Public speaking, such as presenting or giving a speech, is one thing that most students of all grade levels dread having to do, but for South’s speech team, public speaking is their passion.
On Feb. 8, the speech team competed in the Metea Valley regional tournament where Ben Johnson and Aidan Evans placed 6th in Humorous Duet Acting and Kalya Dunn placed 6th in Original Oratory.
There are 14 different categories students can compete in on the speech team, including poetry, informative, prose, and original comedy. Students choose which category in which they perform.
“This past season the most popular were poetry and prose, but it varies each year,” said senior Izzy Richardson.
When it comes to getting material for each section, it depends which category the students are in.
“Some kids do a script which is more the acting side of speech team, then some kids also write their own pieces and they can be funny [or] serious pieces,” said head coach Danielle Salvatore.
The different aspects of competing make the club accessible to different interests.
“You kind of be someone else for a little bit. You get more professional. There’s people who do funny ones who become these comedic characters. Others get really serious or dramatic. You can just put yourself in a different perspective,” Marisa Brongiel, senior, said.
A major misconception about speech is that it’s just giving speeches.
“They might write a speech if they’re into debate, but there’s also that part of speech that’s for people who like to act and the drama part, so you kind of get both,” said assistant coach Jessica Bernacki.
The team members all compete in separate topics, but they [maintain] unity.
“There’s a lot of comradery in our group. I think they have really open ideals about each other, they’re very friendly, they get along very well,” Salvatore said.
A lot of time and effort goes into preparing for a speech competition, according to the coaches.
“We have practice twice a week and then during competition weeks we have practice on Fridays, so [overall] we practice three times. We time them and they go through their pieces as if they’re performing in front of a judge and we give them notes and feedback,” Bernacki said.
Speech team normally has their informational meeting near the end of October.
“If you’re interested in acting, or being a leader, or radio or really any of those types of things and you enjoy being in front of crowds, speech is the place,” Salvatore said.