BIG NEWS! Lasting Impact! Tournament in St. Louis – Coolidge Cup Qualifier

Lasting Impact! is excited to announce our partnership with Coolidge Cup 2023! Lasting Impact! will be hosting the Impact! at the ARCH Tournament in St. Louis, December 19-20, 2022! The top SIX carefully selected debaters will be chosen to receive invitations to compete in the Coolidge Cup 2023! Battle it out to secure your place in the Coolidge Cup in St. Louis by debating in Parliamentary Debate! Parli Debate is a limited prep style of debate, where resolutions are released prior to the beginning of each round.

What is the Coolidge Cup Tournament?

The Coolidge Cup is an annually held tournament through July 2-4, where speech and debate students across America come together to compete nationally for scholarships totaling $15,000. Sponsored and hosted by The Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation, the Coolidge Cup offers a unique opportunity for America’s Youth to grow in their Speech and Debate skills and also gain essential life skills, such as following guidelines, working with others, and putting their skills to use. To Compete in the Coolidge Cup, debaters must receive a personal invitation to the event. Invitations are received by competing in qualifying tournaments where limited amounts of invitations are available. Competitors participating in the Coolidge Cup will receive financial aid for travel, hotel, and food costs. For more information on The Coolidge Cup click here

For Registration and more info – https://impactatthearch.homeschooldebate.net/ Registration begins Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022 at 9am CT. We do expect this tournament to fill up! Questions? Contact – heather@lastingimpact.info

https://impactatthearch.homeschooldebate.net/

Digital Presentation or Expository Tips By: Clare Cey

Public speaking is hard. Success requires a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, but it is an incredible opportunity to share what’s important to you. The idea of writing a platform speech, let alone a speech using visual aides, such as Digital Presentation or Expository can often feel like an impossible task. Memorizing 10 minutes of words and a powerpoint presentation? Forget it! For many, the draw to a digital presentation is the desire to play with animations, fonts, colors, and cool slide transitions for hours. With a digital presentation (DP) you can just go to town with all of your neon, cursive fonts, and spinning slides, right? Not so, my friend! Today, I’d like to share some of the most helpful things I learned in creating and giving my DP, to help you as you create and present yours…

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The Exploratory Stage – Choosing a Topic by: Alaina Hoyt


Whether taking a High School Speech class or preparing to compete in Nationals, choosing the right speech topic can seem daunting. Topic possibilities are endless, ranging from persuasive platforms to abstract interps! The thousands of choices swirling like a storm through your mind or scribbled on your notes may make your head spin, but they don’t have to. Using these principles will provide you with a step-by-step map for any situation, always resulting in the same destination: success. Don’t allow yourself to rush through or be intimidated by, what Heather Neumann calls, The Exploratory Stage

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Researching the Resolution by: Isaiah Depp

Many debaters have already started preparing cases, or at least researching the resolution. Maybe you have always wanted to write your own case, but do not know where to start with researching and understanding the topic. I would argue that research is integral to debating. If your goal is success in competition, demonstrating a thorough understanding of the topic will help you to win rounds with far more consistency. If your goal is to learn and gain life skills, understanding something thoroughly before you talk about it is likewise far more persuasive and enlightening both for you and for your audience. Let me break down the basics of understanding the resolution and how to research your topics…

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Understanding The Burden of Proof by: Marc Davis

Lasting Impact! is always excited to partner with other like-minded organizations like New England Debate. Marc Davis coaches for both, and co-runs New England Debate. We are teaming up to offering a series of online workshops for speech and debaters this fall. They’ll be a fantastic way to dive deeper into debate as you prepare for the tournament season. There will even be a FREE How To Judge later this fall. The first one is this Saturday, so register now! Lasting Impact! Members will receive a FREE 1ac for signing up!

