We’re so excited for the discussions that will be taking place during the Online Speech and Debate Summer Prep Intensive this coming weekend. If you haven’t signed up yet, be sure to check out the full schedule and register today! Now it’s time to introduce the awesome coaches that will be lecturing, leading sessions, and answering your questions this weekend. They are excited to help you start your season strong and share their experiences and advice…
Nationals is over. The season is over. Your speech and debate career is over. No longer will you wander the halls of random college campuses anxiously waiting to give a speech. You won’t sit in breaks and hear your name ever again. You won’t have the opportunity to speak in front of judges about something you care about ever again.
These were all the thoughts swimming through my mind last year when I left the national championship. You see, brand new alumni, I was you last year. Coming off my speech and debate career with lifelong friends and memories, devastated it was coming to an end. I honestly don’t remember too much about the very last night of nationals last year, but I know a lot of crying was involved. I had poured my heart and soul into this league for three years and now a piece of paper saying I finished high school was taking it all away.
In short, it felt like my world was ending.
Spoiler alert: it wasn’t.
Brand new alumni, rest assured, as amazing as this activity is, there is life after it. However, being the alumnus I am, I can’t tell you this without my handy dandy three points.
Take Time Chances are this league was one of the largest parts of your life the past couple of years. You have poured blood, sweat, and tears into this league. You have grown and been shaped through speech and debate and you feel like the rug has been pulled out from beneath you. There is likely a lot of change going on in your life right now. It’s okay to be sad about the end of an era. Take a couple of days and allow yourself to sit in the emotion. Let yourself feel it. However, don’t stay there. Do something you love, hang out with some friends, even watch a movie. Your life is more than speech and debate, find something else you love and do that.
Give Back One of the best things I did as a new alumnus was to help coach my club. Going to an occasional meeting and listening to people discuss debate and give feedback on speeches was like a breath of fresh air for me. Judging was even better. I went to speech and debate tournaments, as an alum this year and I think I had more fun as an alumnus than I did as a competitor! Now don’t get me wrong, I still really missed giving impromptu when I heard a topic I got excited about and I might have written down cx questions in a couple LD rounds. However, being a judge was a lot of fun for me and allowed me to see just how much effort it takes to rank a competitor. It allowed me to see my friends and feel the energy of the tournament while paying it forward for the next generation of speakers. Take my word for it, new alumni, giving back is one of the best parts of being alumni. Give your email to some rising competitors and let them ask you questions. If a friend asks for feedback on a speech, give it. They’re looking to you now; don’t take that lightly.
Let Go. Perhaps the hardest of my three suggestions is to let speech and debate go. Not completely, mind you, (see step 2) but there must be a letting go process that happens. If you don’t allow yourself to move on then you will not be able to see the next steps God has for you on this big journey we call life. Some of you are ready to be done and have already kissed speech and debate goodbye, but for others, you weren’t quite ready to give all of this up yet. It will come. But you have to help it along a little bit. My suggestion to new alumni is to read your last set of ballots over once or twice then put them away. Your career as a competitor is over now, my friends, and as much as it stinks at times, we must move on to the new path we’ve been given. You’ll be okay, brand new alumni, you have been taught to speak well, you have been given wonderful opportunities and friends that will last a lifetime. God gave you the gift of speech and debate and now it’s finally time for it to come to a close. On to a new adventure new alumni!
Best wishes class of 2019 Sincerely, An alumnus of 2018
We are putting this two-day Online Intensive for only $25 (membership price), for YOU- our parents, students, coaches, and clubs. And yes- it will be recorded!! The time to sign up is NOW! We have asked, and you have answered… How can we help you this summer to get you started on the right track with Speech and Debate?
To stay home – check!
To get a jump start on Resolutions – check!
Help with navigating students in Speech and Debate – check!
During our Regional Championship tournament, I had a conversation with a student who said the most honest thing I’ve heard in a long while. I initiated the conversation because I work Communications at the tournaments and I could see the student was tense, frustrated, distressed even. When I asked about it, I got the usual response, “My speeches have gone so badly. I really wanted to do well so I could get to Nationals.” There is not a good response for this. I know all the correct things to say: Nationals isn’t the goal. You’ve grown so much. The trophies will fade. None of that matters in the moment of disappointment, so I said nothing and gave the student a hug. That was when it got real. Coming off that hug, the student said this:
“I want to be part of the friend group that goes to Nationals, and I’m not going to be… again.”
