Posts by Heather Neumann

Judges and Cell Phones

Posted on by Heather Neumann

I was recently at a speech and debate tournament- almost 300 competitors, three days of competition, students from across the country gathered together to give their best. During each day of the competition I heard of situations involving  judges with cell phones. How could this be? During judge training judges are clearly asked to silence cell phones, not to text, or to take phone calls. Perhaps it is early in the competition season, and judges need to get back in the groove?! However, I thought I would give a friendly reminder that judges…

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Speech and Debate Tournament Series – A Novice Perspective (part 4)

Posted on by Heather Neumann

 

I asked a couple “novice” friends, in other words, a beginning speech students, to recollect on their first year. This was their very first competitive experience with Speech and Debate (not counting junior tournaments). This was their experience and perspective on the tournaments they participated in their first year…

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Practicing your Speeches… Ideas for Purposeful Practice

Posted on by Heather Neumann

My husband is a high school boys soccer coach. He has been coaching for over 20 years. Though out his years coaching, he teaches his players about the importance of how they practice. They must approach a practice as if it is just as important as a game. The same is true for Speech and Debate...

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Lasting Impact! Reflection on 2017… And Looking Ahead…

Posted on by Heather Neumann

So many things to be thankful for this past year… 2017… Our first full year of Lasting Impact! We feel like we accomplished so much in just one little year!! Yet, we have so much more to do! We feel blessed and honored to come along side the many families, coaches, and clubs helping to make an impact in the Speech and Debate community. Here are just a few of the highlights from 2017… Continue reading “Lasting Impact! Reflection on 2017… And Looking Ahead…” →

Sure-tested Ways to Memorizing Speeches

Posted on by Heather Neumann

Recently, at Club, I gave the assignment to my returning kids to have them come up with their favorite way to memorize speeches. Everyone who has participated in speech and debate for more than a year or so, has their own particular way they prefer to memorize. I was amazed by the variety of responses! Some kids are able to memorize quite quickly. Others may struggle.

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Speech and Debate Tournament Series- Fundraising (part 2)

Posted on by Heather Neumann

In our last article we discussed the costs of a typical Speech and Debate Tournament. I know quite a few families that budget their season and each year they do fundraising to pay or help pay for their costs. Below is an article written by one of our competitor interns that fund raises for their tournament expenses- travel, registration, clothing, etc.

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Drama, Drama, Drama!

Posted on by Heather Neumann

I believe the strength of your speech can be linked to the strength of your script (what you have created for competition). However a Dramatic Interpretation is far more involved and has much more depth to be based on script alone. For a great Dramatic Interpretation or a dramatic Open, Duo, or even Original Interpretation to be created, there must be rich content from which to grow. When looking for a script, piece of literature, or play there are several considerations to think about:

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Speech and Debate Tournament Series- Costs (part 1)

Posted on by Heather Neumann

“Tournaments are exciting, yet challenging and expensive in terms of time, money, and energy. But, after you see the growth, maturity, and enjoyment of your son/daughter, you will find that the costs are worth it. I did not understand what a tournament entailed until I attended my first one: in the dead of winter with -30 degree wind chills, with my whole family (six children aged 4 – 15) packed in the car driving for 5 hours to Bloomington, IN.”

This is the account of Nancy Chu, Speech and Debate mom in her first year of learning the ropes and navigating the costs of a Speech and Debate Tournament. Heather Neumann also will be chiming in with her guidance on how to cut costs of Speech and Debate Tournaments…

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Experience Apologetics for Growth and Challenges

Posted on by Heather Neumann

Almost every competitor we talk to, talks about Apologetics in a way that expresses their gratitude for being challenged, as well as the growth they have seen in their walk with Christ and knowledge of Apologetics. Really? Can participating in Apologetics, whether it be through a speech and debate competition or a class, cause a deeper relationship with Christ to develop? We asked a few of our Lasting Impact! competitor interns the question, “What was the most challenging thing in Apologetics through which God caused you to grow?” Our interns are seasoned competitors of Apologetics- having four or more years experience.

Remember- you can still sign up for our Apologetics Workshop, Dec. 15. And Online Apol. 2nd Semester is right around the corner! We would love to have you join us!!

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Tips on Evaluating Speeches During Club Time

Posted on by Heather Neumann

A majority of Speech and Debate Clubs use part of their club time to evaluate or give feedback to their speech students. New students and parents often don't feel qualified to give feedback. However club time is the perfect time to give speeches and have them evaluated. This is an excellent teaching opportunity for students - on what speeches should look like, and parents, how to be better judges.

Below is a list/form, club leader, Amy Willson, of Fox Valley Talk in Appleton, WI created to help the process of giving and receiving feedback. The club created a laminated copy/sheet for the room leader to have. The goals for the feedback session may vary from club to club- some include: helping younger students or new parents to give an assessment of speeches, for the speaker to receive quality feedback, keeping the room moving to get through the allotted speeches in any given day.

We are in the process of creating this information in our new resources page for club leaders, as well as families, to use. Be sure to check out the Lasting Impact! Library Coming Soon! We will offer a variety documents for club leaders, students, coaches, etc. FREE for members of Lasting Impact! If you are a club leader that would like to share your documents with other members- let us know! We would love to include your resources in The Lasting Impact! Library. We hope to have the library up and running by the end of the year!

Tips For Evaluating Speech Students During Club Time...

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Why I Don’t Have My Speech Written… Yet

Posted on by Heather Neumann

This is the part of the year where everyone is freaking out because they don’t have their speeches written. Practice speech and debate tournaments are coming up or just happened, and everyone is feeling the pressure to get their speeches written and finished. It was for this reason that I chose to not go to my practice tournament this year. Not because I procrastinated on my speeches and don’t have them written. No, this was a conscious decision that I made…

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