ProgramsAges 14–18
Competitive Speaker & Debate
Take it to the stage: tournaments, debate, and advanced delivery
Competitive Speaker & Debate is for students ready to take public speaking further than the classroom. It trains the events students actually compete in, prepared speeches, impromptu and extemporaneous speaking, and debate, with the delivery and argument work that wins rounds. Coaches on this program have competed and adjudicated at national and international level, and they train students the way they trained themselves: real rounds, real feedback, and a standard that keeps rising.
- Level
- Advanced
- Ages
- 14–18
- Format
- Small-group online
- Schedule
- Weekly 90-minute live class
What students leave with
Outcomes
- Prepare and deliver competitive speech events to a tournament standard
- Run a reliable impromptu and extemporaneous method under pressure
- Build and defend an argument in a live debate
- Adapt delivery to judges and audiences on the fly
- Compete with a plan, not just nerves and hope
Inside the term
What we cover
Speech events
Prepared events (original oratory, informative) built and polished for competition
Impromptu & extemp
A repeatable prep method for speaking well on an unseen prompt under a short clock
Debate fundamentals
Cases, rebuttal, and thinking on the opposite side of your own view
Advanced delivery
Command, timing, and control that separate a finalist from the pack
Judge adaptation
Reading what a room rewards and adjusting without losing yourself
Competition rounds
Regular judged rounds with individual feedback and a rising standard
A typical session
How a class runs
0:00
Round debrief
The coach walks back through the week’s speeches or debate: what the judging rewarded and the one habit to fix.
0:15
Event craft
Focused work on a competitive event or debate skill, taught by a coach who has competed in it.
0:45
Live round
Students perform or debate under real conditions while the coach adjudicates.
1:15
Individual coaching
Personal feedback each student carries into their next competition or practice round.
What is included
Every student gets
- Weekly 90-minute live small-group class with a competitive round every session
- Written feedback after every round, tied to how events are actually judged
- Event-specific prep: speeches built, drilled, and polished for competition
- Guidance choosing and preparing for tournaments students can realistically enter
- Coaches with national and international competitive and judging experience
Good to know
Questions about Competitive Speaker
Do students actually compete?
The program trains for competition and helps students choose and prepare for tournaments they can enter. Students compete under their own school or as independents; we are an independent coaching program, not a school team.
Is this speech, or debate?
Both. It covers competitive speech events (prepared and impromptu) and debate fundamentals, because the underlying skills, argument, delivery, and composure, reinforce each other. A consultation can tailor the emphasis to your student.
What experience does my child need?
A confident speaker who can build and deliver their own material. That usually means Confident Speaker or comparable experience. A free consultation ends with a placement recommendation.
Free guides to go with it
Read these alongside the program, or just to get a head start on your own.
Ready to get started?
Book a free consultation and we will recommend the right starting point for your student.