SpeechGeek has also submitted a modified version of our digital editions to the National Forensic League for approval under the coming season's guidelines for digital edition certification.  We are pleased with this development and look forward to continuing to provide interp scripts in digital form at the lowest prices available to teams.

SpeechGeek Season One: Fall 2003

978-1-61387-000-6

SpeechGeek Season Two: Fall 2004

978-1-61387-001-3

SpeechGeek Season Two: Winter 2005

978-1-61387-002-0

SpeechGeek Season Three: Fall 2005

978-1-61387-004-4

SpeechGeek Season Three: Winter 2006

978-1-61387-005-1

SpeechGeek Season Three: Spring 2006

978-1-61387-006-8

SpeechGeek Season Four: Fall 2006

978-1-61387-008-2

SpeechGeek Season Four: Winter 2007

978-1-61387-009-9

SpeechGeek Season Four: Spring 2007

978-1-61387-010-5

SpeechGeek Season Four: Nationals 2007

978-1-61387-011-2

SpeechGeek Season Five: Fall 2007

978-1-61387-012-9

SpeechGeek Season Five: Winter 2008

978-1-61387-013-6

SpeechGeek Season Five: Spring 2008

978-1-61387-014-3

SpeechGeek Season Five: Nationals 2008

978-1-61387-015-0

SpeechGeek Season Five: Anniversary

978-1-61387-016-7

SpeechGeek Season Six: Fall 2008

978-1-61387-017-4

SpeechGeek Season Six: Winter 2009

978-1-61387-018-1

SpeechGeek Season Six: Spring 2009

978-1-61387-019-8

SpeechGeek Season Six: Nationals 2009

978-1-61387-020-4

SpeechGeek Season Seven: Fall 2009

978-1-61387-021-1

SpeechGeek Season Seven: Winter 2010

978-1-61387-022-8

SpeechGeek Season Seven: Spring 2010

978-1-61387-023-5

SpeechGeek Season Seven: Nationals 2010

978-1-61387-024-2

SpeechGeek Season Eight: Fall 2010

978-1-61387-025-9

SpeechGeek Season Eight: Winter 2011

978-1-61387-026-6

SpeechGeek Season Nine: Fall 2011

978-1-61387-027-3

SpeechGeek Season Nine: Winter 2012

978-1-61387-028-0

SpeechGeek Presents: Female/Female Duos, Vol. 1

978-1-61387-029-7

SpeechGeek Presents: Female/Female Duos, Vol. 2

978-1-61387-032-7

SpeechGeek Presents: Female/Female Duos, Vol. 3

978-1-61387-033-4

SpeechGeek Presents: Junior, Vol. 1

978-1-61387-034-1

SpeechGeek Presents: Junior, Vol. 2

978-1-61387-035-8

SpeechGeek Presents: Junior, Vol. 3

978-1-61387-036-5

SpeechGeek Presents: Junior, Vol. 4

978-1-61387-037-2

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PFDebate -- Publisher of the weekly Crossfire Briefs in, you guessed it, Public Forum Debate.

The RFD Files -- Briefs in both UIL and NFL Lincoln-Douglas Debate.

The "How to" of Debate -- Accessible and useful textbook for novice policy debaters and coaches.

The Market now numbers over twenty vendors with products for every forensics event.  If there's some resource we don't offer that you'd like to see, let us know!

The book begins with a non-threatening introduction to basic skills, such as flowing, speaking, and researching. Beginners will learn the core idea of parametrics theory in the chapters on cases and plans. 

Building on this foundation, novices will easily see the logic of each negative position (CP, DA, K, T). Intermediate debaters will find the checklists of affirmative responses to each position invaluable "cheat sheets". 

The final chapters give guidance for judge adaptation, working with a partner, and getting the most out of practice rounds. The style of this book is readable, using proper terminology without excess jargon. 

The author, Russell Hanes, was an eight-year policy debater and has been coaching debate for the last decade.

Pick up your digital copy today for only $10.

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Dear Coaches,

We are gearing up for an awesome national tournament, and we hope you are, too! This week, we want to highlight a few things that you will want to take advantage of during the tournament.