I made it a habit this summer, when I was teaching at a number of debate camps, to stop students who mentioned the affirmative’s “burden of proof” and ask them to define the concept. I received a number of different answers, none of them the same. This small experiment has led me to suspect that debaters don’t really understand the concept at all, even though they use it frequently in their rounds…

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Before you open the NCFCA Moot Court Packet – Read This! By: Ethan Tong

About a month ago, the 2022-2023 NCFCA Moot Court packet dropped- an edited version of the college Moot Court (AMCA) packet from five years ago. Many experienced mooters immediately dove into the packet, hoping to analyze it with their friends. But for others, the packet is big and terrifying: 23 pages of daunting legal material.

Where do you even start?

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Online Speech Camp – This Week! Sign Up NOW!

One more time! After a whirl wind of Speech Camps, I decided to run one more… for anyone that didn’t make it to an in-person camp… for any new coach that wants to learn how I teach, for any family who wants to jump in and explore what Speech looks like! I will be mostly breaking down the three types of speeches we see in Speech and Debate, the myths, why we should do them, and how to go about them. Special emphasis will be put on the new events – Interp in a Box, Biblical Presentation, and After Dinner Speaking. Whether you want an overview, a fresh new take, or an inspiring afternoon. Come hang out with me… click HERE to sign up. Or go to – https://lastingimpact.info/product/camps10241/

The recording will be FREE to those who sign up. For questions contact heather@lastingimpact.info

Are You Ready to Launch into a New Speech and Debate Season (with Lasting Impact!)?

Here at Lasting Impact!, we can’t wait to see all of your smiling faces in our camps, clubs, and coaching sessions this year! Whether you’re new to the world of public speaking or are a veteran, there are a plethora of opportunities coming up! Asking for advice can seem daunting, which is why our coaching philosophy is to come alongside you and support you every step of the way. We want to be an encouraging, uplifting sounding board for all of your ideas and strategies, while helping you craft your message to make the strongest impact possible! We know the struggle – all of our coaches are either parents or former students who have been blessed with a platform to pass on the experiences and skills that they have gained. 

No matter what you’re looking for – Platform, Interp, Limited Prep, Juniors, Team Policy, Lincoln Douglas, general public speaking – we have a coach who would be happy to work with you to accomplish your goals. Whether you want to have a one-on-one session focused specifically on your speech, or if you’d rather be in a class setting, fellowshipping with other students while receiving valuable instruction, we would love to serve you this fall! It’s not too late to sign up… Here are the following clubs and coaches that are getting ready to launch…

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How To Debate a One Sided Resolution by: Peter Montgomery

If you compete in debate, the chances are good that at some point you’ll have to argue for something you disagree with. Whether you realize your case is based on an assumption you hadn’t thought about or it’s in the resolution itself, it’s pretty much inevitable.

When this situation comes up, it can be difficult, confusing, and tiring. How do you defend your position without betraying your beliefs or making yourself look bad? Luckily, most resolutions aren’t so one-sided that this becomes impossible, but some seem to come close…

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Last Call For Fall 2022 Speech and Debate Classes/Club – Register NOW!

Join the largest Speech and Debate Club in the Nation! Did you know Lasting Impact! is offering 14 different online clubs/classes this fall!!? From Junior/Novice Debate Readiness to Extemp Round Table to Interp/Drama Club to Speech to Debate…

  • Public Speaking 2 with Heather Neumann (only a few spots left!)
  • Advanced Team Policy
  • Apologetics with Noah McKay
  • Art of Interp/Drama Club with Heather Neumann
  • Beginner TP with Emalyn Sharp
  • Debate Readiness with Amy Eichholz
  • Extemp Roundtable (begins in Nov.)
  • Foundational LD Debate with Noah McKay
  • Foundations of Platform Speaking with Emalyn Sharp
  • Intermediate LD with Hillary Kolssak
  • Novice Team Policy
  • Parli Debate
  • Speech Club (full)
  • Literary Analysis (2nd Semester)

