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The forensic events are less reliant on the ability to
act. They rely more on content and the speaker's ability to think on their feet. These
events are usually the most competitive!
Extemporaneous
Speaking
In extemporaneous
speaking the contestant must deliver a seven minute long unrehearsed
speech without the aid of any notes. The contestant draws a
question and then has thirty minutes to do any research and find
information
on the topic before going to present the speech. Extemp. is divided
into two different divisions; Domestic Extemp (DX) and International
Extemp (IX). Questions in DX are based solely on events happening
within the United States while IX deals with foreign nations and
current events that occur there.
Original Oratory
Original Oratory
(OO) consists of a competitor delivering a ten minute memorized speech
that he/she has originally written. Topics for orations are selected
by the contestants themselves. Orations often focus on social problems
and solutions. Prevailing themes are issues such as racism, morality,
or civility.
Lincoln-Douglas Debate
Modeled after the
great Senatorial debates between Stephen Douglas and Abraham Lincoln,
Lincoln Douglas Debate (LD) focuses on value debate. Each contestant
argues either the affirmative or negative side of the resolution.
Though each debater must prepare each side, he/she only argues one
side per round. Perhaps the most competitive event on the forensics
circuit, LD forces debaters to utilize philosophy and pragmatics
to argue their point effectively before a judge.
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