Speech and Debate

[4n6s-blog]

This is the end... agian

With the end of every speech year comes several feelings. Some are unfortunate but unavoidable like the regret that you feel for every stumble, every 4th place, every ballot you just know you could have taken. But, for me at least, these few bad thoughts are always overwhelmed by the good. The times I felt invincible walking out of a round, the friends I’ve met, and my wonderful team. As I’ve just finished my final year in speech and debate I think it’s particularly important to pay homage to these good things. So, here is a list of ten (reduced from roughly 1 million) things that keep me psyched through each season:

1. The first round in any event- scary, but sooo exciting.

2. Tournament food- ewww... and also yum.

3. Warm-ups- I don’t know when in adult life I will need to quickly repeat “red-leather-yellow-leather” but I’m ready.

4. Bus talk- why isn’t it acceptable to contemplate the universe all the time?

5. That kind of euphoric high between sleep deprivation, starvation, and the adrenaline of breaking to finals... irreplaceable.

6. Growth. Personal, social, performative, work-based, other people’s- it all feels good.

7. Trophies- let’s get real, it feels damn good to have these useless pieces of plastic.

8. Hearing someone say they connected with what you said.

9. New pieces- there is nothing better than getting excited about a new topic.

10. Building, connecting with, and loving a team that does the same for you.

[darrenandchrisnews]

Watch the Exuberant Trailer for Film Adaptation of Stephen Karam's 'Speech & Debate'

The first trailer for Speech & Debate, adapted from the play of the same name by Humans scribe Stephen Karam, is like a sugar rush for theater fans, and EW is excited to exclusively premiere it…

February 1, 2017

MADELINE RAYNOR

The cast is stacked with actors from Broadway (Roger Bart, Sarah Steele, Austin McKenzie, Skylar Astin) and the comedy world (Janeane Garofalo, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Kal Penn). Plus, there are cameos from Lin-Manuel Miranda and Darren Criss, and an original song performed by Kristin Chenoweth.

Keep reading

[speechanddebatememes]

Speech VS Debate Judges

Debate: I went with the Con because they succinctly stated their contentions and gave enough elaboration for me to believe in the backbone of their side. The South Korea point was a unique argument that really gave leverage over the Pro.

Speech: ay lmao the pearls on ur necklace are a milimeter too wide, finna drop you the 6.

[4n6s-blog]

Price pt. 3

The final truly costly part of speech can be finding good pieces. My best advice here is to know where to look to find good lit without having to pay for it. So here are a couple helpful places that I use:

1. The Moth

This is the best website for finding a good prose or drama piece for free. It has an endless collection of stories from real people that range from heartwrenching to hilarious. I actually found the prose piece that I performed this year on The Moth (I’ll post a link to it later).

2. Youtube Slam Poetry 

If you are looking for a poetry program or pieces to spice up your POI look no further than easy to access youtube channels. I personally follow Button Poetry, Poetry Slam Inc, STS Poetry, Slam Find, and All Def Poetry. Each of these post videos of amazing slam poets doing their thing.

3. Blogs and Editorials

If you know what your general topic is going to be, look around for blogs, discussion groups, forums, and editorials on the topic. This takes a bit of time and energy, but it often yields the best results. This past season I put together a POI about asexuality and some of the most inspiring pieces I found were personal testimonies on LGBT+ forums. These even lead me to the prose that I used in the program.

CAUTION: If you use any of these sources you run the risk of using a piece that is overused. So be careful. Spend the time to find a unique piece that matters to you. Find something no one on your circuit has seen and make it special.

I would also warn against performing things exactly as the author does in a video. It’s called interpretation for a reason. Make sure to take the lit you have and make it your own.

[4n6s-blog]

Price pt. 2

Another really expensive part of being in the speech community is the clothing. Walking into a round in an expensive, well put together outfit is not guaranteed to win you a medal, but it certainly doesn’t hurt. Here are a couple helpful tips for looking like a champion without breaking the bank: 1. Consignment and secondhand stores

This is always my first stop. You would be surprised at the gems you can find at a local goodwill. I have bought several gorgeous suits at our local consignment store and I’m always excited to see what they stock. The greatest bonus to such stores is that the suits are often less than 20$!

2. eBay First, go to a department store like Dillards or Macy’s. Spend time to find clothes that you like and what sizes fit you. Make sure to keep track of your size and the brand of the clothes as well as any other helpful information. Finally, look up your favorite suits/dresses/shoes/whatever on eBay. I thought this was a bit strange when I first heard about it, then I bought a 300$ dollar Tahari suit for 30$. This is magic.

3. Poshmark 

It’s a bit harder to find specific clothes on Poshmark as one could on eBay. However, they have a wonderful selection of suits, shoes, and anything else you could want in all price ranges. I have gotten several of my suits through Poshmark anywhere from 35-10$. While the site seems a bit questionable, I have always received my products as expected and in a timely manner. 10/10 would recommend. I hope this was helpful! Make sure to let me know any other ways you guys save money on your speech wardrobes! 

