It’s April. The birds are singing, regionals are HERE, just around the corner, or you are at your “last chance to break” speech and debate tournament for the rest of the season. Ah- yes, it’s that special time of the year when people start thinking to themselves, “can I really keep giving this speech for the next three months without going insane?” You know what that means—it’s the perfect time for mid-season revisions! But this season, while you’re tweaking your conclusion or working on that one exampleyou just don’t like, I challenge you to spend a little bit of time thinking about style…
Have you ever wondered what makes someone a good communicator? “She’s a natural! He is so talented!” We hear phrases like this all the time in competitive Speech and Debate. However, is it the words and the content of the speech OR the person who is doing the effective communicating? Is it the way the communicator is presenting OR the speech, itself? Could someone else give the speech just as well? Think about it. Heather Neumann breaks down the attributes that should be noticed (if you are looking) during one of her weekly classes...
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Our friends at IvyPanda reached out to us to tell us about an article they wrote. They specifically thought our audience would benefit from reading what they had to say about “filler words.” We couldn’t agree more…. Do you have an article you want to see? Have you written something you think our audience will benefit from? Contact us! We’d love to hear from you!
It’s on every ballot. Whether you compete online or in person, it's one of the subtle speaking skills that an untrained listener will intuitively understand without necessarily knowing what to call it. Some speakers are just more pleasant to listen to as they speak, and you can learn to be one of them!
When you hear the term ‘vocal variety’ what do you think it involves?
What kind of variety could you get out of your palette of primary colored paints? Lots, right? How do you get that variety? By mixing in various amounts, obviously! While it may not be quite as intuitive, the same principle applies to your voice and its qualities. You can mix and match these to give a variety of results that make you more auditorily pleasing to your audience. A novice speaker is going to be concerned with writing a speech and memorizing it and getting it delivered. A not-so-novice speaker can begin to deliver it well using more vocal variety.
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I like the Dictionary.com definition of timing: “the choice, judgment, or control of when something should be done.”
I like this definition because of these words: choice, judgement, and control. These words emphasize that much of what we call timing as it pertains to public speaking depends strictly upon the speaker. The speaker chooses how to control the tempo to direct the responses and reactions of the audience.
There are actually several angles to consider when discussing pauses and timing as they apply to becoming a good public speaker.
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Ethos is a difficult word to understand and even more difficult to effectively apply to your own efforts as a speaker. It’s a not-so-novice item for certain! Let’s see if we can begin to understand it a bit, and how we can apply it to Speech and Debate... and ultimately beyond!
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If you are competing in Speech and Debate this year, the likelihood of you competing online is HIGH. Some people may think, "no big deal," but I strongly advise to walk in (to your bedroom and virtual room) prepared!! Sign up for the Lasting Impact! Online Prep Workshop HERE. We will be covering 20 items that we hope you are considering with your online set up- the difference between virtual and in person, how you debate, how you judge, positioning, and more! The workshop will be recorded and is included in the price! Don't take my word- read Kristi's article, she has taught online, judged online, and her son has attended school online. Listen and read her understanding on how you need to think about your online environment...
We didn’t foresee COVID-19, or the shut-down that ensued in its wake. We CAN however see that the tide has perhaps taken a permanent turn toward more online communication. There are certainly trade-offs, but the paradigm IS shifting. Employees and students ARE seeing that they can be productive in a remote environment, and in many cases, they are enjoying the very flexibility that has always marked the home school community. I think we can safely say that a percentage of college instruction, office meetings, sales negotiations, etc. will continue to stay online for the foreseeable future. While some of that programming may shift back, you are likely going to have to learn to be powerful and compelling as a communicator in the online format. Even the not-so-novice speaker has a learning curve here...
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ALL Speech events, even Debate need facial expressions!! I will repeat- facial expressions are important! Whether it's a platform, interpretive, or limited prep speech event OR debate your facial expression will set the mood. Are you happy, concerned, urgent, angry, sad, etc.? Your facial expression is pivotal!
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I spent a lot a of time and research on this article. One might think... Kristi and Heather and the Lasting Impact! Team just come up with random articles to write about and then poof, we write! Nope, sometimes God lays something on our hearts that we need to research or look for answers or look to the "experts."
I know many of us struggle with the fear of public speaking! Whether you are a new student, a returning student, or parent - getting up in front of an audience is hard! So - I did my research - I spent hours looking up the best ways to deal with "stage fright". Then I did the next best thing- asked our amazing coaches, how they combated their fears. Here is what I found...
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Debate is really just a formal structure that helps us have a conversation about whether or not we should choose to make a change. At it’s core, it’s just a conversation, but there are ways we can improve our communication skills which will help us elevate our debating skills above just arguing with your siblings, friends, or parents. When we show up to a formal debate, we don’t just want to impress our judge with our arguments, but also our speaking ability and persuasiveness.
In this video, “Elements of Effective Communication”, I’ll be going over some basic communication tips, like eye contact and body control, but also going deeper into what it means to be a well rounded speaker, using ethos, pathos, and logos, and some do’s and don’ts to improve your skills.
Catherine graduated high school this past year and is taking a gap year to do a business internship through the program “Praxis.” After that, she is not sure if she will go to college or pursue other career paths, but she is interested in business, politics, and loves cooking, biking, and traveling. As a coach, she is passionate about helping debaters actually understand the arguments they are running, and focusing on quality over quantity of arguments. Catherine competed in TP with NCFCA for 5 years, and qualified to Nationals all 4 years of high school, finishing first in at-large her junior and senior years. She enjoyed partnering with both her older sister and younger brother, both of whom taught her very different skills. She won four debate tournaments over the years and was honored to get a 4th place speaker award at Nationals in 2015.
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Remember THIS Saturday Oct. 6, we have Luke McConnell presenting his workshop on Big Picture Argumentation. For more information or to sign up CLICK HERE.
Thor is known for his hammer. He wields it well and it obeys his every whim. He owns it. It is intrinsic almost to his persona and identity. Comedic timing, and the successful application of it, similarly marks the skilled humorist. But just like nobody is able to tell Thor exactly how to use his hammer, no one is able to tell a would-be humorist exactly what to do with timing either. I can describe the shape of it, yes, but what you do with it....well, that is what will make you funny - or not!
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The Ancient Greek philosophers spent their time observing the world around them and thinking about how and why things worked in our world. When they came to some insight, they wrote down their thoughts. Most of you have probably begun to study some of those thoughts. And, it might be worth knowing that those ancient philosophers had thoughts about what makes good communication work, too.
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