With this year’s Large Group Speech season coming to a close, there’s still a lot more to come with the Individual Speech season just starting! Gladbrook Reinbeck will be traveling to CLARION-GOLDFIELD Saturday, March 1st for District Contest, and boy do we have a lot of great performances in store! Here’s a little sneak peak at this year’s GR Speech team:

9th Grade Team:

Prose: Kathryn Wild and McKenzie Beck. After dinner Speaking: McKenzie Beck. Varsity Team (10 12th grade): Prose: Ashley Sieh, Jenny Schildroth, Carley Crozier. Poetry: Brittany Yates. Literary Program: Shelby Yates, Hanna Christopher, Rebecca Franksain. After Dinner Speaking: Aaron Shouse, Joey Linder, Maddison Wild. Musical Theater: Alyssa Christopher, Aaron Shouse, Hanna Christopher. Storytelling: Cole Goos. Acting: Rebecca Franksain, Brooke Beenken, Cole Goos. Improvisation: Sadie Walton, Braden Heithoff, Joey Linder. Public Address: Cydney Rose. Original Oratory: Shelby Yates, Alyssa Christopher. Expository Address: Sadie Walton.

Now, most people really don’t understand what these events consist of, so I’ve included some information about each event so you can learn more!

Scripted Categories (Meaning: you can use a full script). Prose: Present a piece of prose (a story? not a poem). You can choose an author’s work, or write your own. You are judged on your interpretation of the author’s words, use of gestures, vocal variety, facial expressions, etc. This is a great option if you’d like to work toward storytelling (see below), but aren’t confident in your ability to memorize. 6 minute presentation.

Poetry: Choose several poems of a similar theme/topic. Again, these can be someone else’s poetry or your own. You will write transition material between the poems to show how they are related, and you are judged on interpretation, gestures, vocal variety, facial expressions, etc. 6 minute presentation.

Literary Program: A combination of poetry and prose. The judging is the same as above, and again you can write your own or choose pieces to put it all together. The selections should bring to life a similar theme. 8 minute presentation.

Semi Scripted

Categories (Meaning: you can use a note card)

Original Oratory: Write your own speech, persuasive in nature. Think of a problem, or something you are passionate about now convince the audience to agree with you. 6 minute presentation.

Public Address: Choose a speech already given by someone in the past (could be the recent past, but often people choose past presidents, historical figures, leaders in some field). You need to determine the message/purpose of the speech and effectively convey that to your audience/judge. 8 minute presentation.

After Dinner Speaking: Write your own speech. Choose a group of people who are having dinner together. Explain their purpose for being together. Generally, people take on a specific character with this category. They are usually humorous in nature, but wouldn’t have to be. Very few restrictions on this one if you are creative, the sky’s the limit. 5 minute presentation.

Expository Address: Write your own informational speech about a topic you are passionate about. Use multimedia tools to enhance your speech. 6 minute presentation.

Reviewing: Write your own review of a movie, book, music album, play, artwork, etc. Take a position on the piece, and convince your audience of your position (example: if you saw a movie and thought it was thought provoking and something everyone in the world should see, explain why, and make your audience feel the same way). Can include clips/cuttings from your chosen piece. 8 minute presentation time.

Spontaneous Speaking: This requires you to be knowledgeable about what is going on in the world, and be able to take a position on a number of different topics. You draw 3 topics, choose 1, and have 3 minutes to come up with a persuasive speech. 5 minute presentation time.

Radio News: You are given a script, and must cut it to fit time, including excerpts from different types of news stories (World, national, local, sports…etc). You are judged on your ability to stay within time (DQ’d if you are under/over), and your vocal variety.

Memorized or on the Spot (Meaning: you either memorize a script or make it up on the spot)

Improv: You draw 3 characters (choosing only 2), and 2 situations (choosing only 1), and present the scenario with a clear beginning/middle/end, using those two characters in a clever, well developed way. 3 minute prep, 5 minute performance.

Acting: Choose a monologue (or series of monologues) from a play and present it. You are judged based on how authentically you develop/present the character, use of the space, etc. 8 minute performance.

Storytelling: Learn a children’s story memorize it in your own words, and deliver it by creating characters vocally and physically. You must be seated for the entire event. 5 minute performance.

Musical Theater: Choose a song from a musical. You are judged first and foremost on your presentation of the character, as well as vocal ability. 5 minute total, so keep that in mind when selecting songs.