Greetings!
You are cordially invited to the 9th Annual Northfield Mount Hermon Public Speaking Tournament, to be held on September 29, 2024. It includes three speaking opportunities in this order:
1. After-Dinner or Persuasive Speaking (choose one)
2. Interpretive Reading (mandatory)
3. Impromptu Speaking (mandatory)
Please note that the event order is different from past tournaments we’ve hosted.
Speakers and coaches should arrive between 10:00 and 11:00 a.m. We will be providing brunch in the morning, and a light meal after the third round of events. A full schedule for the day and event guidelines are also attached to this email and we hope will answer your other questions.
In the latter document note especially that while league rules would prefer an upper time limit of ten minutes on Persuasive speeches (as would most judges!), this tournament will allow persuasive speeches of up to 13 minutes as some speakers will be using this event as a tune up for October’s IISPSC. All After-Dinner and Persuasive speeches must have been created since the WIDPSC event in Canberra last spring. Similarly competitors must choose a new Interpretive Reading selection. Impromptu speeches must actually be impromptu…no canned speeches!
Each school is expected to bring at least one judge. Judges should either be coaches or faculty members from the competing school. Previous judging experience is helpful. Note that parents may not judge at this or any other league speaking tournament.
You may register one or more speakers, to a maximum of four. To be eligible for team awards, you must register four speakers. In the past, schools have been permitted to register 5 or even 6 competitors, but in the interest of attracting as many schools as possible, I’m limiting the number to four at present. If space permits (we have a field limit of 54) at the end of the day on September 20th, I will accept a fifth speaker from schools that have requested this in advance. Schools wishing to do this should be prepared to bring a second judge. Cost is $80.00 per team.
Should you have last minute changes to your team, please contact Peter Weis on the morning of the tournament at (413)-325-3299.
Please register by Friday, September 20th. We look forward to hosting you at the beginning of next month.
Sincerely,
Peter Weis, ’78, Advisor to the Debate Society
M.K. Brake, Assistant Coach
Officers: Sara Carrion
Priya Chatterjee
Nikolaus Erdos
Grace Huang
Eva Lehnert-Reilly
Cameron Phillip
Gillian Wiles, officer emerita