Debating for America's Youth Debating for America's Youth

Interview with the NSDA National Champion in Humorous Interpretation in 2017. Evan Eiglarsh helps all Speech students learn the skills and strategies he used to become a champion. Evan Eiglarsh is a Tik Tok (TikTok) influencer with over 320,000 followers! Thanks so much for watching and please share this with someone who will find this interesting or helpful.  The piece that won him NSDA Nationals was called: "Tammy: A Coming of Age Story About a Girl Who was Part T-Rex".  The National Speech and Debate Association defines humorous interpretation as: Using a play, short story, or other published work, students perform a selection of one or more portions of a piece up to ten minutes in length. Humorous Interpretation is designed to test a student’s comedic skills through script analysis, delivery, timing, and character development. Competitors may portray one or multiple characters. No props or costumes may be used. Performances can also include an introduction written by the student to contextualize the performance and state the title and the author.  Nathan Fair has interviewed many National Champions. He has qualified for NSDA Nationals, qualified to NCFL Nationals and served as the presiding officer, and he broke to semifinals at a TOC qualifying tournament. He has placed 2nd at three separate varsity Congressional Debate tournaments.  Finally, he served as a Presiding Officer for the Urban Debate League's tournament. His success was garnered after using the skills that are shared in this video.

Evan Pan and Bradley Tidwell, the 2019 NSDA National Runners-up in Public Forum debate, share their advice for succeeding in the debate!  Bradley debated at All Saints Episcopal School for two years and was Public Forum Captain his senior year. During his time he qualified to the Texas State tournament, and to the NSDA national tournament both years. He also broke at nearly every TOC tournament he attended this year and broke deep at tournaments such as Bellaire, Plano West, University of Texas, Hockaday, the TFA state tournament, and many more. He also won speaker awards at Bellaire and Colleyville. Finally, outside of PF, he qualified to the tournament of champions in extemporaneous speaking. He attended VBI before his senior season.  Public forum debate (PF) is a type of current events debate which is a widespread form of high school debate in the U.S. Individuals give short (2-4 minute) speeches that are interspersed with 3 minute "crossfire" sections, questions and answers between opposed debaters. The winner is determined by a judge who also serves as a referee (timing sections, penalizing incivility, etc). The debate centers around advocating or rejecting a position, or "resolution", which is a proposal of a potential solution to a current events issue. Public forum is designed to be accessible to the average citizen.  Nathan Fair has interviewed many National Champions. He has qualified for NSDA Nationals, qualified to NCFL Nationals and served as the presiding officer, and he broke to semifinals at a TOC qualifying tournament. He has placed 2nd at three separate varsity Congressional Debate tournaments.  Finally, he served as a Presiding Officer for the Urban Debate League's tournament. His success was garnered after using the skills that are shared in this video.

Nathan Fair, a NSDA National Qualifier, informs people about the skills he used to qualify to the grand tournament in Dallas.  Nathan Fair has interviewed many National Champions. He has qualified for NSDA Nationals, qualified to NCFL Nationals and served as the presiding officer, and he broke to semifinals at a TOC qualifying tournament. He has placed 2nd at three separate varsity Congressional Debate tournaments.  Finally, he served as a Presiding Officer for the Urban Debate League's tournament. His success was garnered after using the skills that are shared in this video.  The National Speech and Debate Association defines Student Congress as: A simulation of the U.S. legislative process, students generate a series of bills and resolutions for debate in Congressional Debate. Debaters alternate delivering speeches for and against the topic in a group setting. An elected student serves as a presiding officer to ensure debate flows smoothly. Students are assessed on their research, argumentation, and delivery skills, as well as their knowledge and use of parliamentary procedure.

