Speech Tournament

Verbal skills put to the test in competition

KAYLA BERENSON Reporter @kayla_berenson

Without the comfort of a keyboard and the convenience of nonverbal interactions, the thought of public speaking can be intimidating for many.

However, the Communication Studies Department expects to have more than 50 of its students competing for cash prizes in Pierce’s annual speech tournament on May 19.

Communication Studies professor and organizer of the event Michelle Silver said that there are going to be two first, second and third place winners because the competition is split into two categories: informative speeches and persuasive speeches.

She said that the first place winners will each receive $200, the second place winners will receive $100 and third place winners will receive $75.

According to Communication Studies Department Chair Barbara Anderson, any student enrolled in the department’s public speaking class is eligible to participate in the tournament.

She said this event differs from some of the events hosted by other departments.

“In many other departments, students are learning from professionals in the field,” Anderson said. “But for this event, students are learning from other students’ work.”

Silver said that the first round of the competition starts at 12:30 p.m. Students competing will present their speeches to professors from the department, but none of the students will present to their current professor.

She said that the judges of the competition look for students who demonstrate understanding of the elements of speech that they learned in class.

“It provides an excellent opportunity for students to showcase the oratory skills they learned in the public speaking course,” Silver