Absolutely not! While many of our families are home schooled, we have participants from public schools and charter schools. All are welcome!
Community judges are any adult in the community that is willing to help judge one or more rounds of a tournament. Parents, grandparents, librarians, pastors, etc. all make great judges. Start by inviting them. If they are willing to learn more or are ready to sign up, send them to our website and ask them to click on the ‘Judges’ link.
No matter the type of tournament, the dress standard is the same: Dress For Success! For young men, that looks like a collared shirt, slacks and a tie. For young women, that looks like slacks or a skirt paired with a blouse or a dress. All participants are to be clean and well-groomed.
Joining is easy. Click on the link at the top of this page that says ‘Join.’ That will take you to the registration page where you can provide the necessary information and pay the fee. The fee is paid annually and covers the cost of meeting space and club operations.
We always start with a student-led devotional that involves a thought, quote or scripture. Next we receive instruction about speech writing and debate techniques. We spend the rest of the time writing and/or practicing.
There is an annual fee to participate with Inspire Gilbert Speech and Debate. This fee covers the cost of meeting space and club operations. This fee will vary slightly each year but is less than $300 per family per year. Each family also needs to join ASDA (our parent organization). That fee is currently $50 per family per year.
Each event requires lots of volunteers. Parents who aren’t judging or don’t want to judge can help direct participants, deliver materials to rooms, help get judges logged in to the RealTalk system, etc. There is almost always something to do for those that want to help.
Participants are divided into these categories by age. Those 12 and older are Varsity. Those under 12 are Juniors. Varsity participants can compete in both speech and debate categories. Juniors only participate in speech. Varsity students judge the Juniors competitions.
You can start with any style, but many participants start with Original Oratory (OO). This is a prepared speech about any topic that is important to you.
If you are interested in limited preparation speeches, you can start with Impromptu. You get your topic when you come into the room and get several minutes to prepare a short speech.
No, and many aren’t. However, participants will likely lose points if a speech is not memorized. Students that are hoping to participate at the National level should plan to memorize their speech. Memorizing is a skill that is developed as students participate and practice.
In the speech and debate world, we have a lot of abbreviations. Here are some you will likely hear:
Memorizing anything is a challenge. You will gain strength as you practice. So your first step is to keep at it: practice, practice, practice. Some people read their speech everyday and start anticipating what word comes next. Others record themselves and then listen to it over and over again. There no one ‘right’ way…use what works best for you. Go one line at a time and work your way through your speech. When you feel like you are close to having it memorized, practice giving the speech to your family or friends.
All the rules can be found in the ASDA Handbook. Here are a few important ones:
While ASDA and other similar organizations are all committed to speech and debate, ASDA is different because we are a conversational tournament.
Yes. Many people include religious topics, but it is not in any way required. Remember that part of your goal is to connect with the judges and to have them understand your speech. If you use jargon or ideas unique to your religion, you may want to consider also giving an explanation so the judges can follow your ideas or meaning.
This varies a lot by person and by the type of speech. If you are competing in a prepared speech category, you are encouraged to write a speech about something they feel strongly about. You will have weeks to prepare and write your speech. As you go through competitions, you can make small edits and changes based on judge feedback. You speech will likely continue to evolve until just before the final competition.
On the other hand, if you participate in an limited-preparation event, you will be limited to several minutes to prepare your speech. While this may sound scary, it is a challenge that many find fun.
The short answer is that there are A LOT. Not all categories are included at each competition. You can find out before hand which categories are available and then choose which ones to enter.
Here are some of the common speech categories:
Speech tournaments are highly structured. There are multiple rounds for each category. As you progress through the tournament, you will be assigned to various rooms depending on what category you participate in and how well you did in the previous round. If you don’t have a scheduled room, you can free to observe your peers. This can be a great way to get exposure to other categories or to get tips and tricks for next time.
Each tournament also includes a social (usually before the tournament starts) and a showcase (after the judging has concluded). These are opportunities to connect and have fun.
Outside of tournaments, parents can help you by giving feedback on your speech helping guide you through the process.
During a tournament, at least one parent is needed to help judge. Oftentimes more than one parent is needed for judging during the tournament, so opportunities exist for anyone that want to judge. For parents who want to help, but aren’t interested in judging, there are other opportunities to help make the tournament run smoothly.
In a tournament, you are limited to no more than 3 speech events. You are allowed to select different speech events at different tournaments during the same school year. If you want to prepare more than three, you can choose your strongest speeches for tournament.
The end of year showcase is an opportunity for the winners of the tournament to perform their winning speech for everyone. Participants are expected to listen quietly and respectfully to their peers. This is a terrific opportunity for participants to see what it takes to win a national competition. Pro Tip: take some notes of what you want to incorporate into your speech for next year.
There are two types: Lincoln-Douglas and Team-Policy.
Preparing for a debate takes a significant amount of time. The topic or policy for the year is release at the end of the previous year. Many participants spend months researching and understanding the topic or policy so that they are prepared to argue various positions during the upcoming year.
Before a tournament, parents may be able to help you research, understand and make sense of an argument. One you form your own arguments, parents may be sounding boards to help you practice your debate skills.
At a tournament, parents are needed to help judge various debate rounds as well as volunteer in other areas of the tournament.
Debate tournaments are highly structured. There are multiple rounds for each category. As you progress through the tournament, you will be assigned to various rooms depending on what category you participate in and how well you did in the previous round. If you don’t have a scheduled room, you can free to observe your peers. This can be a great way to get exposure to other categories or to get tips and tricks for next time.
Each tournament also includes a social (usually before the tournament starts) and a showcase (after the judging has concluded). These are opportunities to connect and have fun.
There is no right or wrong answer. Participate in whichever category resonates with you. Lincoln-Douglas debates values, while Teen Policy debates policy changes. Both have similarities and differences, so jump in a try one out.
The end of year showcase is an opportunity for the winners of the tournament to perform a modified version of their winning debate for everyone. Participants are expected to listen quietly and respectfully to their peers. This is a terrific opportunity for participants to see what it takes to win a national competition. Pro Tip: take some notes of what you want to incorporate into your debate for next year.
ASDA’s official rules can be found in the association handbook. Here is a snippet of the rules:
At a tournament, you are limited to one debate category.