Nathan Fair and Genevieve breaks down one of her speeches at NSDA Nationals 2019. Genevieve Cox, the 2020 Tournament of Champions runner-up and 2019 NSDA 6th place congressional debater, shares her advice for student congress members. Genevieve Cox began Speech and Debate in middle school. During her 8th grade year, she won NSDA Middle School Nationals for congressional debate. She has since won Glenbrooks National Tournament and the Harvard National Tournament. She is also a member of the United States World School International Debate team. She has lots of wisdom to share.  Genevieve is competing in Congressional Debate and Extemporaneous Speaking for her 6th year. In the 8th grade she qualified for the High School Congressional Debate TOC and won the NSDA Congressional Debate Middle School National Championship. In Congressional Debate as a Freshman she placed 8th at Blue Key, 2nd at UT, 2nd at UIL State, won Churchill and broke to Semi-Finals at the TOC. As a Sophomore she finaled at Yale and Emory, placed 6th at Blue Key, won Katy Taylor, won Churchill for the second time, placed 8th at TFA state, 6th at the NCFL Grand Nationals and 6th in the Senate at the NSDA Nationals. She has 22 lifetime TOC bids and is vice president of her high school debate team. She spends her summers working for Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid and teaching English at a rural school and an orphanage in India near where she was born. She has also played piano since she was 2 and has performed in Carnegie Hall 6 times. In her spare time she enjoys eating mochi and watching detective documentaries. She feels incredibly honored for this opportunity to represent her country on the USA Debate Team.  Nathan Fair has interviewed many National Champions. He has qualified for NSDA Nationals, qualified to NCFL Nationals and served as the presiding officer, and he broke to semifinals at a TOC qualifying tournament. He has placed 2nd at three separate varsity Congressional Debate tournaments.  Finally, he served as a Presiding Officer for the Urban Debate League's tournament. His success was garnered after using the skills that are shared in this video.

Kevin Ahern and Kyle Ahren, the 2019 NSDA National Champions in Duo Interpretation, share their advice for succeeding in Duo Interpretation. They will be coaches at the Ascend Debate camp this summer!  Code ASCENDYOUTH at Ascend Debate Camp: https://www.ascendspeech.org/summer-program  Kyle is a senior at Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts in West Palm Beach, FL, where he has served as Vice President and Speech Captain of his team. In the fall, Kyle will attend the University of Texas at Austin to pursue a degree in journalism. Kyle has competed in all the Interpretation events and has seen out rounds at national and state tournaments in all of them. Mainly competing in Duo and POI, he has championed the NSDA National Tournament, The Florida State Tournament, Florida Blue Key, The University of Texas at Austin’s Longhorn Classic, The Cypress Bay Tradition, and Nova Titan. Kyle also has made several final round appearances at Emory’s Barkley Forum (Duo and POI), The Tournament of Champions (Duo), The New York City Invitational (Duo and POI), George Mason University's Patriot Games (Duo, POI, and OI), and The Sunvitational (Duo and POI). Kyle believes that the interpretation of literature is an exercise in innovation and encourages students to try new things. He hopes to help students create performances that are personally fulfilling, intelligent, and rooted in advocacy. When not competing at tournaments or practicing his speeches, Kyle is an avid consumer of podcasts and films. His favorite movies include Parasite (duh), Little Women, Donnie Darko, and Eighth Grade.   Kevin Ahern is a senior at Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts in Florida, where he serves as his Speech and Debate team’s President. He will be attending the University of Texas at Austin this fall and plans to compete on their forensics team. Kevin has competed in almost all the Interpretation events including Duo Interpretation, Dramatic Interpretation, Oral Interpretation, and Program Oral Interpretation. Most notably, Kevin was named the 2019 NSDA National Champion and final round winner in Duo Interpretation. Other significant accomplishments include championships at the FFL Varsity State Tournament, Patriot Games at George Mason University, the Florida Blue Key Invitational, The University of Texas at Austin’s Longhorn Classic, The Tradition at Cypress Bay, and the Nova Titan Invitational. Kevin has also seen final rounds at the Harvard National Forensics Tournament, the Barkley Forum for High School Students at Emory University, The Tournament of Champions, The Sunvitational, and the New York City Invitational hosted by the Bronx High School of Science.  Nathan Fair has interviewed many National Champions. He has qualified for NSDA Nationals, qualified to NCFL Nationals and served as the presiding officer, and he broke to semifinals at a TOC qualifying tournament. He has placed 2nd at three separate varsity Congressional Debate tournaments.  Finally, he served as a Presiding Officer for the Urban Debate League's tournament. His success was garnered after using the skills that are shared in this video.