Category: Delivery

Practice Makes Perfect – The Perfect Cliché (and Free Webinar) By: Isaac Doi

Posted on by Heather Neumann

Thoughts from the comically small college dorm desk of one of the Lasting Impact coaches:

You can’t just rely on charm in speech and debate. 

Trust me, I’ve tried.

There is no secret trick to winning tournaments, there is no special sauce in connecting with a judge, there is no proprietary speech structure that magically makes your topic comprehensible. As boring and cliched as it sounds, the only way to ensure steady growth and consistency in the competition room is practice. Practice makes perfect.

Slow, boring, monotonous practice.

Practice makes perfect.

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Hands That Speak: Ideas to Help Create Natural, Effective Hand Gestures

Posted on by Heather Neumann

One of the most common pieces of feedback students receive in Speech and Debate is about hand gestures: too stiff, too distracting, too much, or not enough. While gestures can feel awkward at first, when used well, they become one of the most powerful tools a speaker has.

The goal isn’t perfect choreography. The goal is natural communication.

Hand gestures should support meaning—not compete with it. Remember, hand gestures can help grab your audience’s attention or also give them a VISUAL CLUE as to what you are trying to say. They are a big deal to helping you effectively communicate your thoughts, but they can also distract!! What can you do? Read on to hear Heather’s tips on how to create meaningful hand gestures that aren’t over-the-top, yet still have an IMPACT!…

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The Power of Creativity in Competitive Speech and Debate

Posted on by Heather Neumann

When people think about speech and debate, they often picture structure, rules, and competition — carefully written outlines, well-researched sources, and polished delivery. And while those things matter, there’s another ingredient that sets great speakers apart from good ones: creativity.

Creativity is what transforms a standard speech into a story, a logical argument into a memorable moment, and a routine performance into something alive. It’s what helps you find new angles, take risks, and connect with your audience in ways they don’t expect. It is part of the INTERESTING component in the I-Test!! How can you bring creativity into speech and debate and why does this set competitors apart? Keep reading…

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Capturing the Conversational Style by: Katie Kellam

Posted on by Heather Neumann

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…

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Attributes of a Good Communicator by: Juliana Scheopner

Posted on by Heather Neumann

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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Guest Blog – Filler Words in Speech (part 1)

Posted on by Heather Neumann

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!

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Vocal Variety by: Kristi Eskelund

Posted on by Heather Neumann

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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The Power of Pauses and… Many Applications of Timing by: Kristi Eskelund

Posted on by Heather Neumann

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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Impact! Tip – Personal Ethos by: Kristi Eskelund

Posted on by Heather Neumann

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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Understanding and Adjusting to Online Delivery by: Kristi Eskelund

Posted on by Heather Neumann

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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Don’t Forget Your Facial Expression in Speech AND Debate!!

Posted on by Heather Neumann

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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Overcoming the Fear of Public Speaking

Posted on by Heather Neumann

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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