Speech and Debate FAQs

What are the different kinds of Speech and Debate?

There are 16 events that make up the activity known as speech and debate!

Debate Events- think argumentation, 1 vs. 1, team vs. team direct debating.

  • Policy Debate (CX)

  • Public Forum (PF)

  • Lincoln Douglas (LD)

  • World Schools Debate (WSD)

Speech AND Debate- events that fall into both categories because they require both argumentation and style of presentation.

  • Congressional Debate, or Congress

  • Extemporaneous Speaking, or Extemp

    • Foreign/International Extemp (FX/IX)

    • Domestic/United States Extemp (DX/USX)

Public Address events also fall in this category

  • Informative Speaking, or Info

  • Original Oratory, or Oratory (OO)

Speech- styles that are more performance-focused. Many of them are very similar to theater!

  • Duet Acting (DUET)

  • Duo Interpretation (DUO)

  • Dramatic Interpretation (DI)

  • Humorous Interpretation (HI)

  • Prose (PRO)

  • Poetry (POE)

  • Program of Oral Interpretation (POI)

Read more about each of these events on Coach’s ‘intro to speech and debate’ slideshow here!

What is a novice?

Anyone in their first year of competition is a novice, whether they’re a freshman or a senior!

Novices are allowed to enter novice-only events, so they can try out speech and debate with other students new to the activity!

What is a varsity team member?

Anyone who has competed for more than a year is a varsity team member!

I noticed in the handbook a section about post-season competition- what is that?

Post-season competitions are the tournaments we compete at after the regular season is done. Think of it like regionals, districts, or state for a sport. There are three circuits that students might have post-season competition on.

  1. TFA - Texas Forensic Association

This is our state speech and debate administrative agency. They set the rules for competition in the state and host the best state tournament in the nation each March.

How do students qualify to state?

At TFA Tournaments throughout the school year (from August - February), students competing in the varsity division of Speech and Debate events are eligible to earn state points. State points are earned by advancing to outrounds (past prelims) at TFA Tournaments. Most tournaments we go to are TFA tournaments. Larger tournaments have more points up for grabs and the higher a student places, the more points they’re eligible to earn.

2. NSDA- National Speech and Debate Association

The NSDA is our national honor society that sets rules for competition, awards certificates and honors to students, provides scholarships to schools, trains coaches and judges, and hosts the week-long national tournament each June.

How do students qualify to nationals?

Students compete at the NSDA District or National Qualifier (Nat Quals) tournament in their community. Our District is called Heart of Texas and consists of teams in Austin, Round Rock, Pflugerville, and Dripping Springs. The top 2 highest-placing students in each event earn national qualification! If they decide not to attend, the runner-up will take their place at nationals. One year, a freshman qualified to nationals as the 11th-place congressional debater, because all the students ahead of him did not want to attend the tournament.

3. TOC - Tournament of Champions

The TOC tournament is a national competition hosted in Kentucky every April. Top-ranked students from around the country debate for three days at the University of Kentucky.

How do students qualify to the TOC?

Students must earn 2 bids to qualify for TOC. Students earn bids at national circuit tournaments by advancing to outrounds. Each tournament has a different number of bids. Debate and congress bids are preset before the tournament and speech bids are dependent on entry numbers.

What is expected of my first-year debater?

Novice team members are expected to compete at least three times during the school year.

They should expect to try different kinds of speech and debate!

After school practice is not required for novices but is highly encouraged! They are especially encouraged to come to practice the week of a tournament to prepare.

How can my student prepare for competition?

Novice and varsity team members can attend after-school practice or lunch practice during the week.

Varsity members can use class time to give practice speeches, run drills, or hold practice rounds. After-school practice is extra helpful for these kinds of preparation, because Coach is more able to listen to speeches or debates and give feedback to students!

All students should read the news! Especially those competing in extemp, since questions will be about current events and issues.

What is the dress code for tournaments?

Tournaments are business formal dress code.

Appropriate clothing includes:

  • Slacks, dress pants, khakis, or chinos.

  • Dresses or skirts that are fingertip length or longer

  • Long or short-sleeved button-down shirts, polos, collared shirts, blouses

  • Closed-toe shoes. Dress shoes, flats, heels. Sneakers that are neutral or solid colors are also acceptable for debaters. Speech students typically wear more formal shoes.

You can view a slideshow adapted from past years here. It has photos and suggestions for shopping!