Yesterday I had the opportunity to be a judge for the final round of Extemporaneous Speaking at the 35th annual Laird Lewis Invitational Tournament at Myers Park High School. It was a national tournament with hundreds of competitors in different areas of debate.
I was really impressed. The students were given a topic about the U.S. economy and had 30 minutes to prepare a 7 minute speech without notes. Topics included whether the dollar would be replaced by other currencies globally and whether the Federal Reserve Bank could avert a recession. In 30 minutes they had to cite sources, craft an argument, and fit it within the 7 minute time frame. Very cool.
The hardest thing as a judge was to rank order them, as they were all polished and persuasive, and looked like pros even though you knew how nervous they had to be.
3 comments:
Thoese kids are very FORTUNATE to have you as a judge. I have gone to some tourney with my middle school kid. The kids always make their best effort but the judges are lacking in their exposure to current events. There are cases where kids gave totally unrelevant information but was the longest talker and thus the winner!
I went to Laird Lewis and I and my entire team from Florida were extreamly impressed with the organization and effort of not only the judges but the ambassadors as well. It was a blast and can't wait till next year. There were aton of competitors from all over te country but next year its expected to be BIGGER AND BIGGER. cant wait!! :D
^^^^ Totally..my team from Virginia loved the myers park tournament. It was exciting and were telling every school we know about it next year!!!
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