By Sama Allam

What is Speech and Debate? The Speech and Debate team earns its title of “team” because it functions as such. Violeta Panayotova describes: “We research, we work together as a group, we cooperate and we prepare … speeches or debate cases and we go to the tournaments and either debate that case or give our speeches.” Led by their coach Danielle Delgado, the Speech and Debate team sets their sights high this year. While the driven team members and complexity of Speech and Debate might spook some students, there is only a little to fear.

Although the club’s many components can be a little confusing, two successful sophomores on the team, Clara Moffitt and Violeta Panayotova, succinctly explain how it all works. In Speech and Debate, there are different events. Speech includes events like Oratory and Dramatic Interpretation, and Debate includes events such as Congressional Debate, Lincoln Douglas (LD), and Public Forum (PF). While these titles might frighten some, once broken down they are simple to understand.

Clara explains: “Public Forum is like two-on-two debate about current events. There’s LD, which is a one-on-one debate about philosophy, and there’s Congressional Debate, where you pretend you’re in Congress.” Team members often participate in more than one event. For example, Violeta participates in Lincoln Douglas, Congressional, and Public Forum, while Clara participates in Congressional, Public Forum, and Oratory. Clara describes Oratory as “writing a speech yourself, then memorizing it and giving your speech.” Team members perform or debate in front of judges, who decide the ranking of a participant or whether or not a participant advances to the next round.

Even though the season has just begun, the Speech and Debate team has had many successful runs. For example, in their very first tournament, Clara managed to break in Oratory and Congress, as well in their most recent tournament, where she broke to semifinals out of 68 participants in Oratory again. Violeta has broken Congress, her forte, alongside Clara as well.

With a new season comes new expectations and new ideas. Violeta remarks, “Last year we had some issues with our team as a whole … we weren’t as united … My main priority is to actually create a team that is successful … if we are more united we will produce better results.”

So far, these expectations are providing the desired effect! However, these expectations obviously present challenges: Clara comments on the amount of hard work Debate requires, highlighting the “extensive amount of research” and “[finding] reliable sources.” Violeta also shares, “It’s sometimes hard because you have to think outside of your box … [but] this is what speech and debate is about … making you get out of your comfort zone.” There lies a great amount of hard work and dedication behind every triumph, even if the members of the Speech and Debate team make their successes seem effortless.

As is obvious, Speech and Debate requires extra dedication and labor, which can be difficult for students when paired alongside Tempe Prep’s curriculum. However, Clara and Violeta both agree that time management, work during Paideia, and sacrificing some sleep make juggling all this work possible. Clara recommends Speech and Debate “if you are passionate about speaking … or you just want to have fun, challenge yourself, and learn more about the world.”

Violeta shares the same sentiment, and even reassures, “You can be scared of public speaking, it’s perfectly fine. I am terrified of public speaking … but it’s okay. The fact that you’re getting up there and actually trying is important.”

With that mind, all who are inspired to join the Speech and Debate team can do so at the start of the next semester.