Events & Descriptions

So you think you want to do speech and debate

Whether you know which event you want to compete in or if you have no idea what’s happening, we have openings for you.  Below is a list of the different events offered at LHS Speech & Debate.  Read through these for a bit more information in helping you decide where you might want to compete.  

While we are usually able to place students in their first choice events, sometimes we aren’t able to do so due to scheduling conflicts and how many spots we have for each event.  

Debate events:

Lincoln Douglas debate:  This is a solo debate style.  Lincoln Douglas, or LD is often called value or philosophy debate, as debaters use values to prove that their side is correct.  For instance, the current topic is: Resolved: In the United States, reporters ought to have the right to protect the identity of confidential sources. The pro or affirmative side may argue that national security is the most important value, so all citizens must serve their country.  The other side might say autonomy  is most important, and people should make their own choices.  

Public Forum debate:  PF debate is a partnered debate event.  PF is often referred to as the people’s debate, or current events debate, since the issues debated are usually topical and recent.  The current topic is: Resolved: The United States should accede to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea without reservations.  This requires debaters to research the issue and recent cases and laws related to the topic.  Topics change monthly.  

Congressional debate: Congress is a different form of debate.  Instead of having one opponent, competitors debate in a group, a ‘congress session’ or ‘house’.  Each tournament provides a set of topics, or a ‘docket’, and competitors then discuss and debate each docket item and align themselves in relation to each topic.  This is a team debate event in a way, but students decide their ‘teams’ as they debate the hold the session of congress, so your ‘team’ will consist of members of other schools, but then once a new topic is debated, new ‘teams’ are formed.  This requires a lot of research over a variety of topics.  This is different from other debate events because you really need to speak up and be assertive, instead of waiting your turn.

Speaking events:

Original Oratory: This is the purest speech there is in speech and debate.  In OO, students write their own 10 minute speech.  This needs to be memorized.  Topics range over any issue a student chooses, though it is best to pick a unique idea and persuade your audience through emotional reasoning, facts, and personal stories.  

Informative Speaking: This event is similar to OO, since students still write and deliver their own 10 minute memorized speech.  However, it differs in that the purpose of info is more to education audiences, rather than convince them of a thesis.  The cool part is this is the only speech event that lets you use visual aids.  

Extemporaneous speaking:  This is kind of in between debate and speaking.  Here’s how it works.  Competitors do all sorts of research, on just about everything, then bring their research to a tournament.  When it’s their turn, they are given 3 possible topics.  They choose one, and have 30 minutes to prepare a 7  minute speech on the topic they chose.  Any research someone brings, they can use, but there is no looking up new info on the internet.  Speeches should but don’t need to be memorized, and you can take a note card to each speech.  NOTE: In the video, the speaker is questioned about their topic after their speech - this is NOT a Colorado practice, and students simply need to give a 7 minute speech.

Interp events:  This is the competitive acting event.  In any interp event, competitors perform a 10 minute selection of a published work of literature or poetry.  This could be sections of a novel or play that are edited together and shortened into 10 minutes, or several short stories/plays/poems that are all connected to become 10 minutes.  This should be memorized.  Students are allowed to go into different characters, to use facial expression and vocal variety, and can use their bodies to mimic props.  There are several different types of interp:

• Humorous Interp:  Obviously, this is supposed to be funny, and should be taken from a funny original source.  Usually, characters are needed here.

• Dramatic Interp:  This is often very serious and pieces end up being tragic.  Drama pieces that convey a strong emotional arc or storyline do well here.  

• Interp of poetry:  This event is a little more open to interpretation, but students will perform an edited selection for interpretation.  While it’s possible to recite poetry here, the stronger performers usually convey storylines or emotional arcs, similar to Drama and Humor.

• Duo Interp:  This is partnered interp.  It can be on any topic, humor, drama, poetry.  Partners have guidelines but ultimately need to use the partner dynamic to add to their interpretation and performance.  

• Program of Oral Interpretation:  This is a bit of a hybrid event of other interp events.  In POI, students create a multi-genre program, and the different pieces of literature have a common thread or theme.  Students may use pieces of fiction, drama, nonfiction, poetry, and others, and then stitch together the various pieces to communicate their theme.  This event is different from the other interp events in that students must use a book/script, which can also serve as a prop.