Events and Resources

Not sure where to start? Read the quick overview below, use the flowchart to find events that fit you, and then explore the full descriptions. 

START HERE

Speech events are performances you prepare and give on your own or with a partner: acting out a scene, delivering a speech you wrote, or thinking on your feet about current events. Debate events pit you against another student or team on a set question. Coaches can help you pick events, and you can try as many as you want each year. You are never stuck in an event. 

Choosing Events

You choose your events every year. Nothing is locked in. Each season you can stay with the events you love or switch to new ones, and coaches are happy to recommend events that fit your interests and strengths.

How many events you can do: Most tournaments let each student enter up to two speech events and one debate event. This limit is set by the tournaments, not by our team.

Try new things, but give them time. We encourage you to explore different events, especially early on. Keep in mind that your speeches and debating get stronger the longer you practice an event, so sticking with an event for a full season pays off.

How topics work in each type of event:

• Interpretation and Public Address events (Prose, Poetry, LIELL, DI, HI, Duo, POI, OO, Informative, ADS, Radio): You perform the same piece or speech all season and keep improving it. A piece you've competed with can't be used the next school year again, so each fall you'll start a new one.

• Lincoln-Douglas, Public Forum, Policy: The NSDA sets the topics, which rotate on a schedule. Policy keeps one topic all year, Lincoln-Douglas changes every two months, and Public Forum changes every month or two.

• Student Congress: The list of bills is released before each tournament, so you can research ahead of time.

• Extemp, Impromptu, and Parliamentary Debate: You find out your topic at the tournament, so you prepare by building your skills and keeping up with current events.

Team Resources

Event Resources Folder: scripts, sample speeches, and practice materials. Available only to Corvallis School District students. 

Current Debate Topics: the latest Lincoln-Douglas, Public Forum, Policy, and Big Questions topics from the NSDA. 🔗 Make "Current Debate Topics" a link to 

NSDA Guide to Choosing Events: a free guide and quiz for exploring national events. 

• Important: Note that some events are Oregon-only events and are not listed on the NSDA website. Some NSDA events are also not available to perform in Oregon. Also, Oregon has different times and rules for events. See below for more information.

• Events NOT available to compete in Oregon: Declamation, Storytelling, Commentary, Expository, Extemp Debate, Big Questions, World Schools Debate.

Speech Events

🟦 = OSAA State (Oregon) / 🟥 = NSDA Main Events

Literary Interpretation for English Language Learners (LIELL): 🟦 Present a short story or poem or script from a binder. Memorized introduction. ELL students only. 5 minutes with a 30-second grace period. 

Prose Reading: 🟦 Using a binder, read your short story or selection from a novel. Prose Reading is judged by the drama in your voice. Memorized introduction. 8 minutes with a 30-second grace period. 

Radio Commentary: 🟦 Your opinion about a current issue. Read your commentary with your back to the judges. A unique feature of radio is that your speech must end between 4:45 minutes and 5:15 minutes - in Open Radio, you can be disqualified if you go over or under that time.  You can use a timer to watch the time. 

Poetry Interpretation: 🟦 From a binder, present several poems related to a common theme. Memorized introduction. 8 minutes with a 30-second grace period. 

Duo Interpretation: 🟦🟥 You and a partner present a scene. You are judged on voice tone, timing, and teamwork - however, you cannot fully interact with each other (no touching). No costumes or props. Memorized. 10 minutes. YouTube Playlist 

Informative:🟦🟥 An informative report with visual aids. Advocacy and entertainment may be included, but the primary task is to inform. Memorized, 10 minutes. YouTube Video Playlist 

ADS (After Dinner Speaking): 🟦 A humorous speech with a point - similar to stand-up comedy. 6 minutes with a 30-second grace period, memorized. 

Original Oratory: 🟦🟥 This is a persuasive speech that “takes your audience on a mental journey” - essentially, it is a persuasive oration. Needs to express an opinion and follow it through. Up to 10 minutes with a 30-second grace period, memorized. YouTube Video Playlist 

Dramatic Interpretation: 🟦🟥 Find a dramatic scene from a play, short story, or novel. This scene may contain more than one character. Without props or costumes and with some movements, you act all the parts. 10 minutes with 30 seconds of grace, memorized. YouTube Video Playlist 

Humorous Interpretation: 🟦🟥 Find a humorous scene from a play, short story or novel. This scene may contain more than one character. Without props or costumes and with some movements, you act all the parts. 10 minutes with 30 seconds of grace, memorized.  YouTube Video Playlist 

Program Oral Interpretation: 🟦🟥 Using cuttings from at least three genres (prose, poetry, drama, speech, film, quotation, etc), perform a program from a binder that tracks an idea or advocacy. Pieces are cut and spliced in a dramatic order. 10 minutes with 3o seconds of grace. YouTube Video Playlist 

Extemporaneous Speaking: 🟦🟥 Using contemporary news information to address a national, regional, or global question. With 30 minutes of internet prep, build a 7-minute speech (with 30 seconds grace). Attempt to use no notes whatsoever. YouTube Video Playlist 

Impromptu Speaking: 🟦🟥 Given a choice of three topics (generally a quote, a current issue/event, and an abstract noun), speakers present a five-minute speech (with 30 seconds grace) after 60 seconds of prep. The clock is running, though, but the speech should be no more than 5 minutes and 30 seconds. 

Overall Notes: There are no minimum time limits (except for Radio). Memorization is the goal; however,  novice speakers are often not fully memorized. No breach of rules results in disqualification, except for breaking time rules in Open Radio. 

Debate Events

🟦 = OSAA State (Oregon) / 🟥 = NSDA Main Events

Parliamentary Debate: 🟦 With a partner, debate against another two-person team from a different school. You’re given a resolution to debate and 15 minutes of prep time before the debate. You’re assigned a side. This is a knowledge-only debate, but internet usage during prep is OKAY. 

• Example resolution: The US Government ought to raise the minimum wage. 

Student Congress: 🟦🟥 This is essentially mock congress, where participants sit with 20 other students from other schools to pass bills. The docket of bills is set before the tournament, and you and your team research and discuss them. At the congress session, you choose to speak before the assembly - these speeches are lightly prepared or not prepared at all. Participants follow parliamentary procedure, sit according to a seating chart, and are evaluated over the course of the session based on speaking, questioning, and participation. The judge ranks the speakers rather than determining a winner. 

Lincoln-Douglas Debate: 🟦🟥 Individually build an affirmation and negation case for a resolution every two months. The resolution is a value statement; debaters produce research-supported arguments that uphold an ideal. It is a philosophical format. The Fall 2026 resolutions:

• September/October 2026: Outer space colonization is a moral imperative.

• November/December 2026: De-extinction is unethical.

Policy Debate: 🟦🟥 With a partner, debate a single nationwide, year-long resolution. The team creates a plan to execute the resolution, which includes much questioning and evidence. This year’s resolution:

• RESOLVED: The United States federal government should establish national health insurance in the United States.

Public Forum Debate: 🟦🟥 A fast-paced debate form where you debate a new policy topic every one to two months. Unique for its crossfire style of questioning, which is an open conversation between opponents. The Fall 2026 Resolutions:

• September/October 2026: The United States federal government should enact a moratorium on hyperscale data center construction.

• November/December 2026: European members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization should ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

Big Question Debate: 🟥 A new and philosophical form of debate based on reasoning and research. Yearly topic: 

• Resolved: Technological progress has surpassed humanity’s ability to use it ethically.