13 Reasons High Schoolers Should Get Involved in National Speech and Debate
There is a high probability you have listened to or read Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech and felt moved by it. Or, perhaps you have listened to a debate, like a Presidential Debate.
However, speech and debate is not reserved for politics. Everyone experiences speech and debate on a daily basis. For example, your teachers give you informational speeches whenever you go to class and you debate your siblings when you try to figure out what to have for dinner.
In this blog post, we are sharing 13 reasons high schoolers should get involved in National Speech and Debate.
What is National Speech and Debate?
National Speech and Debate is an association that serves to give high school students the opportunity to participate in speech and debate teams. With this association, students can travel to various locations and debate or give speeches about certain subjects.
Joining National Speech and Debate has many positive effects on people, especially high schoolers:
Why High Schoolers Should Join National Speech and Debate
“Debate empowers people to understand what they really want in life.” Willie Warren, Debate Team Coach from North Carolina
1 - Get Over Your Fear of Public Speaking
The largest aspect one can expect to be affected by joining a Speech or Debate team is increasing one’s confidence in public speaking. In fact, a large majority of people in National Speech and Debate largely or completely get over their fear of public speaking.
The 2018 National Speech and Debate D1 Champion, Kimberly Lu, said this to the National Speech and Debate Association about how speech and debate has affected her life,
“Speech and debate has honestly changed my entire life. I was actually mute when I was younger, and speaking out terrified me. And I was told to join speech and debate and I found a place where I could just get 10 minutes for people to listen to my actual voice.”
To join speech and debate, you do not have to already be a confident public speaker; instead, you could be doing speech and debate to get over your fear and improve your public speaking abilities.
2 - Speech and Debate is Critical for All Career Paths
Speech and debate improves upon one’s communication abilities. These abilities are crucial in any workplace environment.
Communication is something that comes in many shapes and sizes and is crucial for a workplace to function correctly. Better communication leads to less misunderstandings, beneficial relationships, more productivity, and much more.
Additionally, the National Speech and Debate Association says that former students who participated in speech and debate were more confident going into job interviews and were able to communicate clearly and effectively.
3 - Increased Interest in School
Additionally, the National Speech and Debate Association says that students who participate in speech and debate teams express a 100% increase in their interest in school.
This increased interest can come from finding out interesting information about subjects while participating in speech or debate or recognizing that school is an important building block for future opportunities.
4 - Increase Analytical Skills
Again, the National Speech and Debate Association claims that participants of speech and debate experience an 87% increase in their analytical skills.
When preparing for a speech or debate, the student is required to perform research regarding their chosen subject. Partaking in this research develops analytical skills for future use.
5 - Increase Reading Scores
Furthermore, the National Speech and Debate Association says that one may expect a 36% increase, on average, of students’ reading test scores who participate in speech or debate.
Preparing for a speech or debate requires a lot of reading and writing which inadvertently strengthens one’s reading ability.
6 - Increase Self-Esteem
The National Speech and Debate Association claims that students in debate or speech increase their self-esteem by 15% on average.
Giving speeches to large crowds requires one to be confident in yourself. This leads to increased self-confidence from repetitive exposure. It allows one to be comfortable in their own skin.
7 - Use Your Voice to Change The World
Some of the most influential times have been influenced by a speech. For example, Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech, Abraham Lincoln’s “The Gettysburg Address,” Subhas Chandra Bose’s “Give Me Blood and I Will Give You Freedom,” and much more.
Joining a speech or debate team in high school allows students to express their opinions and ideas to make an impact in the world. Many other people, even other high schoolers, have done it, so why can’t you?
8 - Advocate Issues That Matter to You
This reason goes hand in hand with number seven. If you find an issue that you care a lot about, you can use your voice to change the world. The more passionate you are about a subject, the greater the change you have.
Furthermore, this allows you to become more knowledgeable about the subject through your research for a speech or debate. Soon enough, you may become a subject matter expert.
9 - Increase Your Chances of Getting into a Top College
The National Speech and Debate Association found that their members, speech and debate students, experienced a 500% increase in their chances of getting into a top 10 or 25 school.
Joining speech or debate often creates a well-rounded and outgoing student and top colleges are always looking for critically thinking students who step out of their comfort zones to pursue their passions.
10 - Find New Friends
Speech and debate also exposes you to a wide variety of people with an equally wide variety of interests.
A quote from fellow speech and debate member, Lori Woo, wrote on a blog post that,
“I met some of my closest friends on the speech and debate team. We travel all over the country together for tournaments and share plenty of laughs everyday in class. Not to mention, very intelligent people tend to do debate, so you’ll receive plenty of help with your homework.”
11 - Writing Becomes Easier
When you practice your speaking in speech and debate, you will eventually develop a steady stream of speaking which translates to your thoughts and writing becoming more fluid.
Soon enough, you will be able to write as if you were speaking!
12 - Become More Adaptable
When speaking in public, you are never sure exactly what will happen. Maybe you stutter or forget a part of your speech.
This is where public speaking like speech and debate allow you to be exposed to these situations and allow you to practice adapting to these situations.
13 - Have Fun!
Lastly, speech and debate would not be worth it if it wasn’t fun!
It may be hard work at times, but this is definitely with rewards. The satisfaction of finishing a good speech, traveling to new locations for speaking, and hanging out with your friends is extremely fun and rewarding.
How to Join National Speech and Debate
The first step to joining a speech or debate team is seeing if your school already has one. If they do, join it. If not, you can always talk to a few teachers about starting one at your school.
Now, you can create a National Speech and Debate Association account to access materials and events.
With a lot of practice, perhaps you may be a national champion one day, like Connor Rothschild, the 2017 International Extemporaneous Speaking National Champion.
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