LHS Speech and Debate

Thank you for your interest in joining the Littleton Highschool Speech and Debate team!

We are looking for new members that want to improve their public speaking, love to act, enjoy discussing current events and / or have strong opinions and want to share them more effectively.

• Team meetings are Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:45 to 5:15pm in room 1979

• You do not have to be a good public speaker to join, we will help you learn the skills needed to succeed

• Competitions are twice a month on Saturdays from October to March. Plan on being there from 7am to 7pm (11 total for the season)

• There is a REQUIRED parent meeting on Thursday September 4th at 6pm in room 1979

Why should you join the team?

• You want to be a lawyer / politician / influencer / performer / executive

• Students that participate in speech and debate have a significantly higher chance to get into the college of there choice

• There are many scholarships available to speech and debate students

• Public speaking makes you nervous and you want to be better at it

• You will get more chances to compete and develop your craft than any other activity

• Speech and Debate skills are critical to any career path

• Powerful leadership starts with effective communication

• Network and make friends with students from all over Colorado

• Understand world events and explore complex challenging ideas

• You want to know how to make an impact on your community / country / the world!

What do you do in Speech and Debate?

• We have three areas of focus that you get to choose from: Speech, Interpretation (interp) and Debate

• Each category has several events that students can specialize in. They all have their own rules and format.

• We practice and prepare after school during the week and then we compete against other schools at tournaments. 

Speech events include:

• Original Oratory (OO) - Write and deliver you own speech about any topic and persuade the audience to your position

• Informative Speaking (Info) - Inform your audience about a subject that you find interesting, this event includes visual aids

• Extemporaneous Speaking (Exempt / USX / IX) - Choose a question on a current event and deliver an answer after 30 min of prep time

Interp events include:

• Humor - deliver a 10 min performance of any script / story / media with a humorous tone

• Drama - deliver a 10 min performance of any script / story / media with a dramatic tone 

• Poetry - preform a selection of poetry organized around a theme or author

• Program Oral Interpretation (POI) - create a performance addressing a theme of your choice by compiling excerpts from a variety of media sources like scripts, news articles, songs, blogs, books, etc.

• Duo - any of the above, but with a partner

Debate events include:

• Lincoln Douglas Debate (LD) - one vs. one debate format using philosophy to defend or attack a resolution (topic) that changes every few months.

• Policy / Cross Examination Debate (CX) - two vs two debate format using evidence and impacts to defend or attack a resolution

• Public Forum Debate (PF) - two vs. two debate format that is more casual / friendly in tone and format, like a dinner table debate. The resolution is rooted in current events and changes throughout the season

• Congress - develop and present legislation to a group of representatives (competitors) and then debate the merits of the legislation. Vote on if it should be passed. Similar to our national congress.

For more information come to the meeting on Thursday Aug 21st or ask a question below.

If you have additional questions you may submit them here.

Varsity and Returning team meeting Thursday August 14th - 3:45pm

New Student and Season kick off Meeting Thursday August 21st - 3:45pm

If you have any questions come talk to a coach or send us an email!

Coach names: Jacob Roland (Speech / head coach), Rachel Ockner (interp / math teacher), & Hunter Harwood (debate)