To be or not to be the chameleon: The benefits of being versatile in speeches rather than specializing
Blog writer Anu De with their former teammates Sahith Mocharla who predominantly gave the two/four, Umang Vinayaka who predominantly gave the three, Shrayes Gunna who gave the one/two/four, and Suchit Ineni who predominantly gave the one/three at the University of California Berkeley tournament. Courtesy of Anu De.
A pile of gibberish.
If I had to sum up how my first speech ever went, that would be exactly what I would say. I sounded out incoherent words with my tongue. As I closed out my speech, I peered at my stopwatch.
6 minutes and 22 seconds.
I had 1 minute and 38 seconds to spare. It was like belly flopping into a swimming pool without knowing how to swim. But, the great thing about starting from nowhere is that you have the potential to get anywhere.
So, I braced myself and jumped into that pool. Again. And again. And again.
Whenever we dip our toes into something new, we are met with discomfort. As time goes on, however, we acknowledge the uncomfort as an acquaintance. Although I’ve gone from a slight doggy paddle to being able to trek through the changing tide of debate, I faced that same uncomfort once again. This time, though, it was for another reason.
World Schools Debate is distinct from most other debate formats on the versatility of speech types it offers. There are four different types of speeches - the first speech, the second speech, the third speech and the reply - and either the first or second speaker can do the reply speech.
For the past two years, I have consistently been a first and reply speaker. I found refuge in telling stories and wielding narratives in cases. As I paddled within my role with ease, however, I was met with a storm in the waters.
My team that I had been debating with would be graduating, and I wanted to expand my speaking roles with my future team. Soon I began to ask myself: should I have ventured out into a different speech or stuck with the first and reply speech?
Through my journey, I have found two main reasons why the ability to be versatile in giving speeches is helpful to you and your team.
Offers flexibility: There are moments in a tournament where not all members of your team may be available. The nature of World Schools Debate being a three to five person event is a double-edged sword. While the number of people makes teamwork the base of a successful team, if one person is unable to attend a tournament, that can have straining impacts on a recently emerging World Schools team. For a newly developed three person team with specialized speaker roles, one person being unable to attend a tournament can mean no one is there to fill their role. In times like these, the ability to deliver any speech is massively beneficial.
In an interview with Dawson Marold, my former teammate and assistant coach to Coppell High School’s Speech & Debate team, he explained that his ability to be versatile in speech roles was a product of his teams’ needs.
“The most important part was what my team needed,” Marold said. “We went through some changes going into senior year, and it meant we did not have a one. So, that was when I had to step up.”
Creates a better understanding of debates: Even further than offering flexibility, however, understanding the role of each distinct speech is helpful to becoming a better debater. Each speech has different lessons to teach. From the one, for example, one can learn about what makes a case flow. From the two one can learn about argument generation and prioritization. The third speech teaches weighing [1], and the reply teaches world-by-world comparisons [2].
All of these seemingly different lessons that each speech offers appear to be acting in isolation. However, learning skills from different speeches can help individuals gain a better understanding of the round. The ability to create arguments as a second speaker helped me implement integrated rebuttal (add glossary term) into case. The ability to deliver a world-by-world comparison in a reply helped me depict illustrations of weighing in the three.
“In my senior year, I did one of every speech,” Marold said. “So, one round I would give the one. One round I would give the two four. One round I would give the three. I view knowing all the speaker positions as a way to know your role in setting up or closing the debate. In doing other speaker roles, I have learned how to set up a third speech as a two.”
At the end of the day, the ability to deliver any speech offers a greater appreciation for the debate. That is not to say you should not have a speech you are the strongest at. For my former teammate and former member of the USA Development Team and Texas World Schools State Champion, Umang Vinayaka, who specialized as a third speaker in his high school debate career, becoming a three was a journey in trying out all the different speeches.
“I love doing the three because everything happens in the round,” Vinayaka said. “You have to figure out what happens and how to adapt to it. But, I think it is important to diversify before you specialize. Before I found my niche, I tried the one, two and three. In the same way, if someone does the two, they should try different speeches before figuring out what they love.”
Now, as I swim the waters of every speech, I have grown to love the constant necessity for adaptation I use. Through my ever-transforming speaker roles, I have learned one of the most important lessons debate can teach you: welcome the change.
I truly encourage you to dive into a new speaker role. And though your first speech may be absolute gibberish, you have no idea where a single splash can take you because as Umang Vinayaka eloquently put it, “Being able to give a good speech means you have to know what other speeches are doing as well.”
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[1] Weighing: the metrics you use in a debate to explain the importance of one argument over another (this can be in scope, probability, etc)
[2] World-by-world comparisons: a feature prominently used in a reply to depict what a world would look like if the motion was or was not enacted
[3] USA Development Team: a group of students chosen from a national scale who are seeking to spread World Schools Debate to their school (now called the World Schools Education Program)
