of boredom, then, that I agreed to a rather unique arrangement one Thursday last week.
I know judges sometimes struggle with what to write on Speech and Debate ballots. It’s hard to express your feelings on paper. Over the years, I’ve seen thousands of ballots and they are usually a blessing (for the most part) and a source for students to refer back to. I mean, let’s be honest, some kids keep their ballots for years after competing. However, once in a while there are some comments that would be better not to write, and it usually involves a pre-disposed bias. So I challenge judges to really think before you write…
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