Speech and Debate: Oprah's Gateway to Success

"You are your own best thing."

This was the message that defined the twenty-five years of The Oprah Show, which aired its final broadcast Wednesday night. But these words -- while important -- are not unique or revolutionary. So what was it about Oprah saying them that spurred a multi-million dollar media phenomenon that includes a talk show, a magazine, and now a television network?

This weekend, I will join thousands of high school students in Washington, D.C. for the national speech and debate tournament. Oprah attended this same national tournament almost forty years ago -- an experience she claims made the difference between a quiet, personal idea and a resounding message that was broadcast around the world for 25 years.

A high school activity with the power to change lives

Read the full essay...

We're not in Washginton, DC this weekend for the 2011 NCFL Grand National Tournament. If you're not either, that doesn't mean you can't follow along as well. Check out the stream of Tweets courtesy of SpeechGeek's Facebook page or via the Twitter website.

Ah, the wonders of technology! With every electronic leap forward that society takes, forensicators reap the benefits. Internet newspapers make extemp files a bit lighter and mobile phones with built-in stopwatches make oratories a bit shorter (or longer, as needed). Perhaps the most welcome advancement comes in mp3 players. Can you picture the prehistoric days when competitors had to drag cassette tapes or CDs along with bulky players and cumbersome headphones onto bus rides to tournaments? Or even before that? When all speechies could do on rides was actually *talk* to each other? Gross.

As hundreds of competitors descend upon DC this weekend, those indispensable mp3 players will surely get a work out. Motivational speeches and vocal warm-ups can only do so much. Sometimes you have to crank up the volume to get properly pumped up for that next round of debate. Therein lies the Nationals playlist - the songs that get you ready to compete.

What’s on the SpeechGeek staff’s playlist this week?

1). We Are the Champions - Queen

2). Eye of the Tiger - Survivor

3). You’re the Best - Joe “Bean” Esposito

4). Stronger - Kanye West

5). Don’t Stop Believin’ - Journey ( or the ‘Glee’ cast)

6). Champion - RuPaul

7). The World Should Revolve Around Me - Little Jackie

8). Under Pressure - The Used

9). Bulletproof - La Roux

10). Waka Waka - Shakira

11). We Are Golden - Mika

12). Defying Gravity - Wicked Soundtrack

Eh, so maybe our taste in music is a bit dated. (We prefer the term ‘classic’.)

So tell us, what songs are on your “Speech Pump-Up Playlist”? 

After eight season of publication, SpeechGeek has decided to try something new.  In addition to offering collections of interp scripts, SpeechGeek will premiere new selection of oral interpretation performance literature as individual scripts.  Our new SpeechGeek "Singles" will offer fresh interp as it becomes available.  Never fear for those of you who love and prefer our issues, we'll continue to collect these individual scripts together at unbeatable prices.

Purchase SpeechGeek Singles exclusively at DebateChamps!

Look like we'll wrap up the regular season with organ donation.  From the National Forensic League website:

After a nationwide vote, the Public Forum Debate topic for April is “The United States federal government should permit the         use of financial incentives to encourage organ donation.”

The selected resolution bested the following topic, which also appeared on the April ballot:

Resolved: States should adopt a policy of presumed consent for organ donation.

We've set up the page where you can purchase April 2011 PF Briefs.  Look for them to arrive beginning in the next few days.