Registration and Vending Expo
We look forward to seeing everyone during Tournament Registration at the Sheraton Dallas Hotel & Conference Center on Monday, June 13, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Lone Star Ballroom A1-4 (located on the 2nd floor of the conference center). The Vending Expo will be in Lone Star Ballroom B. There is a Sky Bridge that connects the hotel to the conference center on the 2nd floor.

College Preparation Seminars
In conjunction with Revolution Prep, a leading test prep company, the NFL is proud to provide completely free seminars for students preparing for the SAT and ACT. These seminars will occur adjacent to registration throughout the day on Monday, June 13. To learn more about these seminars, click here.

Fundraising Opportunity
Revolution Prep has also created an excellent fundraising opportunity for our schools where 100% of the proceeds go directly to your program. Be sure to attend their Monday afternoon session in Austin Ballroom 3 (adjacent to registration) to find out more about how you can make thousands of dollars for your team!

National Service Projects
This year, NFL members will have a variety of ways to participate in National Service Projects at nationals. Projects will occur throughout the week, including judging at the NJFL National Tournament, pledging to Spread the Word to End the Word, contributing to a Virtual Food Drive to benefit the North Texas Food Bank, and donating blood or volunteering to work at the American Red Cross Blood Drive. To learn more about these service opportunities, visit us online at http://NFLnationals.org/national-service-project.

Livestream and Updates
For parents, family members, and all of those other supporters of your team who won’t be in Dallas this year, let them know that they can watch the finals all day on Friday and Saturday from our Facebook page ( http://www.facebook.com/NationalForensicLeague) or from any of our websites. Live coverage from the tournament will occur exclusively at http://NFLNationals.org throughout the week.

LFG / NFL Disaster Relief Fund
In Spring 2011, a series of natural disasters devastated communities across the United States. Flooding along the Mississippi River and deadly storms in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi—and now Minnesota, Kansas, and Missouri—created an urgent need to rebuild communities and lives.

In response, the NFL has launched the Lincoln Financial Group / National Forensic League Disaster Relief Fund, which provides financial support for speech and debate programs affected by disasters. The first grant recipient from this fund will be Joplin High School, which was destroyed by a deadly tornado on May 23, 2011.

Opportunities will exist at the 2011 National Tournament to give to the LFG / NFL Disaster Relief Fund. In addition, Lincoln Financial Group has graciously agreed to match every dollar contributed to the fund throughout the week. Visit http://NFLnationals.org/disaster-relief-fund to donate online today, or stop by our booth in the Internet Café outside the Lone Star Ballroom to learn more.

Please give to the LFG / NFL Disaster Relief Fund. Together, we can help schools in need regain their voice.

Sincerely,

J. Scott Wunn
Executive Director

Extemp Commentary Brief Overview

Logan Scisco, 2003 NFL United States Extemporaneous Speaking Final Round National Champion and Extemp Central founder, breaks down the ten topic areas for Extemp Commentary in this exclusive NFL Extemp Commentary brief for DebateChamps.  Logan describes the issues that commentators may face during the tournament and provides some tips to ensure success for this unique supplemental event.

Supplemental Debate Brief Overview

Hate getting stuck with just one case option? No worries! The files contain multiple plan text options to suit your needs. Each plan text is accompanied by advantage/contention outlines as well as detailed links to outside research, making Nationals preparation quick and easy. On the Negative? We’ve got you covered. The briefs contains both generic and case specific disadvantages and case turns to make prepping on the negative easier. Nationals is stressful. Make prepping simple.

by Tyler Fabbri.

With NFL Nationals creeping around the corner, I expect the anxiety is mounting a bit for everyone. Whether Dallas is your first or fourth NFL tournament, there are a few basic things to keep in mind to make this year’s trip the best it can be. This may be an incoherent rambling, but take from it what you can!

First of all, don’t waste all of your energy on pre-tournament preparation. Yes, making sure you are ready is good, but spending 8 hours a day on extemp is torture. Make sure you still have the enthusiasm you need come tournament time instead of burning out before you even get to Texas. So, look over the topic areas that the NFL releases, think those over (I think Extemp Central does a solid breakdown of these), and see what type of research you’ll need. Work until you’re comfortable with what you have done, and then try relaxing.

