I'm a fantastic public speaker

Lettered after just my freshman year!

One thing about me that many people do now know is that I am a veteran of the National Forensic League! No, this is not an organization dealing with the science of crime scene investigation, although that would have been cool to do as well if it existed- no, this is the organization for high school speech and debate. For those that have never been part of S&D, you really missed out. There were so many different and interesting activities to be a part of.

There were three activities that I loved the most: my main activity, and the reason I joined debate, was Lincoln-Douglas Debate. Named for the famed presidential debates between Abe Lincoln and Stephen Douglas when they were battling for votes from throughout Illinois. The format was such that a relevant statement about global affairs, morality, justice, or some other such high-minded topic would be chosen for all the high schools to use for a given tournament.

All participants were required to write out position arguments both in favor and in rejection of the original statement. During a tournament, you would have matches that switched back and forth between either side and pitted against a member of a different school. The debates were great fun. Even though there often only judges as witnesses (in the early rounds, at least), debating was a great test of keeping calm under pressure, and public speaking. Just knowing every word you spoke was literally being judged made the matches seethe with excitement. The match consisted of the pro-position speaking first to present their argument, questioning by the opponent then a rebuttal response and counter-position, a questioning of the negative-position and rebuttal of the counter-position, and a last summation by each debater. Man, those debates were a lot of fun. The rhetorical jabs, the lightning fast thinking, the tension of the nerves, all contributed to great excitement.

Student congress was another of my favorite events. Students would stump to play the role of speaker, who would call out the order of speeches/questions, and a vote would select two persons to share that role in a morning and afternoon session. Students were arranged as if they were representatives in government, and bills were debated as if they would actually come to impact the nation. Pro-positions, neg-positions, questions, discussions, it was everything a high school kid interested in politics could want! My favorite part was definitely making speeches to try and influence the passage or rejection of bills. Sure, we could look at the bills a couple days before hand and do a bit of research on them, but having to fill a whole speech (usually about 2 minutes, if I recall), not only with your own ideas, but also countering your opposition made the entire experience seem fast-paced, thrilling, and gave you a somewhat measurable outcome of just how good you were at public speaking. And perhaps that's why I found it so appealing. I was contending with the best speakers in my state, regardless of grade level, and sometimes speaking circles around the competition!

Perhaps just as satisfying, was extemporaneous speaking. In extemp, you chose a single topic out of 3-5 possibilities, took maybe 3 minutes, and then gave a 5-minute speech about it. And it was so varied! I can remember speaking about Pokemon to a group of Rotarians when they hosted a tournament in Phoenix. Can you imagine talking to a group of much older men about a children's cartoon they may not even have been aware of? The challenge of keeping strangers entertained for 5 whole minutes with minimal preparation and while still having some actual point to your speech made me so much sharper! Developing my wit, keeping my audience in mind, having to know a little something about basically everything, was simply the most profitable experience of my formative years.

I carry those experiences from my time in Speech & Debate with me today. I think quickly, act decisively, listen closely, and speak persuasively. I have often been told that I speak like a person who has authority, and that's no accident. Being tested in the fires of rhetorical combat certainly left me battle ready for a life dedicated to persuading others. As a person that is now pursuing marketing, I already know that I have the skills it takes to successfully pitch products and ideas to other people, strangers or not. This is how I know I was made for marketing.