voice of
the pride
HEAR US ROAR
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HEAR US ROAR ✦
jmhs speech & debate team
The Pride speaks again.
Refine your public speaking skills, make lifelong friends, and rep JM at tournaments across the state with JMHS Speech and Debate!
This site is your one-stop-shop for the resources you need to find success as a competitor.
Learn about different types of events. Register for upcoming tournaments. Email your coach.
Every great speaker started exactly where you are right now. Join JMHS Speech and Debate today.
join us on fridays during aoc in room 281
MEET the coach
Hilary Kinney is a graduate of JMHS and served as the speech team captain from 2011-2013. As a competitor, Hilary participated and placed in the following events: declamation, duo, humorous interpretation, original oratory, and sales.
Hilary joined JM as the speech and debate advisor in the spring of 2026. She can be reached at hilary.kinney@k12.wv.us or book time to rehearse with her by emailing her!
JMHS Speech and Debate taking home 4th place at States in 2012!
how to get started
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Familiarize yourself with the different speech events.
There’s an event-type for just about everyone who wants to get involved with speech!
Want to write, memorize, and deliver your own speech? That’s Original Oratory (OO).
More of a theater kid? Adapt a movie, book, TV show, or other material for a Dramatic or Humorous Interpretation piece (DI or HI). You’ll memorize the piece and incorporate character voices and movements.
Interested in delivering someone else’s speech? (Like a speech by your favorite actor, president, or character.) That’s Declamation (DEC).
Speech tournaments have a variety of events to compete in. Below is a comprehensive list separated by public address versus interpreation.
Public address events feature a speech written by you, either in advance or with limited prep, that can answer a question, share a belief, persuade an audience, or educate the listener on a variety of topics.
Original Oratory (OO)
Declamation (DEC)
Impromptu
Extemporaneous (Extemp)
Interpretation events center upon you selecting and performing published material and appeal to many who enjoy acting and theatre.
Dramatic Interpretation (DI)
Humorous Interpretation (HI)
Duo (DUO)
Poetry
Prose
Find and prepare your piece!
Memorize and rehearse!
Compete!
Once you identify the event you want to compete in, you’ll select a piece to perform. Here’s the tricky part: you can basically interpret any speech in the world or write about just about any topic!
When it comes down to it, choose a piece you love. Ideally, you compete with the same piece all year and continue to rehease and practice it. Base your decision on what you love and the kind of piece you want to nurture and develop all season.
After you’ve chosen your piece, we will work together to cut it, meaning, we’ll edit it to get it to about 9 minutes to 9 minutes and 30 seconds of speaking time.
When it’s cut, we’ll format it and print it so you have a copy to make notes as you rehearse and prepare your piece.
Memorizing and getting to know your piece will happen at home. At school, we will rehearse in front of and for one another. Your teammembers and coach will give you feedback and guidance for inflection, tone, and blocking. We can also feed you lines as you work on memorizing your speech!
We’ll go together to tournaments, where you’ll present your speech in a classroom setting and receive a score and feedback from a judge. We will also earn points as a team, and you’ll have the opportunity to watch your opponents’ speeches, as well as speeches by other competitors from other schools.
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next tournament: OCTOBER 31 👻 at WPHS
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next tournament: OCTOBER 31 👻 at WPHS ✦