[4n6s-blog]

The Price of First Place

Forensics is not a cheap activity. Even being blessed to participate for schools with decent budgets I have spent a ridiculous amount of my own money of clothes, food, pieces, and the thousand other things that accumulate throughout the year. While I would like to say that one can be just as successful spending a fraction of this money, in speech, much like life, money gives people a huge advantage. Looking professional, greater access to pieces/evidence, and basic nutrition will give any competitor a head start. This is not to say that those who have these resources are guaranteed to do well, or that those who are lacking them cannot do well. Money simply gives teams and competitors an advantage from the starting line. To combat this advantage I have found several ways to cut costs. I will dedicate the next several weeks to some of these tricks. Starting now: The first step is to look into raising more money as a whole. Fundraising by speaking with local businesses, hosting a showcase for your speech and debate program, and putting together other community events can all help to raise money for your team. The more time and effort you are willing to put forth the more response you will see. These events will also help to raise awareness for forensics in the community/school. If your team sponsors bake sales and bingo nights often enough people will begin to wonder what speech and debate is and how they can help such wonderful community members. This can be a helpful tool for both raising funds and awareness.

[speechanddebatememes]

when you broke but you haven’t eaten in 6 hours and the next round starts 3 minutes ago and you have to decide whether to be late or starve mid round

[buttonpoetry]

The church still gives purpose to all of the ghosts, because even with our hands up, don’t we still look like we are praising?

Pages Matam, “Black Lives, Tigers and Bears”

NEW Best of Button playlist! Today’s additions: Pages Matam & William Evans! Congratulations poets!

(via buttonpoetry)

[4n6s-blog]

Casper College student stuck in Mexico after immigration problem

Marisela Burgos entered the consulate in Juarez last month expecting to walk out as a permanent resident of the United States. She’d lived there since she was 3, and in

[4n6s-blog]

Motivation pt. 3

I was planning to make the final post in this series about my own motivations and love for speech. However, in the past couple weeks I lost a teammate and good friend because of the ridiculous immigration laws in this country. Today I’d like to share her story instead.

Marisela was brought into this country legally as a toddler. She was raised here, worked here, and grew roots here. But because she was not technically a citizen she recently told our team that she often felt voiceless or helpless in her community. She found that speech gave her a voice and a platform to express herself. When she turned 16 she was not able to get a drivers license, at 18 she was unable to vote, and occurrences like these were discouraging. Nonetheless, through speech she had a platform to express herself, tell her story, and even open peoples minds to her position and to the position of individuals like her. She found motivation in the power that she could regain through speech. 

Now Marisela is stuck in Mexico, fighting to come back to her home. To learn more about Marisela’s situation and support her you can visit the GoFundMe page our forensics team has set up to help her.

https://www.gofundme.com/marisela-stranded-in-mexico-fund

[speechanddebatememes]

when you get back to school after missing days for a tournament and suddenly you have 28 assignments 4 tests and 9 major projects you missed and need to make up in 0.4 days

[4n6s-blog]

Motivation pt. 2

Earlier this week I asked one of my teammates about what keeps her motivated in competition. She had previously told me that debate was her life and that she couldn’t imagine herself without forensics. Instead of answering this question she told me about how she first became interested in forensics. That she ended up in the program, as many of us do, by accident and had been in love since. She told me about the team she started on, a team that she helped to form and grow throughout high school. She told me about the struggles she had faced against her school board, the trophies she had won, the family that she found their. Finally, she told me about her decision to join a collegiate forensics team. She claimed that this change was a struggle, but that she continued to compete because it is something she loves and is passionate about. My teammate showed me a very different form of motivation than my coach. Instead of pushing people to work their hardest and show their worth, my teammate pushed people to follow their passion, to remember why they joined in the first place.

[4n6s-blog]

Every coach and student motivates themselves and their team differently. This week I’d like to spotlight some of the motivational tactics that I’ve come across. 

Earlier this month my coach walked into our team room, tacked up several copies of this posters, and walked out. Another time we walked into the room to see a dollar value written on the board. After having us guess what the number was all through class, he revealed it was the amount the school pays for each forensics student per year. This is his form of motivating. While it can be aggressive, or passive aggressive... it also makes a point. He wants our team to know that the most important thing we can bring to the table is work ethic. That we are, in fact, worth something and that we should reflect that in everything we do. 

Throughout this week I’ll be posting a couple more motivational approaches I’ve seen, and I hope you’ll share your own experiences!

[fuckyeahspeechanddebate-blog]

4n6 valentines pt 2 ;)

[fuckyeahspeechanddebate-blog]

its valentines day weekend and you know what that means ;)

[4n6s-blog]

This only seems fitting with valentines day around the corner

[de4dbl0g-deactivated20191110]

[4n6s-blog]

Every picture my coach takes 

[jaekth]

[4n6s-blog]

Getting ready to compete tho

[cnnpolitics]

Fact-checking website crashes during Trump’s first State of the Union

President Donald Trump’s first State of the Union address proved too much for non-partisan fact-checking site PolitiFact Tuesday night. The website saw its servers crash for six minutes during the President’s speech.

“Welp … our website just crashed. Thanks for reading ?!!? We’ll keep things up here on Twitter while we see what happened,” the website tweeted, citing high web traffic numbers.

The site, which is run from a reporting team at the Florida-based Tampa Bay Times and owned by the non-profit Poynter Institute, crashed at 9:49 p.m. ET, about halfway through Trump’s 80-minute long speech.

Read more: http://cnn.it/2npbpLw