Summer Balfanz is a high school student at Roseville Area High School in Minnesota who is actively involved in academics, extracurricular activities, and community initiatives. As a member of her school’s Speech Team and the National Speech and Debate Association, she has direct experience with speech competitions and performance-based communication. Summer Balfanz also contributes to public health efforts through Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation, where she participates in youth advocacy and outreach. Her background includes roles as a teaching assistant, volunteer, and student leader, along with participation in creative writing workshops. These combined experiences reflect her interest in communication, public speaking, and education, all of which connect closely to the structure and purpose of organized speech competitions.
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An Introduction to Speech Competitions
In speech competitions, one or two students make a presentation on a given topic. Judges grade the presentation against those of other students utilizing similar techniques, although not necessarily on the same topic.
Speech events generally fall under one of two main categories: interpretation events and public address events. In interpretation events, students have the opportunity to choose and perform published material. The word “interpretation” is applied to many subcategories of speech competition, and it always indicates that students are performing materials prepared by other authors. The nature of interpretation events makes these speech competitions particularly appealing among students who also participate in school theater productions.
The materials for interpretation speeches come from many different sources, including literature, and may be complete passages or excerpts from larger scripts. In addition to prose interpretations, speech competitions may allow the use of poetry interpretations; drama interpretations; and program oral interpretations, which combine multiple genres of competitive interpretation. In duo interpretation performances, two students perform one or more texts of literary merit that feature two or more people. In all of these categories, students should plan to speak for no more than 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, public address events involve performances based on a script written by a student. The amount of time that students have to prepare their script varies considerably. Sometimes, subjects are provided to students in advance of the event, while other competitions afford very limited preparation time. The student’s script functions as a response to a prompt of some kind. Judges may ask students to answer a question, express a belief, educate listeners on a specific topic, or deliver a persuasive speech.
While most speech events adhere to interpretation or public address standards, some speech competitions consider acting as a distinct category. Furthermore, each of the main speech categories consists of multiple subcategories. Public address subcategories, for example, range from informative speaking to special occasion speaking. Original oratory is similar to special occasion speaking in that students perform a persuasive speech.
Finally, acting events may involve dramatic duet acting, humorous duet acting, dramatic interpretation, humorous interpretation, poetry or prose readings, or original comedy. In the latter, students must write the script in addition to performing. Although audiences and judges may not always laugh during humorous interpretations and original comedy pieces, the performers must still continue to perform dialogue and pop between multiple distinct characters without pause.
Students interested in speech competitions can join their school’s team and participate in state-run events, as well as competitions organized by the National Speech and Debate Association. Other important groups in the speech category include the National Catholic Forensics League; the National Christian Forensics and Communication Association; and Stoa, a Christian homeschool forensics organization. Speech competitions are often formatted as tournaments, with two schools going head-to-head and the winning team advancing further in the competition to face another school. Like tennis or golf, one or two students represent their school’s speech team, while their teammates compete in other disciplines as part of a collective effort. In addition to winning a speech competition as a team, performers can earn individual accolades.
About Summer Balfanz
Summer Balfanz is a Roseville, Minnesota high school honor roll student involved in speech, athletics, and community service. She participates in her school’s Speech Team and contributes to Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation, where she supports youth advocacy and public health initiatives. Her experience includes volunteering, working as a teaching assistant, and assisting with community programs. Summer Balfanz has also attended creative writing workshops and maintains certifications in CPR and first aid while balancing academic and extracurricular commitments.