Second, and generally this is obvious, you need to make sure you pack what clothes you need. Obviously you need the clothing, but make sure you have the shoes, belts, and other necessities. Appearances are important, so look professional. Also meaning, make sure everything is appropriate. Mickey Mouse ties are cool for coaches, but stick with something more conservative. And bowties are for weddings and proms, so try to be taken seriously.

Anyway, now to the real stuff. You need to warm up before the first rounds of the day. Remember, this is probably the judge’s first round too, so if you can look sharp right out of the gate, the judge will appreciate it. Say some tongue twisters, do some vocal exercises, or anything to get you loose and ready to go. If your speech is your first time talking that day, I guarantee that it will show. Obviously, stay loose during the long breaks between rounds, too.

Read the full article.

"You are your own best thing."

This was the message that defined the twenty-five years of The Oprah Show, which aired its final broadcast Wednesday night. But these words -- while important -- are not unique or revolutionary. So what was it about Oprah saying them that spurred a multi-million dollar media phenomenon that includes a talk show, a magazine, and now a television network?

This weekend, I will join thousands of high school students in Washington, D.C. for the national speech and debate tournament. Oprah attended this same national tournament almost forty years ago -- an experience she claims made the difference between a quiet, personal idea and a resounding message that was broadcast around the world for 25 years.

A high school activity with the power to change lives

Read the full essay...

As hundreds of competitors descend upon DC this weekend, those indispensable mp3 players will surely get a work out. Motivational speeches and vocal warm-ups can only do so much. Sometimes you have to crank up the volume to get properly pumped up for that next round of debate. Therein lies the Nationals playlist - the songs that get you ready to compete.

What’s on the SpeechGeek staff’s playlist this week?

1). We Are the Champions - Queen

2). Eye of the Tiger - Survivor

3). You’re the Best - Joe “Bean” Esposito

4). Stronger - Kanye West

5). Don’t Stop Believin’ - Journey ( or the ‘Glee’ cast)

6). Champion - RuPaul

7). The World Should Revolve Around Me - Little Jackie

8). Under Pressure - The Used

9). Bulletproof - La Roux

10). Waka Waka - Shakira

11). We Are Golden - Mika

12). Defying Gravity - Wicked Soundtrack

Eh, so maybe our taste in music is a bit dated. (We prefer the term ‘classic’.)

So tell us, what songs are on your “Speech Pump-Up Playlist”? 

Purchase SpeechGeek Singles exclusively at DebateChamps!

After a nationwide vote, the Public Forum Debate topic for April is “The United States federal government should permit the         use of financial incentives to encourage organ donation.”

The selected resolution bested the following topic, which also appeared on the April ballot:

Resolved: States should adopt a policy of presumed consent for organ donation.

We've set up the page where you can purchase April 2011 PF Briefs.  Look for them to arrive beginning in the next few days.

It's an exciting day at DebateChamps.  In addition to the start of a new month, we're pleased to welcome our seventeenth vendor to the store: Congressional Debate Pro.

Congressional Debate Pro provides high-quality briefs, files and other resources for Congressional Debate competitors. 

We're excited about this new vendor because it combines one of our primary products (debate briefs) with an event that requires students to have a lot of information without a lot of time to prepare.  Be sure to check out their full docket analysis for the Texas Forensic Association State Tournament.   

CDP will also release analysis for the NFL National Tournament this June!

Here's how they describe their products and services:

We believe that Congressional Debate or "Congress" is an important forensics activity that prepares participants for real-world situations and teaches students to communicate in persuasive ways. 

We aim to enhance the activity by providing quality materials and evidence to students and coaches to make Congress more accessible and competitive. Our products will enhance your knowledge of the legislation and help you and your students deliver more informed speeches and rebuttals. Whether you are a novice or varsity competitor, Congressional Debate Pro can help you prepare for success.

Josh AGUILAR (Founder) is currently a teacher and debate instructor at McNeil High School in Austin, TX. He has been involved in forensics for the past 9 years as a competitor, assistant coach, and head coach. Josh has a bachelor’s degree in Rhetoric and Writing from the University of Texas.

You know DebateChamps is your first stop for quality debate evidence.  Our briefs are intended to be a starting point for your research and preparation.  One of our outstanding vendors have developed a great, FREE resource to help take your research to the next level.

