The Power of the Voice

1404 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The art of public speaking

The Power of the Voice
A person speaks and argues every single day, but do you know that there is an actual art for speaking and arguing? Created by speakers and debaters long before today, the art of Speech and Debate has taken hold upon the American high school and college life. Before my first debate, I was nervous and shivered in fear of the outcome. However, I felt like I was part of something. With judge looking at me and the timer in his hand, I began my first speech. It all just happened in a whirlwind and all of a sudden the judge called the end of the debate. It felt like forever, but then the judge finally gave his vote to my partner and me. I had actually won! I could not believe it. That first debate inspired me to write my I-search paper on Speech and Debate. What is Speech and Debate?
Speech and Debate is an academic sport that challenges its members and allows them to compete. From Humorous and Dramatic Interpretations in the Speech category to Public Forum and Policy Debate in the Debate category, this activity allows its members to increase their critical thinking, motivation and engagement in their work.
I want to see what actually makes Speech and Debate unique? Which one is better?! What makes a speaker not also be a debater, or vice versa? What are the pros and cons of debate and speech? As I delve deeper into the very art of debate and speech I will be trying to be answering these very questions. What will I find? What will be my conclusions?
The Speech and Debate community has been managed by the National Forensics League, also called the National Speech and Debate Association, since 1925. It has so far enrolled over 1.4 million students from high schools and colleges throughout the country. As a non-pro...

... middle of paper ...

... some great stuff, but it teaches you a lot about the world; such as history, current events and philosophy. Without debate, I would never have known that Frank B. Wilderson is a great figure in fighting modern racism or that capitalism had so many flaws. Imagine how great it would be if everyone in the world knew how to publicly speak or debate over controversial topics; such as racism and capitalism (and not just go fight all the time). I am getting off topic here, but Speech and Debate is a great community to be part of no matter who you are.
At the end of this I- search, I can finally say that you can’t just say that “Speech is the best” or “Debate is the better than all!” No matter which division of Speech and Debate you choose to join, remember one thing: Your part of a great community that consists of some of the brightest minds America has to offer.

Show More
Related

  • Culture of Critique

    950 Words  | 2 Pages

    Americans have embraced debate since before we were a country. The idea that we would provide reasoned support for any position that we took is what made us different from the English king. Our love of debate came from the old country, and embedded itself in our culture as a defining value. Thus, it should not come as a surprise that the affinity for debate is still strong, and finds itself as a regular feature of the mainstream media. However, if Deborah Tannen of the New York Times is correct, our understanding of what it means to argue may be very different from what it once was; a “culture of critique” has developed within our media, and it relies on the exclusive opposition of two conflicting positions (Tannen). In her 1994 editorial, titled “The Triumph of the Yell”, Tannen claims that journalists, politicians and academics treat public discourse as an argument. Furthermore, she attempts to persuade her readers that this posturing of argument as a conflict leads to a battle, not a debate, and that we would be able to communicate the truth if this culture were not interfering. This paper will discuss the rhetorical strategies that Tannen utilizes, outline the support given in her editorial, and why her argument is less convincing than it should be.

    Read More

  • Themes Of Let Me Hear Your Voice

    809 Words  | 2 Pages

    1. In the article it talks about the grieving model that parents go through. Catherine in, Let Me Hear Your Voice went through this grieving process. She experienced the denial, anger and frustrations that parents of ASD children go through. (Toni)

    Read More

  • Pathos In The Great Debaters

    696 Words  | 2 Pages

    The debate team of Wiley College faced many colleges to be recognized and finally in the end winning a debate against the reigning debating champions, Harvard University. One of the debaters who caught my attention was James Farmer Jr., the youngest on the team that started out as an alternative. James Farmer sought recognition from adults and wanted to show everyone he was capable of debating. James Farmer incorporates a lot of Ethos and Pathos into his speech making, allowing him to leave his audience filled with emotions and in awe. Although James Farmer interested me, especially the way he presented his final speech, James Farmer and I are very different in the way we deliver our speeches.

    Read More

  • Plato's Gorgias And Discourse

    797 Words  | 2 Pages

    Discourse means communication or debate. (oxford dictionary). The word discourse is used to show the difference of opinions among people. Plato who was a famous philosopher has written about discourse in many of his works. In Gorgias he shows discourse among Callicles and Socrates.

    Read More

  • Freedom of Speech

    1581 Words  | 4 Pages

    Imagine a time when one could be fined, imprisoned and even killed for simply speaking one’s mind. Speech is the basic vehicle for communication of beliefs, thoughts and ideas. Without the right to speak one’s mind freely one would be forced to agree with everything society stated. With freedom of speech one’s own ideas can be expressed freely and the follower’s belief will be stronger. The words sound so simple, but without them the world would be a very different place.

