Writing Speeches

Authorship/Sponsorship Speeches
The authorship/sponsorship speeches open the piece of legislation, so the primary role of the speech is to explain why it should be passed and explain the text of the legislation. With bills especially, make sure to include strong arguments supporting passage, because the piece of legislation does not do that automatically.

"Normal" Speeches
A normal speech is like a short argumentative essay, but has room for refuting ideas discussed in the round. An interesting beginning is crucial, most speeches start with quotes, analogies, or a shocking piece of evidence. After a brief introduction which includes the thesis, its time for the body of the speech, the actual arguments. Depending on when you speak, arguments can either bring up new ideas or refute ideas already presented. The key is to keep ideas unique, most of the other congresspeople in the round will have done research on the Internet, and repetition does not make interesting speeches. Then end your speech which a conclusion that summarizes your stance on the issue.

Helpful Hints for Speeches
-Flowing competitors speeches is important to refrain from repeating ideas. When you flow, write down the congressperson's name, so when/if you refute their ideas in a speech, you can say, for example, "Contrary to Representative/Senator blah blah, No Child Left Behind actually hurts the education system in America by making teachers "teach" to the standardized tests." It shows you are paying attention during the round.

-Do not say contention before each argument, give values, summarize the entire round, or anything else that comes straight from LD or PF.

-Congresspeople all have different varieties of preparation. Some improv the entire speech, some make outlines, and some completely write out a speech for each piece of legislation. It all depends on your individual level of speaking experience and your confidence in a round. It's best to at least have statistics or examples for each topic to back up your arguments.

Research Links
Here are some helpful links for research, but google, wikipedia or any other search engines are always helpful for finding information.

Quotes (Mainly historic quotes)
More Quotes (This site has a variety of quotes from classic to contemporary)

Almanac

EBSCOhost (Need INFOhio password)
Newsbank (Need INFOhio password)

Newsweek
Time Magazine
Washington Post
Economist (Need INFOhio password)