Closeout Files is proud to offer a new free evidence search engine at Search.CloseoutFiles.com that was created specifically for Public Forum debate.  

After years of debating and writing Public Forum briefs, we’ve become experts at finding the best debate evidence.  We realized that some of the best evidence for almost every topic came from the same set of sources; so we got to thinking about how we could speed of the process of searching all of these resources for evidence.  

We were eventually able to create multiple search engines for the best think tanks, news and government sources, and we must say that the quality of evidence it uncovers is pretty impressive. We encourage you to try it for yourself at Search.CloseoutFiles.com and we hope this service will completely change the way you find evidence for Public Forum debate.  

March 2011 Public Forum Debate Resolution

Resolved: North Korea poses a more serious threat to United States national security than Iran.

March/April 2011 Lincoln-Douglas Debate Resolution 

Resolved:The United States is justified in using private military firms abroad to pursue its military objectives.

We've added product pages to the DebateChamps store.  Look for PF and LD briefs from our vendors to arrive on these topics in the coming days.

Championship Debate is a company dedicated to producing National Champion Debaters and Speakers. They are primarily a publishing company, releasing Public Forum and Lincoln-Douglas Debate Briefs. They also offer video consulting, case critiques, and a PreNationals Camp. All of our briefs are written by national finalists and coaches of national finalists.

None of their briefs cost more than $10. They want to help you get the championship edge without having to break the bank.

Check out their February 2011 PF brief on Wikileaks for the insanely low price of $10.

Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its exploration and/or development of space beyond the Earth’s mesosphere.

The following statement was released by the National Federation of High Schools (NFHS):

Space exploration fires people’s imaginations. The 1969 moon landings rank as one of the highest achievements of modern civilization. There is something uncanny about the human need to explore the universe. Discussing space exploration and development would have the same effect. A topic like this could spark the imagination of potential debaters, and the easy accessibility of materials would make the learning curve on the subject manageable. This is a critical time in the United States space program. The status of the National Aeronautics and Space and Administration is in limbo, especially concerning human spaceflight. The Space Shuttle is retiring in the fall of 2010, with no possible US replacement available before 2015. In addition, NASA has an unclear mandate/direction to explore either the Moon or Mars. This is balanced against NASA’s recent success with robotic exploration, such as the Mars rovers and the Hubble Space Telescope, as well as increased private sector growth. Affirmative cases could include astronomical surveys, setting new goals for human spaceflight, using new probes to examine celestial bodies in our solar system or beyond, and developing space economies. The technological and economic benefits of the space program are well documented. Negative arguments could include the increased militarization of space, the significant cost in money and resources, timeframe arguments and the need to focus more on problems concerning the Earth, such as climate change.

Let us know what you think about the topic!

Combining news and social content from the most popular forensics websites, 4n6 is the one-stop resource for high school speech and debate. News, tweets, and other social content is just a tap away. We are proud to partner with websites such as PFDebate, Victory Briefs Daily, Global Debate, The National Forensic League, Extemp Central, Forensics Community, The Forensics Posting Weekly, and RupeScholars.org to provide you with a tool for easy access to the best forensics content online.

We encourage users who also tweet to use the #4n6 hashtag in forensics-related tweets.  This helps to build a community of users and participants in the forensics discussion.

From your first prep to the final round at Nationals, 4n6 is the app for the true Speech Geek!

Maybe not. Rolando Valeasquez offers some compelling commentary in theDallas Morning News‘ editorial section.

Like football players, debaters have to have quick reflexes. When debating and listening to our opponent’s arguments, we have seconds to process the information and develop counter-arguments. A few weeks ago, I debated at the nationally renowned debate hosted by St. Marks School of Texas, going up against some of the best debate teams in the nation. I was thoroughly exhausted, my brain and body drained of energy.

Like football, debate is intensively competitive. Rivalries develop, just like in any other sport. You know which teams you want to beat, yet you develop a begrudging admiration for their tactics and strategies.

Like in other sports, we debaters are scouted out and recruited by some of the most prestigious colleges and universities. Scouts frequently attend the high-profile tournaments to identify debaters. Scholarships are offered to those lucky and gifted debaters.

What do you think?