Mind�over�Chatter
KENTUCKY
SPEECH AND DEBATE
GRADES 4-12
A brief history of KHSSL
WHAT IS SPEECH AND DEBATE?
NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson Brent Spiner Jared Padalecki Shelley Long
Oratory Dramatic Interpretation Duo Interpretation Oratory
1988 1967 1998 1967
These are
just a few – former national award winners also include Jane Pauley, James Dean, and Nancy Cartwright (voice of Bart Simpson).
NATIONAL CHAMPION SUCCESS TRAITS
Communication Skills
Creativity and Problem-Solving
Empathy
Grit
Just like these celebrities learned these soft skills most desired by employers, Kentucky students can too, through Speech and Debate.
How KY speech and debate events create skills employers want.
Creativity and Problem-Solving and Empathy and Communication Skills and Grit
Our Impromptu and Improvisational Duo contests require students to think quickly on their feet and still communicate clearly.
Extemporaneous Speaking and Public Forum Debate and Congressional Debate demand these skills plus knowledge of and fact-based research about current events.
Lincoln-Douglas Debate requires knowledge of argumentation and philosophy coupled with clear speaking skills.
Broadcasting emulates the skills used on the air by real journalists.
Duo Interpretation and Duo Acting test teamwork as well as dramatic abilities.
Oratory and Informative not only develop classic speech skills but also allow students self-expression while learning how to share ideas effectively.
All of our interpretation events – from Prose and Poetry to Humorous and Dramatic Interpretation and all the others – require students to develop empathy and sympathy in order to be able to effectively portray characters or read lines as other people. These skills are invaluable assets to being a fully rounded human being and citizen.
These and all the other events, from Storytelling to Declamation to Program Oral Interpretation, require students to learn grit the hard way – by giving speeches again and again, by revising and improving their skills and products, and by developing the ability to fail without fear, for they know they can improve the next time – the key to success for anyone moving beyond the present and into the future.
Robert Sher, Forbes
“Here is the truth about students who compete in speech and debate. They’ve spent hundreds of hours perfecting their speaking skills. Many have done intensive research to write their speeches. All have endured the pressure that competition brings and have performed well intellectually under such pressure. They’ve made connections and friendships with other high performing peers. All of these behaviors are excellent predictors of success on any leadership team.”
What do Kentucky’s students have to say about this?
So how do schools participate?
If you’re asking students to make presentations as part of Deeper Learning, but you aren’t teaching them HOW to make presentations or giving them these skills and allowing for practice, how will they succeed?
Here’s a thought . . .
SWIMMING LESSONS ANALOGY
Which of the following do you want your kids to be?
Trained swimmer
Splash in the pool
Sink
DEEPER LEARNING WITH KHSSL
MIND OVER CHATTER
This three-hour workshop is designed to develop student voice through competitive speech and debate in Kentucky and around the country.
In this overview workshop, teachers and coaches and administrators learn how contests work in Kentucky and how to start up competitive speech and debate teams.
AGREEING TO DISAGREE
This three-hour workshop uses Public Forum Debate (the people’s debate) to help teachers construct readily accessible lessons for debating current events.
In this workshop, teachers develop plans to teach students how to research and argue while remaining civil, developing empathy and listening skills as well as argumentation abilities.
LEND ME YOUR EARS
This training for parents and community members and teachers instructs in the basics of good communications and is focused on creating helpful and positive evaluators for speech and debate contests and classroom presentations. Diversity/Equity/Inclusion discussions and guidelines are integral components of this training.
DEEPER LEARNING WITH KHSSL
SMALL TALK
With culprits to blame from COVID to texting, many students have an even harder time with public presentations now than they ever did before remote learning took away some of their developmental practice being around other students.
This three-hour workshop raises awareness for instructors about the psychology of communication apprehension and assists teachers in redesigning existing units to include small victories in communication for students to foster growth.
SPEECH CLASS 101
KHSSL Executive Director Steve Meadows was hired by the National Speech and Debate Association to adapt his Speech 1 curriculum from Danville High School to become the national model for a semester-long public speaking class. Teachers in this three-hour course go through the semester of lesson plans and leave ready to teach a full semester course with 85 days of lesson plans (and an option of 85 more).
BASIC SPEECHWRITING: THREE UNITS
In this three-hour course, instructors learn the Handy Art of Speech Writing to share with their students and also how to create three basic speeches (Unit Plans included): DECLAMATION, IMPROMPTU SPEAKING, INFORMATIVE SPEAKING.
REACH OUT –
LET’S PLAN TOGETHER