<p>I was thinking of joining next year. Does anyone have any info on it, besides the website? Like how a typical competition goes, what conventions are like, et al. Thnx.</p>
<p>Bump..
I hate bumping my own threads, but I'm quite interested in this.</p>
<p>National Forensics League is just the national organization for speech and debate. Only the best compete in the official national tournaments, while most prepare and compete in one or more of many events and in a local tournament. The style of tournaments varies from region to region but the general idea for a local tournament is:</p>
<p>Prelim rounds in debate (you are assigned a side): a judge evaluates who wins and gives everyone speaker points</p>
<p>Elimination rounds: the top competitors based on number of wins with speaker points as tiebreakers go into single-elimination rounds against each other until only one person or team remains, who would be declared tournament champion. There are usually 3 judges per round, sometimes 5 or more for late elimination rounds at large tournaments</p>
<p>Prelim Individual Events (speech): You are put in a panel with 3-6 other people and the judge ranks your speech 1-5, with 1 being the highest. Generally after 2-4 prelim rounds, the top competitors, based on the lowest total ranks, go into elimination rounds. </p>
<p>Final Individual Events: At least 3 judges rank your speech with the others. The lowest ranks in this round is generally the champion.</p>
<p>The best way to know more is to go to the speech and debate club at your school. Speech and debate builds up analytical and communication skills that really help you succeed in life.</p>
<p>Thanks. Anyone else?</p>
<p>One Q: Are speeches made on the spot? Or do you prepare? (Sorry, I really don't know much about it.)</p>
<p>I believe you prepare it with a lot of research.</p>
<p>It depends. You have 30 minutes to prepare for an extemporaneous speech (speech on current events, you get topics 30 minutes beforehand) and between 30 seconds to five minutes to prepare for Impromptu.</p>
<p>Some states offer a form of college Parliamentary debate, which only contains 15-20 minutes of preparation before the round. All other events and debates are prepared beforehand.</p>
<p>oh forensics is awesome! there are a bunch of different categories, declamation (you memorize and deliver a speech written by someone else) original oratory (you write your own speech) dramatic performance (speaks for itself I think) extemp (you keep files of a bunch of newspaper clippings/current events, and you get a question and 30 min to prepare a speech and you can use your files and stuff) duo (you do a piece with a partner) public forum (don't know much about this one, but it's basically teams of debating about current events) I think I got all of the categories, someone correct me if I'm wrong. So there's really something for everyone. I personally like Original Oratory the best because I think it's easier for me to give a speech that's something I personally wrote. But yeah, definitely go for it, it's a lot of fun! Hope this helps!</p>
<p>Just to make a quick point here: </p>
<p>In forensics, there are two broad, general categories: public address and interpretation. Events that constitute public address (PA) include, among others, Impromptu, in which you promptly make up a speech about a political/social issue (usually in less than 1 minute), and Extemp, in which you have about 30 minutes to prepare a speech on such an issue. In oratory, another PA event, you compose a speech beforehand on any topic of your choosing and deliver it in front of a judge and a couple of other competitors. There are other events, too, which you can investigate on the NFL website (as well as your state Forensics association's website).</p>
<p>Events that constitute interpretation include, among others, Dramatic Interpretation, in which you perform a monologue from a play (or novel, sometimes; it depends on the state, but the NFL tournament allows for both); Duo Interpretation, which involves two people who perform a scene/scenes from a play (or novel; again, it depends); Humorous Interpetation, in which you must perform a monologue that is intended to be funny (hence the "humorous" -- contrast with Dramatic Interp, which requests a serious piece); and others. Again, check with the NFL website for details.</p>
<p>I am personally an "interp" person, so I can't tell you too much about PA. I do know that extemp and impromptu, as I mentioned before, are geared towards current events in politics with an emphasis on societal impacts. Oratory, meanwhile, is less "serious." You can deliver a speech on anything you want (as long as you composed it), and here, the less weighty speeches tend to perform better than ones on, say, abortion, euthanasia, etc.</p>
<p>If you're interested in interp, though, I can give you the 411: Almost Everything You ever wanted to know about Interp. To give you a brief idea: the Dramatic Interp national champ from last year did a piece called Extremely Loud, Incredibly Close, about a boy who went searching around NYC after 9/11 for a key that belonged to his father. Another guy, who got 5th at the NFL tourney last year, performed a piece called Scaramouche Jones, about a clown on his 100th birthday reflecting on his long life. Duos can be both serious and funny, often a mixture of both. The national champs from two years ago performed Barbra's Wedding, about a couple who bicker over a seemingly insignificant event -- Barbra Streisand's wedding, which is taking place in the mansion next door to the couple. </p>
<p>If you need more info, PM me. Hope you decide to do 4n6!</p>
<p>Thanks for all the info. I'll probably talk with my English teacher on Monday (currently on spring break), but I definitely need to give this some serious thought, but so far, chances are looking as if I'll do NFL, or at least speech team.</p>
<p>check out <a href="http://www.nflonline.org%5B/url%5D">www.nflonline.org</a> for info!!!</p>