Speech and Debate: Why YOU Should Join

Michael Sunderland
Pilot Island
Published in
4 min readFeb 1, 2024

Written by Victor P. ‘27

Photo taken by Valerie Pham. Permission given by Valerie Pham

Imagine you are standing in front of a crowd of people. People you don’t know. You’re here to give a speech, but– Well, you’ve prepared a speech, and you’re supposed to start talking. How are you supposed to speak in front of people you probably don’t know? I was in this position when running for student council last school year. Here is where S.A.D. (Speech and Debate) comes in. I can only say good things about this club so far. Now, I have a completely different view on my speech. Rather than thinking of the situation like what was listed above, I now think of it as an opportunity to speak my mind and to help others. In this article, you’ll learn about speech and debate and why you should join for these three essential reasons:

Firstly, speech and debate will teach you how to control your nervous energy and help you speak better. Secondly, it’s fun! You get to express yourself through speaking, and if you’re into competition, it’s even better. Thirdly, the benefits of speech and debate extend further than public speaking. Research and statistics support this.

#1: One of the biggest reasons to join the speech and debate club is to improve your public speaking skills. When you enter this club, you will speak and debate with others! You might be nervous or scared to talk in front of a room with many people. The best advice I can give is not to overthink it. You will enter a room with people with a similar skill level to yours. You can speak knowing that no long-timelong time speakers or debaters will judge you. This brings me to how the S.A.D. congress tournaments are formatted. There are two levels, novice and varsity, which I’ve just mentioned. You will be placed with people on your level and participate three times in three rounds. If you rank in the top three overall, you have proven yourself as being able to make it in varsity, and our school’s coach, Ms. Wong, will help you with that! How will this help you with public speaking, though? Well, you’re actively practicing it as you go to tournaments. Jeanette McClure, a new member of the S.A.D. club, says, “I love speech and debate. It’s fun speaking in front of people and with the multitude of options, I can find out what I enjoy and what I don’t! Speech and debate has taught me to speak more confidently and clearly. “ This shows someone who has significantly improved after just two months and two tournaments worth of practice and participation!

#2: Speech and debate is fun! You can express your opinions or yourself through speaking. In an individual event, you can speak about anything. There are several types of individual events. These include two spontaneous events in which you have little time to prepare a speech, two dramatic events where you interpret a literary work and make someone laugh or cry, and two original events where you either make a 10-minute speech that you use for the entire season or make a bill that you want to be passed and convince people to affirm it. During the last event, I spoke in a spontaneous event: impromptu. Here, you get a random word and get two minutes to prepare a 5-minute speech. This speech can be about anything and that’s what I love about it. You can speak about everything with just your imagination as your limit. During GGSA I.E. 1 (the tournament name), I got the prompt “Calm.” I spoke about standards, the stress of everyday life, and how leaders are expected, but the world needs followers. You learn to speak on the fly, which is a valuable skill to have in life. Something else that’s amazing about speech and debate is that you get awards! You can get scholarships and even gemstones as well. If you want to earn money, awards, and gemstones, you should join speech and debate.

#3: Speech and debate help you improve on so much more than just speaking or debating. Did you know that according to a 2021 NSDA statistic, students in the National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA) have 5% enrollment in the top 10 colleges compared to a mere 1% national enrollment? That is 500% more NSDA members in prestigious colleges! Also, according to the University of Vermont, students can gain an 87% increase in analytical skills and 15% higher self-esteem. Self-esteem in this time is vital for all people, and it is especially important for younger people. S.A.D. club officer Carrie Troung says, “When I joined speech and debate, I was nervous. After being in this club for over 2 years, I’ve learned more skills such as how to research better. One bonus to speech and debate is that just for speaking, you can earn hundreds of dollars in scholarships!”

I strongly urge you to push yourself and join the speech and debate club. It will teach you to speak better and more thoughtfully, it’s fun and is another extracurricular that you may love as I and many speech and debate members do, and S.A.D. can help you improve yourself as well as help you in pursuing a higher education. If you have ever had bad experiences with speaking, join SJND’s speech and debate club and become a S.A.D. kid.

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Michael Sunderland
Pilot Island

Oakland, CA. Teaching, learning, sports, and storytelling.