Tag: Membership

Daily Practice Makes a Difference

Posted on by Kristi Eskelund

No one really believes me when I tell them that the way to really move your speeches to the next level is to practice every single day.  They believe that daily homework is the best way to move along in math.  They believe that daily music practice is the best way to master technique.  They believe that daily meals together are the best way to keep the family on the same page.  They believe in daily hygiene, daily Bible reading, and daily chores.  But they only bring their speeches out when the pressure is on to polish them up for competition….

So, what is it that happens in the “daily” approach that is so wonderful?  It comes down to ‘macro’ and ‘micro’ type distinctions.

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Making Public Speaking “E-C”

Posted on by Heather Neumann

Effective public speakers use C’s and E’s whether they know it or not. And I'm not just talking about the letters!! Here is a reminder to help make public speaking  "E-C". Here is my criteria when processing whether to it was a "good speech" or still needs some work. Here is what I look for...

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The Interpretive Triple Pass

Posted on by Kristi Eskelund

Perhaps you’ve seen the new Beauty and Beast film this year.  I’m not going to lie; my daughter and I were GRIEVED that Dan Stevens had to be written out of Downton Abbey in order to take on the role of the Beast for this film, but he was perfect!  In numerous interviews, he talks about how he had to fuse several technologies in order to get the full role of the Beast layered into the film, and it struck me that this triple-pass to building a character follows the way I often coach kids in building their interpretive characters.

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A Few Board Basics

Posted on by Kristi Eskelund

I’m pretty sure that what keeps many a great speaker out of Illustrated Oratory is the boards!  And even for kids who are artsy or who love this event, getting your boards in beautiful shape is no small feat.  Here are a few tips to consider as you take on this challenge.

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It Isn’t Just Practice that Makes Perfect….

Posted on by Kristi Eskelund

We’ve all heard that saying that “practice makes perfect,” right?  And I think we all recognize a degree of truth there.  But I also heard once from a good coaching friend that it’s really perfect practice that makes perfect.  And that thought has stuck with me.  That thought again:  Perfect practice makes perfect.  The important thing to understand is how to engage in perfect practice....

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Starting a New Speech… Mid Season

Posted on by Heather Neumann

You went to the first tournament and got inspired watching a Duo or Open Interpretation... OR... You just aren't feeling the piece you developed over the last four months... OR... You are suddenly motivated to Persuade people... OR... You have the most epic idea!! What do you do?! Do you wait until next season when you have more time to develop a new Piece? Do you rally to create what could be the next National-level Speech? Before jumping in... Here are some things to think about...

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Oh, Those Verbal Citations!

Posted on by Kristi Eskelund

You know you have to say it.  Out loud.  The sources of your information….

And it is good and proper that we DO give credit where credit is due as we are giving speeches that inform, inspire, persuade, instruct, and generally educate your audience.  In all fairness, one of the real academic benefits of preparing a platform speech is the research you learn how to do.  You garner information from a variety of sources, learn from it, process it, and integrate it into your own paper – a blend of your ideas and words with those you’ve learned along the way (which by the way totally shaped your ideas, you know!)

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One and Done Speech?

Posted on by Heather Neumann

You think you have a good speech... No it's going to be a great speech! You have big plans for this speech, you can't wait to sink your teeth into it. It's going to be the most epic speech ever! You get sick, or something else unexpected happens (it's called life), and you don't have as much time as you originally thought. The Speech Tournament is just around the corner. Ahhhh! Panic begins to set in. You don't get as much time as you want to work on your speech. You head to The Speech Tournament with wishful thinking.... But the speech falls flat, you stumble through it, it doesn't go as planned... You don't break. You want to give up. Do you forget all the plans you had for it? Will this be a one and done speech? I think you know by now, what my answer is...

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Embracing Open Interpretation

Posted on by Kristi Eskelund

Open Interpretation - it’s an event in which competitors are always trying to second guess how to line themselves up in the competition room:

“No, I can’t go in with my humorous piece after you made the judges all cry!”

“Well I’m not going in after your funny piece and just depress them all either!”

It’s also one of the last events to get filled with judges:

“It’s just so…so…open.”

Let me tell you exactly why I love all that ‘openness’ in this event.

Interpretation is really about story telling at its most basic level, and stories run the full emotional gamut of things we feel as people.  We love to laugh with good old belly laughs.  We need to be moved at the deepest level to tears.  But there is a LOT of space between those two extremes where most of us operate most of the time.  The Open Interpretation strikes there, at that mid-zone along the emotional spectrum...

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More thoughts on Biblical Presentation

Posted on by Heather Neumann

It's Thursday and so far I have coached SEVEN Biblical Presentations this week! It's going to be a great year! God is revealing some great stuff to these kids! Biblical Presentation is in it's second year with NCFCA. Let me remind my readers with a short recap of what a Biblical Presentation is...

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