10 Reasons Why Everyone Should Join Speech and Debate
by Lori Woo January 12, 2017

Sophomore year, I spontaneously decided to join the speech and debate team. At the time, I just wanted to try something new and step outside of my comfort zone. However, I was definitely not aware of the vast intellectual and personal growth that I would experience from being in debate.

In my opinion, speech and debate is by far the most useful extracurricular activity to participate in during high school.

Here are ten reasons why.

1 -- You get to advocate about issues that matter to you. 

This year, I wrote a case about being introverted and how our society is constructed to place quieter people at a disadvantage.  You can literally talk or argue about anything, and there are a wide variety of events that you can tailor to fit your interests. It's never ever boring. I actually look forward to hitting a new topic each month because I know I will become an expert in it over the course of writing my case with my partner. It's also good because you have to argue both sides of every issue. Debaters tend to be pretty chill because they learn to see ideas and arguments from several angles. 

2 -- Your team becomes your family. 

I met some of my closest friends on the speech and debate team. We travel all over the country together for tournaments and share plenty of laughs everyday in class. Not to mention, very intelligent people tend to do debate, so you’ll receive plenty of help with your homework!

3 -- You learn how to deal with failure and embarrassment. 

Debate tournaments provide a safe environment for learning how to brush off your mistakes, learn from them, and ultimately move forward. People won’t judge you, either, because everyone’s been there at one point or another. The people who debate are probably the most open minded and accepting people I've ever met. 

4 -- Writing essays becomes a breeze. 

Have to write an argumentative persuasive essay in English? Just think up a rebuttal in your head and you’ll have three pages written down! Have to write a paper that analyzes a current event? You’ll knock it out in minutes and get an A every time. Doing speech and debate drastically improves your linguistic and logical skills, along with your ability to construct strong arguments in a short amount of time.

5 -- You become more adaptable. 

One of the most challenging yet exciting aspects of debate is that you can’t foresee exactly how the round will play out (i.e. what case your opponent will read, the judge you’ll get, which side of the debate you’re on). Eventually, you’ll know how to think of responses to multifaceted arguments on the spot and appeal to judges who would normally disagree with your position. In public speaking events, you learn how to quickly adapt to your judge, audience, and room layout. If you forget your speech in the middle of performing it, you learn how to improvise. Adaptability is a necessary skill for success in life, and speech and debate develops it.

6 -- Colleges LOVE students who are in speech and debate. 

According to Professor Minh A. Luong of Yale University, students who participate in extracurricular activities that develop “oral and written communication and the ability to organize ideas and present them effectively perform better in college.” After all, other activities, such as sports or music, don’t really engage people’s critical thinking skills as much as debate does. Also, speech and debate is an extremely competitive and time-intensive activity, with tournaments almost every other weekend. Every one of my team mates went on to either super competitive schools or started some really cool business. 

7 -- Your public speaking skills improve. 

This one is obvious but nonetheless very important. I used to shake with nerves whenever I had to present a short PowerPoint to my class. Now, I’m not only no longer scared to speak in front of my peers, but I actually look forward to it! Public speaking is very self-empowering once you become comfortable with it, and it’s also a very admired skill that you can take with you for the rest of your life.

8 -- You meet loads of cool friendly people at tournaments.

As much as I dislike waking up at 5:30 in the morning on Saturday, getting to see my friends from other schools makes this small sacrifice totally worth it. Since tournaments host such a diverse group of people, they are great for networking and making new friends. I have good friends from all over the country now. It's also nice to have friends who are successful while still being supportive and won't bring you down. 

9 -- You become woke #$ in a positive way. 

Whether it’s doing research on a debate topic about gun legislation or delivering an extemporaneous speech about whether Donald Trump should repeal the Trans-Pacific Partnership, speech and debate truly opens your eyes to what’s happening in the world. You’ll also become informed enough to form your own critical stance on these issues. It's kinda sad to hang out with my non-debate friends and bring up some current event and get a blank face in return. The world is much bigger and richer after I joined debate.

10 -- It’s fun! I’m not going to lie; being in speech and debate is hard work. However, nothing is more rewarding than the feeling of making my audience bust out laughing or having someone come up to me after the round and tell me that my arguments really spoke to them. Plus, you get to travel a lot to some really great places, which is always exciting (and the school pays for most tournaments). Since it’s that time again when students begin selecting courses for next year, I hope you will consider the many benefits of joining speech and debate. It has changed my outlook of life, and it certainly will change yours as well.