Prices will increase Aug. 29. Club leaders contact Heather@lastingimpact.info for special club leader pricing. Check out all our offerings and sign up, HERE.

https://lastingimpact.info/product-category/clubs/

It’s Not All Fun and Games When You’re Writing an ADS by: Katie Kellam

Sometimes, competitors are disappointed when they learn that the After Dinner category isn’t exactly the same thing as a stand up comedy routine. ADS is more than just a string of jokes, not in the least because most speech and debate leagues have a section on their ADS ballots for something like “merit,” “message,” or “impact.” Competitors often chafe at the fact that they’re being restricted in this way. After all, the only reason anyone wants to compete in ADS is because they want to be FUNNY! Leave the serious stuff for the persuasives! Right? These aren’t just empty complaints either – I’ve talked to many competitors who feel strongly that shoehorning a message into a speech where it doesn’t belong is little more than judge pandering. 

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A First Look at the Speech Grab and Go Guide by: Katie Kellam

Lasting Impact! has a great new resource for speech coaches and parents looking to simplify their lesson planning process. The Grab-and-Go Speech Guide has articles, lesson plans, and handouts designed to simplify the preparation process for new coaches and parents who might be intimidated by the idea of teaching public speaking for the first time or even more experienced teachers who just don’t have the time to spend hours preparing a lesson plan each week. 

In this guide, Heather Neumann has compiled a collection of her own lessons that she uses when she teaches clubs and camps, and she loves that she can share the insights that the Lord has given her over many years of working with students with the coaches and parents who make everything happen.

As a sneak preview, we thought we’d share some of the team’s favorite lessons from the Grab-and-Go Guide!

Heather loves the lesson on the I-test. The I-test helps students create connection with their audience. This is one of Heather’s favorite lessons because it speaks directly to the vision of Lasting Impact! which is to equip students to be lifelong communicators whose impact goes beyond the competition room. Giving students the tools to evaluate their speech in terms of the connection that it will create is the goal of this lesson. Students learn how to Inform, Interest, Impact, and Inspire with the I-test lesson. Incorporating these elements into a speech is a huge part of becoming a successful communicator!

Katie loves the lesson on cutting interps. This lesson tackles a topic that many students struggle with, especially because it can be extremely intimidating to pick up a full length novel for the first time and realize that you have to condense it down to a nine and a half minute speech! Ah! This lesson is Katie’s favorite because it gives students practical tips and guidelines that simplify the cutting process into something that students feel equipped to accomplish.

Another feature in this guide that our whole team loves are the parent and coach resources in the back of the book. Our Writing a Ballot handout is an amazing resource for new parents who want to give helpful, constructive feedback to their kids but don’t feel like they have anything useful to contribute. Every parent is a potential judge, and students need feedback from many different perspectives in order to succeed. This handout is perfect for giving parents the confidence to give feedback that students can use to become better communicators. 

Whether you are a speech and debate club leader, or a parent, this is a resource you must have for your toolbox! We know you don’t have time to create plans or figure out what assignments will make the most out of your limited time. Why not go straight to the ultimate source and use her ideas? Heather Neumann teaches Public Speaking, Speech Clubs and Camps, and Coaches students all year round in the art of communication. This is what she does! Do you want to know how she does it? Heather is sharing the tips and tricks she has learned in this very simple guide to help provide you with the direction you need. The Lasting Impact! Team has created this simple Grab and Go Guide to help you and your students feel equipped for competition, and most importantly the art of communication.

Packet includes over 25 worksheets/handouts…

  • Making a Plan
  • Choosing a Platform
  • Picking an Interp
  • Citations
  • Introductions
  • Hooking Your Audience
  • Making Public Speaking EC (Easy)
  • Memorization
  • Character Analysis
  • And more!

Great for club leaders, parents, co-ops, and more!

Please note, this product allows you to print one copy of the Lesson booklet and one copy of the Handouts and Worksheets booklet. Check out the Speech Grab and Go… HERE