Jenny Cook

The debate novices gather in the cafeteria to compete in rounds.

The speech and debate team hosted a mock tournament for its novice members on Oct. 15. The tournament started at 5:30 p.m. and took place in the student center for speech events and the cafeteria for debate events. 

Seven novices participated in various speech events, including Original Oratory, Impromptu and Extemporaneous Speaking. Twelve novices also participated in Public Forum Debate, a partnered debate event. The mock tournament aimed to simulate a real tournament experience.

“Last year, the leadership team was really concerned about getting our novices to tournaments because our signups weren’t as much as we wanted,” senior and co-president Ashish Goswami said. “So going into this year, we kind of knew that if we want these students to sign up for tournaments, we would have to give them a taste of what a tournament is like, but with lower stakes.”

The student leadership team proposed the concept of a mock tournament early in the year.

“[When the idea was suggested] I wasn’t surprised,” speech coach Jenny Cook said. “We had talked about this in interviews [with the leadership team] many times and it was a recurring theme.”

Now, reflecting on the successful turnout of the mock tournament, Cook is glad the leadership team was able to make the event happen and feels that it was crucial for the novices’ growth. 

Many members of the leadership team also agree with Cook’s sentiment.

“I think the mock tournament was really successful, and I’m honestly so impressed by the quality of speeches that the novices gave,” senior and co-president Timothy Leung said. “It made me really excited for the season and the future success of these students.”

In order to simulate an actual tournament, the novices were required to dress up in formal attire. Moreover, round “pairings” — judge information and round matchups — were released on a spreadsheet before each round.

“The tournament felt real. The nerves and the intensity were definitely there,” said freshman Devraj Bora, one of the novices participating in Public Forum Debate. “It was a chance to experience and adapt to my opponents’ arguments as well as think fast on my feet.”

In order to judge the various rounds, many experienced speech and debate members stepped in to help. There was a three-judge panel for each debate round, and two judges for each speech round.

At the end of each round, the judges submitted “ballots” for the speakers and debaters, which contained results and detailed feedback. This allowed the novices to reflect on the round and improve in the future.

Many novices felt that this immediate, personalized feedback was one of the most beneficial aspects of the mock tournament.

 ”I got feedback that I wouldn’t have gotten if I had just practiced with my partner,” Bora said. “The feedback really helped identify my weaknesses, such as needing to interact more with my opponents’ case.”

The judging at the mock tournament was meant to simulate judging at real speech and debate tournaments. The student judges were all experienced members who had been to tournaments before, so they were able to replicate an authentic and accurate style of judging.

“Having enough judges for the tournament wouldn’t be possible without our experienced members. They know what a judge looks like, what a judge should do and they can exhibit all that behavior,” Goswami said. “And because of that, I think we were able to have such a successful time.”

Ultimately, the goal for the tournament was to instill a passion for speech and debate among the novices.

“For some of these kids, this is the first time they’ve ever done a speech or debate in their entire life,” Goswami said. “I hope that they’ll look back and say: this is the moment I fell in love with speech and debate.”

The club officers are optimistic about the future of the speech and debate team given their own passion and high levels of commitment from the novice students.

“I’m really impressed with how passionate our leadership team is. Especially within our younger members, I can see the dedication and it’s definitely in good hands,” Leung said. “It might also be a great idea to have another mock tournament sometime in the second semester to help show the new members the progress they’ve made.”