Are you ready to start thinking about how to prepare during the summer? As I always say… Speech and Debate is all year long!! You are probably thinking… are you kidding me? When do we get a break? Well, I’m not saying you have to have all your speeches or cases written in July, but this is the perfect time for growth and exploration! Here are three ways to make the most of your summer!
With two National Tournaments behind us. We tend to focus on the celebrations or possibly the end of the journey of Speech and Debate. How did you do?!
Whoa- wait a minute! The awards, the trophies… they will all get boxed up, possibly thrown away. Everyone’s high school Speech and Debate career will come to an end. The next step in your journey is about to really begin!
There’s no doubt making it to Nationals in Speech and Debate is a big deal! For some in might be the one and only time. I get asked a lot, “Is it worth the expense? Should I go? What are the benefits of competing at a National level?” Here is my answer…
Post-season play is always exciting on a whole different level, isn’t it? There is the thrill of just being part of that playoff season, and there is much more at stake every time you take the field. If your sport is speech and debate, the same is true as you approach regionals and especially a National Championship… and there is a proper way to approach your post-season if our mission is truly to glorify God.
Elaine Dimoulas is a club leader. Her family has been a part of EverReady, a Chicago-based Speech and Debate Club for a number of years. I started noticing pictures this year on their Facebook page- their club was doing community outreach. Fun stuff! I caught up with Elaine to ask her about their Outreach Program…
We are thrilled to be adding MORE opportunities for students to engage in Speech and Debate! Classes/Clubs are posted in the link below. Space will be limited – so be sure to sign up early!
Are you located where there is no local Speech Club? Join Online Speech. Do you want to get started for the first time in Lincoln Douglas Debate? We have Online LD. Are you short of time and looking for support in Team Policy? Our TP group will be for you!
And this is just the start- we will have Online Apologetics and Extemporaneous again this year (links up soon)!
Lasting Impact! strives to give you the most opportunities in your journey with Speech and Debate. You want to take advantage of our Online Classes/Clubs! Our coaches are amazing! They have proven track records, making delving into Speech and Debate fun and engaging. Our Online Community allows students to get to know other kids from around the country. These classes/clubs are not a lecture type class, all students learn, grow, and participate… making connections for a lifetime!
Our classes are run on an online meeting forum called Zoom. It’s a quick download on to your computer. Classes are recorded, therefore, even if you can’t be there- you won’t miss a thing.
Want to be sure you are up to date on everything Lasting Impact! has to offer?! Make sure you are “subscribed” to our articles- so they go directly into your email in box. The subscribe box is on the right hand side of the home page.
Lasting Impact! is excited to announce our first annual Speech and Debate Online Summer Prep Intensive especially geared for students, parents, and coaches!! Do you feel like you and your family could use some coaching when it comes to-
How to become more prepared for Speech and Debate?
How do we make Speech and Debate part of our curriculum?
Where do we get started if we want to learn more about Debate, or Speech events?
How do I pick an event?
Look no further! Lasting Impact! has put together a two-day ONLINE Workshop filled with information from our amazing, top notch coaches!
Come for one session or all! This is two full days packed for you to get the most out of your summer and upcoming season!
Sessions may include… final schedule will be announced soon!
Summer Apologetics Prep Thinking about Extemp Mars Hill with Isabelle Clausen Speech and Debate from a Biblical Worldview Is Interpretive or Platform Speaking For Me? Starting a Club Novice and Advanced Speaking Debate Breakdown/Resolution Analysis Parental Support Where to Begin with Speech and Debate? Making the most of the year How to use your summer
We look forward to being a part of your Summer Speech and Debate prep!!!
Broad and Boring isn’t always Bad: An Analysis of Stoa’s Proposed Team Policy Resolutions… It’s starting to feel like complaining about Stoa’s proposed resolutions every single year is a rite of passage for debaters. I’ll admit, I fell victim to the trend myself, annually condemning the new resolutions without a shred of empirical evidence to justify my hastily crafted opinions. Believe it or not, the same thing happened again this year. Now, the attacks have spread to Instagram, where accounts titled both “voteforres3” and “stop.res3” have followed me in the last two weeks. Enough is enough. Let’s take a balanced, realistic look at the resolutions we’ve been offered and see if they’re as appalling as advertised…
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