What is Speech (Forensics)?

The first thing to know about Forensic public speaking competitions is what “forensics” entails. Participants engage in some form of public speaking during the competition to captivate their audience with their speech.

THREE ROUNDS

Apart from Extemporaneous and Debate, each category has three rounds. Each round has a difference judge and you are required to do your piece multiple times. These rounds help the judges come up with your score to see who wins. Each round you change rooms, judges, and most of your fellow participants so that you get a new audience to hear your piece.

ONE CLAP

The most striking part of Forensic’s public speaking competitions is the clap. When awards are given out at the end of the tournament, the winners’ names are read for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. For every winner except 1st, you clap loudly once. When they announce the 1st place winner, you erupt into applause. It’s always funny because you can tell who the newbies are because they start to clap more than once and get quite the surprise when no one else joins them - but that won't be us because we already know the rule!