Developing public communication skills: Speech and debate team

We speak with Denver English teacher and speech/debate coach Anna Steed about the benefits of speech and debate competition. Students acquire critical communication skills and self-confidence; students of color and low-income students can become more comfortable in majority-white, middle-class environments similar to those they may encounter in college. For many students who have challenging home lives, speech and debate opens up worlds of possibility. Overview 00:00-00:14 Intros 00:14-01:08 Why the speech and debate program started at Anna Steed’s school 01:08-02:17 How Anna Steed became involved 02:17-03:08 How the speech and debate program developed into a team 03:08-04:13 What speech and debate is 04:13-05:06 How students became involved 05:06-14:04 Program Oral Interpretation 14:04-15:20 Impact on measured academic performance 15:20-17:42 Equity; students’ comfort level around more privileged students 17:42-21:40 Speech and debate during the pandemic 21:40-21:53 Impact on students’ ambitions 21:53-26:08 First steps to start a speech and debate program 26:08-28:10 Need for judges 28:10-29:36 Need to give English credit for speech and debate 29:36-30:15 Training for judges 30:15- Outro

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