“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” ~ Chinese Proverb
Heather Neumann has been teaching a Public Speaking Class or Club for over a decade. Each year she prays about the lesson plan- the journey she is about to embark on with her students. At this point she has literally coached thousands of students, both nationally and internationally. I have been one of her students, I have sat in her Zoom Room watching apprehensive beginner students turn into writers, speakers, and more importantly confident human beings. Mrs. Neumann has given me permission to share her ideas with you this year. A first hand glance at what she is teaching. This year’s mantra for her classes and clubs - Observe, Think, Practice! Sounds easy. These three little words can really pack a punch if we put them to work and are being purposeful. Every year she has a new perspective or way to wrap our brains around God given gift and privilege we call the art of communication. Each week she offers us students a challenge on how we can implement her lessons, and how they can make an big IMPACT, not only in Public Speaking, but for life... Are you ready to observe, think, and practice? If so- be ready to GROW...
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The NCFCA Regional Tournaments are ending, and Stoa Tournaments wrapped up in April. That still leaves a good four to six weeks between people’s last tournament option and A National Championship. How are you going to prepare for the next level of competition? We, at Lasting Impact! and Ziggy Debate have a FANTASTIC idea! But also be sure to check out the tips from our awesome coaches…
Sure, you have your own clubs to practice with, but as we know, the incentive to practice can be a bit lower if you’re not attending Nationals yourself. And given how important Nationals is to so many, it would be a shame for students to miss out on the opportunity to keep honing their debate skills in the 4/6-week gap.
That’s why the Ziggy + Lasting Impact! National Championship is such a great option: it provides a spaced out period of prelim and outround debates with prizes and national competition for students to keep their skills sharp and earn prizes, and it’s open to everyone, regardless of whether you’ve qualified for Nationals or not.
I know it sounds crazy, but are you ready for fall!? There is something exciting about the planning process that I absolutely love! Therefore, I thought you might like a hint as to what is in store through Lasting Impact!
Online Speech Club –
Meet with students from across the country learning together the Art of Communication. Lead by Heather Neumann, the Ms Frizzle of the competitive speech world. This one semester club will meet weekly, and teach valuable lessons to implement into Speech and Debate. Each student will perform and have a speech ready by the end of the semester.
Interp Club – NEW
Grow your interpretive skills with this new innovative club. Students will grow through a variety of experiences- cold reading, monologues, play reading, prose, and much more. Students will also be preparing an interpretive piece used for competition. This club will meet weekly, first semester and is lead by Heather Neumann.
Apologetics Club –
Come and grow and figure your out how you would answer questions of your faith. Weekly meetings include elements of learning how to compete in Apologetics, but mostly diving into how one would answer such questions as explain the meaning and significance of the trinity, why does God allow evil, etc.
Limited Prep Club –
Who couldn’t benefit from learning to think on their feet better. This unique club will explore the elements of putting together your thought process. The main focus of this club will be Impromptu Speaking, but other Limited Prep events will be covered.
Debate Clubs –
As always, Lasting Impact! plans to offer both beginning and advanced Debate Clubs for both Team Policy and Lincoln Douglas Debate.
The Debate Circuit –
Yes! The Circuit will be back! Weekly rounds via Zoom to help your cases get refined. There will also be an outrounds included. The Circuit starts late Sept and ends before Thanksgiving.
Junior Opportunities –
Speech and Debate doesn’t need to start in High School. Lasting Impact! will also be offering Order in the Court again with Julie Romeo, Beginner Speech – for students ages 9-12, and Debate Readiness with Amy Eichholz.
In addition to all of these fantastic clubs we have a plethora of information for families, club leaders, and coaches. We are putting together NEW worksheets and videos to help simplify the teaching process. We are excited for what the 2021-22 has in store! Whether you are online or in person, Lasting Impact! aims to have the resources you need to succeed! Registration will be opening up SOON! Space will be limited.
Don’t forget Summer Camps are right around the corner!! Contact us if your club wants to have the Lasting Impact! Team come your way!! Please contact us if your have any questions!!
This offer is only good today! Purchase 2 coaching sessions – get 1 FREE!! Mix and match coaches. Use the coaching for the ultimate tournament prep, or spread it out during the season. Our coaches are excited to help you better prepare- for whatever lies ahead!
Check out our Lasting Impact! Team and Coaches HERE.
Purchase your sessions HERE. Just purchase two, and we will add the third for FREE!!
*Sessions must be used for the 2020-21 Season. Sorry, not valid for Club Coaching.
This summer I was invited to be a part of something epic! I love collaborating with like-minded organizations. If you have never heard of DFW Speech and Debate, let me introduce you to James Russell, the director, and the vision for this new, awesome speech and debate curriculum…
Who's having trouble getting started right now? On anything...
In the wake of extensive 'shut downs' and tectonic shifts of our existing paradigms, most of us are having trouble gearing up to start anything back up. Nothing is working the way it has in the past. Nothing is clear about what comes a month from now, or even next week. There seems to be no long-term vision or goal that feels attainable. That makes it hard to start. And yet...start we must. It's a new beginning.
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Are you ready? This is our biggest and best fall line up of online classes and clubs to date. Each year, it seems, the need grows. We are happy to be able to provide such excellent resources to the speech and debate community. This year we will be offering two types of Online Apologetics, four different debate clubs, a variety of options for younger students, plus a whole lot more! Check out all of our Clubs HERE. Check out all of our Classes HERE. And coming soon – news about our Fall Tournament Circuit, as well as our Fall Online Tournament Schedule! Be sure to stay up on the latest- SUBSCRIBE (right hand side of our home page), follow us on Insta or Facebook.
It’s that time in the year when club leaders are thinking about next year. What do I do now? How can I keep my students engaged next year? Club leaders are seriously super heros! Every year they assess, reassess, plot, plan, promote, etc, etc (That’s a lot… that’s more than one etc)!! Before I start my syllabus for the year, before I send out a promotional email, or organize an open house, I need to ask myself three important questions…
Whether or not the speech and debate season ended for your clubs, this is the time of year that a lot of Club Leaders and Coaches tend to feel a little burned out. Lasting Impact! appreciates you and wants to help in the rejuvenation towards next year… there will be a next year, right? ?
I’ve been at this a LONG time – teaching students how to manage the interpretive speech. It is definitely a purist endeavor that relies on the student alone to create the entire context suggested by a reduced segment of a piece of literature. There is nothing easy about it. When it’s done well, it really works. As students strive to reach that mark, I find that they make the same basic mistakes along the way, and these fall into two basic categories: technical mistakes and ownership mistakes. Let me explain….
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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…
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.
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