Hey everyone,
Any speech and debaters out here? How has speech and debate changed your high school experience?
Former Extemper, and former coach here.
I’ll wait to reply to see what kids say, OK?
I participate in Congressional Debate. Specifically in the Illinois Congressional Debate Association. I would love to also do LD or PF but our school does not have enough staff or interested people
OK, in the absence of other replies:
Every single paper I wrote in college and grad school was an Extemp speech, written down. Extemp got me through countless education classes.
During my first education class, we had to do group projects-- research something, then each person in the group had to summarize their part. I extemporized mine. I was the ONLY ONE in the entire class who didn’t read his or her speech. (I found myself wondering: how on earth are these people planning to teach???) The teacher gushed about what a great speech it was. I knew in my heart that half the judges in our high school league would have found the flaws I knew were there.
So many people are terrified to speak in front of a group. But so many lines of work, not just mine, rely heavily on the ability to communicate effectively to a group of people.
Regardless of how well you do, continued participation in forensics is a wonderful choice!!!
(Plus, I won’t lie, going to nationals year after year-- though only once as a student-- was pretty cool. I’ve seen a little of a whole lot of US cities.)
I do mostly speech. For me, speech and debate was basically the best thing I did in high school. Going to speech practice was seriously the best part of my day. It made me realize how much I love performing and I met some of my best friends there. I wouldn’t trade me speech and debate experience for anything.
I do speech (dec) and have subbed in for PF twice. I’ll be a sophomore this fall, so I haven’t been with speech and debate for a long time, but what I love most about this club are the people. They’ve become my second family and the memories I’ve formed with them after school, during tournaments, and the (not-so) occasional midnight pizza has definitely been the most fun part of my high school experience so far.
I do speech(forensics) but haven’t done debate yet. I did impromptu this year and did informative next year. I think it’s really a great way to become a good public speaker which is a pretty essential skill. It will definitely help in the long run.
Extemper here. Also did Impromptu and Congress. I also dabbled in LD, PF, Oratory, and a couple of other events. Speech and Debate definitely enhanced my high school experience. It was the first time I actually felt like I was good at something, like I had a talent. Also it really helped when it came to applying for colleges.
Middle School MUN Participant Here! 
I Love researching current events and representing different people/countries/groups with their policy and best interest in mind. I’ve met some really great people and have a waaayy better understanding of the world then before I did this.
Extemper/parlier/policy debater here! Speech and debate (ESPECIALLY extemp) has definitely helped me learn to think on my feet and write coherent speeches on short notice. The people I’ve met at debate camp and at debate tournaments have (for the most part) been truly wonderful, and I’ve made friends from all over the country as a result.