Speech and Debate: Developing skills that equip leaders

A review of the news headlines is enough to convince most of us that our country needs leaders who really understand the complexity of issues, think logically, and speak articulately. Speech and debate builds those kind of leaders.

A review of the news headlines is enough to convince most of us that our country needs leaders who really understand the complexity of issues, think logically, and speak articulately. Speech and debate builds those kind of leaders.

In team policy debate, students learn to research an issue and to explore the many facets of it. They discover that fixing one flaw in a policy often results in creating another flaw. Students learn to look at a complex problem not only from their perspective, but also from a variety of differing perspectives in order to develop a plan for policy change that maximizes the benefits and minimizes the deficits.

In 2016 our TP resolution was about reforming U.S. policy with China. It was a fascinating year. Students delved into understanding Communism and the Chinese culture. They read the writings of Chinese leaders and debated the merits and dangers of tariffs. I can tell you that there is a good size group of college students and young professionals who understand and can discuss the current issues with China far better than some of the prevailing news networks.

Lincoln Douglas Debate allows students an opportunity to study the underlying values of our cultural beliefs. By using specific issues that face our society today, students examine the values behind the issues and build a case on which to defend each of these positions.

In speech students learn to think deeply, organize their thoughts, and articulate them clearly. In their search for speech topics, students often find messages that stick with them for life. Proclaim graduate, Kayla Zwirn, found her voice as she talked about the sanctity of life. In 2019 her voice was heard in Washington, DC as she won third place in the National Right to Life speech contest. In 2021 and 2022, Proclaimers Ben Heady and Grace Kimmerling earned national honors in the Sons of the American Revolution Joseph S. Rumbaugh Historical Oration Contest, speaking about outstanding characters of the American Revolution. In 2023, Proclaimer Hailey Bock won the National American Legion Oratorical Competition with her exposition concerning the US Constitution, and almost every year Proclaim has student winners in the VFW Voice of Democracy oratorical contest and Patriot’s Pen Essay contest.

In all events, whether speech or debate, our students learn to listen well, think deeply and broadly, and to respond winsomely: skills that are sorely lacking in our society. For these reasons - and more - speech and debate can be the most important activity in which your student participates during high school. The life skills learned will benefit him/her forever.