speech resources
Finding Speech Material
Finding competition pieces can be one of the most difficult parts of the speech process. One of the most important things to remember is to find something that speaks to you. You should really enjoy your piece, and it should fit your style and make sense to you. Find a story that's important to YOU.
There are literally millions of potential pieces out there across various types of mediums. The best pieces are always going to be found by reading. Short stories, poems, novels, children's books, horror stories, mysteries, plays, old radio plays, musicals, essays, everything.
Always keep an eye out for stories that you find important and interesting. If you are a new competitor, though, you don't need to reinvent the wheel. Look through the variety of resources below to find something that may even have already been cut for competition. It's okay to begin with something more simple. Each selection is unique for every person because your own style and personality bring it to life.
Resources
This list will be updated periodically, and the content cannot be controlled by this author or by St. Luke. It cannot be filtered or constantly monitored because of the nature of the internet. Some selections will not resonate and others might not be appropriate for Middle School. Use discretion and common sense.
EXPOSITORY AND IMPROMPTU
TED Radio Hour - TED talks have become one of the most common sources for providing input and ideas for a student aiming to compete in Expository and to prepare for IMpromptu. These "talks" are diverse and cover a WIDE range of topics. TED talks has organized some of the top speakers throughout the world into one database. Take a look at the TED Radio Hour link for many of these talks segmented by topic. You can even listen to portions of this weekly radio show and podcast for more detail about each talk.
HUMOROUS AND DRAMATIC INTERP, DUO, PROSE AND POETRY
Open Library if you’re looking for a prose piece or a dramatic/humorous script, this is a good site. Simply type in the subject, author or title you seek, and you should find something useful. Be selective though. So much is in this site, so you can get lost in all the literature. Go in with some specific ideas and see what comes up.
Alibris perfect for the bargain-hunting script seeker, this inexpensive website has many new, used, rare, and fascinating books that could be used in speech competition. With 100 million titles to choose from, it will be hard not to find something worthwhile.
Live Binders why not benefit from work other people have already done? You can search this public site for collections of interp pieces pulled by other teams or competitors. This takes a little more time because of the number of scripts out there, but you may find some useable pieces.
Braddock Debate this list of resources may have just what you’re looking for. Remember, research takes time and patience.
SpeechGeek this site is a collection of resources for all events. The market has many resources available for purchase from places like Mushroom Cloud Press, Tibetan Treefrog Publishing, and The Monologue Project. Not all scripts are created equal, though, so read and purchase at your own risk.
Forensics Community this forensics community forum has a vast amount of information. Some is useful, some is less useful, some is free, some costs money.
The Interp Store this site offers a large selection of pieces written specifically for speech competitors. These pieces often require a lot of personality and innovation. If you are good at characters and can bring meaning to pieces, some of these have been quite successful on the national stage.
Consortium Publishing this site also offers pieces written specifically for speech competitions.