What is Speech and Debate?
Speech and debate is an academic activity typically available to students in middle school, high school, and/or college. Similar to athletic sports, speech and debate activities are challenging, competitive in nature, and require regular practice, coaching, dedication, and hard work.
Speech: Involves a presentation by one, two, or sometimes a group of students that is judged against a similar type of presentation by others in a round of competition. Speech events range from limited preparation events that require extensive knowledge of current events to dramatic and humorous interpretation, which challenge students to find powerful moments in literature and recreate them for an audience.
Debate: involves an individual or a team of debaters working to effectively convince a judge that his or her side of a resolution is, as a general principle, more valid. To see what our students are currently debating, visit the Current Topics page. Students in debate come to thoroughly understand both sides of the resolution, having researched each extensively, and learn to think critically about every argument that could be made on each side.
Speech: Involves a presentation by one, two, or sometimes a group of students that is judged against a similar type of presentation by others in a round of competition. Speech events range from limited preparation events that require extensive knowledge of current events to dramatic and humorous interpretation, which challenge students to find powerful moments in literature and recreate them for an audience.
Debate: involves an individual or a team of debaters working to effectively convince a judge that his or her side of a resolution is, as a general principle, more valid. To see what our students are currently debating, visit the Current Topics page. Students in debate come to thoroughly understand both sides of the resolution, having researched each extensively, and learn to think critically about every argument that could be made on each side.
What kinds of Competitions and Events are there?
Speech and Debate competitions hold several different levels. All Speech and Debate Team members compete in regional and local tournaments. Regional championships qualifies competitors for State Tournaments. The district competitions allow the top two finalists in each category entrance to the National Speech and Debate Association Competition (NSDA) that is held annually in different cities across the nation.