The National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA) is the largest interscholastic speech and debate organization serving middle school and high school students in the United States. It is also the national authority on public speaking and debate.
The Ohio High School Speech League (OHSSL) is the body that organizes high school forensic competition in the state of Ohio. The OHSSL provides all of the National Forensic League events, but also provides several other events including Declamation. In the 2001-2002 season, Impromptu Speaking was added as an experimental event. The following year Impromptu was made an official OHSSL event. Following the 2013-2014 season, Impromptu was removed as an OHSSL event. OHSSL also offers many other common events such as debate and IE events such as International and United States Extemporaneous Speaking, Duo Interpretation, Dramatic Interpretation, Humorous Interpretation, Program Oral Interpretation, and Original Oratory. Each of the state districts takes part in a district tournament, called "Littles", where a set number of people can move on to compete in the State Championship.
Dramatic Interpretation is an event in National Speech and Debate Association high school forensics competitions. In the National Christian Forensics and Communications Association and the National Catholic Forensic League, the event is combined with Humorous Interpretation to create the Dramatic Performance event. It consists of a piece from any published work, edited to fit within a 10-minute span with a 30-second grace period.
Individual events in speech include public speaking, limited preparation, acting and interpretation are a part of forensics competitions. These events do not include the several different forms of debate offered by many tournaments. These events are called individual events because they tend to be done by one person unlike debate which often includes teams. This distinction however is not entirely accurate any more given the addition of duo interpretation events and forms of single person debate. Competitive speech competitions and debates comprise the area of forensics. Forensics leagues have a number of speech events, generally determined by geographical region or league preference. While there are several key events that have been around a long time, there are several experimental events around the country every year that can be limited to individual tournaments. Forensics leagues in the United States includes the National Speech and Debate Association, the National Christian Forensics and Communications Association, the American Forensics Association, the National Forensics Association, the Interstate Oratorical Association and Stoa USA. Organized competitions are held at the high-school and collegiate level. Outside of the rules for each event provided by the individual leagues, there are several cultural norms within each region that are not written into law but are almost always followed. Rules for time limits vary by event and by individual tournaments, but there are penalties in every event for exceeding the time limits though the severity of the penalty widely varies.
The Virginia High School League (VHSL) is the principal sanctioning organization for interscholastic athletic competition among public high schools in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The VHSL first sponsored debate and also continues to sponsor state championships in several academic activities.
The Christian Speech & Debate League, also known as the National Christian Forensics and Communications Association, is a speech and debate league for Christian students in the United States. The NCFCA was established in 2001 after outgrowing its parent organization, the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), which had been running the league since it was originally established in 1995. NCFCA is now organized under its own board of directors with regional and state leadership coordinating various tournaments throughout the season.
Extemporaneous Speaking is a speech delivery style/speaking style, and a term that identifies a specific forensic competition. The competition is a speech event based on research and original analysis, done with a limited-preparation; in the United States those competitions are held for high school and college students. In a Extemporaneous Speech competition, enrolled participants prepare for thirty minutes on a question related to current events and then give a seven-minute speech responding to that question. The extemporaneous speaking delivery style, referred to as "off-the-cuff", is a type of delivery method for a public presentation, that was carefully prepared and practiced but not memorized.
Lawrence E. Elkins High School, more commonly known as Elkins High School is a comprehensive public high school in Missouri City, Texas, that serves communities in Sugar Land and Missouri City. The school, which handles grades 9 through 12, is a part of the Fort Bend Independent School District. Elkins was established in 1992, with its first graduating class in 1995.
Plano West Senior High School is a public high school in Plano, Texas serving high school juniors and seniors. Plano West is named after its geographic location within West Plano. The school is part of the Plano Independent School District, and enrolls students based on the locations of students' homes. Students at Plano West attended one of two high schools: Jasper or Shepton.
The Florida Forensic League, Inc., or FFL, is a speech and debate organization offered to all schools in the state of Florida. It is the governing body for local and state speech and debate competitions in Florida, with higher-level competition under the auspices of the National Forensic League and the National Catholic Forensic League. The league was officially incorporated by the State of Florida on November 20, 2003, and began operations on January 1, 2004, although it existed some time before then in an unorganized fashion. Competitors in the league have been extremely successful at national tournaments.
Savannah High School is a public secondary school in Savannah, Missouri, United States serving grades 9 through 12.
The Tournament of Champions (TOC) is a national high school speech and debate tournament held at the University of Kentucky every year in a weekend in April. Tournament of Champions is considered to be the national championship of the “National Circuit", and is one of the most prestigious and competitive American high school speech and debate tournaments. Tournament of Champions currently holds competition in Policy debate, Lincoln–Douglas debate, Public Forum debate, Congressional Debate, World Schools Debate, Extemporaneous Speaking, Original Oratory, Informative Speaking, Dramatic Interpretation, Duo Interpretation, Humorous Interpretation, Oral Interpretation, and Program Oral Interpretation.
The Tarheel Forensic League is the speech and debate league for North Carolina. It was created in 1976 and is made up of 44 schools. League members compete in the debate events of Lincoln-Douglas debate, Public Forum debate, and Congressional debate. Speech events include Extemporaneous Speaking, Humorous Interpretation, Duo Interpretation, Dramatic Interpretation, Impromptu Speaking, Original Oratory, and Radio Announcing.
Extemporaneous commentary is a branch of normal extemporaneous speaking, an area of competition in high school forensics. Students participating in extemporaneous commentary are given 20 minutes to prepare a five-minute speech on a topic relevant to modern politics. Students in commentary deliver their speeches sitting down, usually on the opposite side of a table from the judge(s). Students are score based on oration skills, speech organization, and use of sources and are ranked by the judges in comparison to the other competitors who give speeches in the same room.
The Long Island Forensic Association is a non-profit organization which direct high school competitive speech events. It is affiliated with the New York State Forensics League.
Southern Illinois Speech and Acting League (SISAL), formerly known as Egyptian Forensics League till 2015, is a forensics league of Southern Illinois. It comprises sixteen schools competing in various events.
Mildred High School is a 3A high school located in Mildred, Texas (USA). It is part of the Mildred Independent School District located in southeastern Navarro County. Even though the school is located near Mildred, Texas, it is often, however inaccurately referred to as, Corsicana Mildred. In 2011, the school was rated "Academically Acceptable" by the Texas Education Agency.
The California High School Speech Association, or CHSSA, is a speech and debate organization offered to all schools in the state of California. It is the governing body for local and state speech and debate competitions in California, with higher-level competition under the auspices of the National Speech and Debate Association and the National Catholic Forensic League, and the Tournament of Champions. The league held its first championship tournament in 1958, and continues to hold championship tournaments every April.
Van High School is a public high school located in Van, Texas (USA). It is part of the Van Independent School District located in east central Van Zandt County and classified as a 4A school by the UIL. With just over 750 students, it is the largest high school in Van Zandt County. In 2015, the school was rated "Met Standard" by the Texas Education Agency.
Stoa USA, also referred to as Stoa, is a Christian homeschool forensics organization in the United States. It is one of the four major national high school forensics organizations: the others are the National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA), National Catholic Forensic League (NCFL), and the National Christian Forensics and Communications Association (NCFCA).