    Read More

  • College Essay On Lifeguard

    813 Words  | 2 Pages

    When I was little everyone told me I would make a great lawyer, they said I loved to argue. For a long time I believed them, I do love to argue. However, the older I got the more I realized that it wasn’t the arguing I loved, it was the dialog. How two people can have the exact same experience, but have two totally different views about that experience baffled me. When I was in high school I struggled with some things that I didn’t quite understand at the time. I didn’t understand why my teammates would listen to my male co-captain instead of me even when we said the exact same thing. I didn’t understand why my teammates would skip practice or do something that might get them kicked off of the team. We all loved water polo and had a great

    Read More

  • Forensic Evidence Essay

    1204 Words  | 3 Pages

    Forensic evidence can provide just outcomes in criminal matters. However, it is not yet an exact science as it can be flawed. It can be misrepresented through the reliability of the evidence, through nonstandard guidelines, and through public perception. Forensic science can be dangerously faulty without focus on the ‘science’ aspect. It can at times be just matching patterns based on an individual’s interpretations. This can lead to a miscarriage of justice and forever alter a person’s life due to a perceived “grey area” (Merritt C, 2010) resulting in a loss of confidence in the reliability of forensic evidence.

    Read More

  • Forensic in Pop Culture: The CSI Effect

    1924 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the following literature review, scholarly and peer-reviewed journals, articles from popular news media, and surveys have been synthesized to contribute to the conversation pertaining to forensics in pop culture in the courtroom and the overall criminal justice system. This conversation has become a growing topic of interest over just the past few years since these crime shows started appearing on the air. The rising popularity of this genre makes this research even more relevant to study to try to bring back justice in the courtroom.

    Read More

  • Lincoln Douglass Style Debate: Course Analysis

    468 Words  | 1 Pages

    I have never joined a debate club because it required public speaking, and the most debating I have done before high school was arguing in Socratic seminars, so this debate was a completely new experience for me. I always thought of public speaking as something dreadful, but though this experience, I learned that public speaking is an opportunity to finally be in the spotlight and get others to listen to what you are

    Read More

  • Final Reflection In Communication

    898 Words  | 2 Pages

    Over the recent four months in Communication 1402 class, I have addressed three formal speechs and completed a number of chapters in the corresponding textbook “Communication Works”. This course of Communication aims to provide general information what public speaking is and how to address a public speaking. Recalling back the experience during the processes of completing the Speech to Imform, Speech to Persuade, and Group Presentation, I will draw a conclusion about this course and these three presentations in five aspects, comprising my previous perception of public speaking before this course; learning from the Speech to Inform; the goal and evaluation of Speech to Persuade; learning from the Group Presentation; the most important thing learned from this course.

    Read More

  • Reflective Essay Using Honey and Mumford’s Learning Styles Theory

    1188 Words  | 3 Pages

    The purpose of this reflective essay on the debate is to analyse my team and my own personal learning style and experience of participating in the debate and in the preparation period - that started in week 7 with the mock debate - by structured and based on Honey and Mumford’s Learning Styles theory, and examine some ideas for my future practice.

    Read More

  • What I Learned In Public Speaking

    802 Words  | 2 Pages

    In conclusion when delivering a public speech it was vital to leave time for questions and answers. This helped to know if the message was clearly understood by the audience and would be remembered. This section also empowered me to handle questions and answers section since some questions asked by audience were challenging and needed critical thinking.

    Read More

  • Personal Narrative-High School Debate

    519 Words  | 2 Pages

    I thought about that inquiry as the week wore on. Eventually, the next debate tournament rolled and I qualified for TFA state. After my qualifying round, I practically skipped to my coach in joy and told him the news. I had actually done something successful in debate! But, it still didn’t feel right to me. At that moment all I could think about was how much I loathed debate; it was stressful and had made my cry on numerous occasions. I was only joyous because I made my coach, not myself, proud. I didn’t love debate; I loved the

    Read More

  • Reflection Paper On Public Speaking

    702 Words  | 2 Pages

    In public speaking I learned many types of concepts, theories and terms of communication. In concepts of publicly speaking there’s, relaxation, practice, credibility, attention getters, attire, organization, volume, emotion, audience relation, and movement. In my first speech, “The any old bag speech” I quickly learned the do’s, don’ts and concepts of my speech performance.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Speech

    738 Words  | 2 Pages

    Speech is vitally important for a variety of reasons. I believe that our words can increase or decrease our level of happiness or even have a positive or negative effect towards our future. Speech helps us as a society to resolve issues in a respectful manner; it helps us get important points across and convey messages, it also helps us structure our ways of communicating. The importance of speech is giving us the ability to make situations more...

    Read More

More about The Power of the Voice

Open Document