Jo Spurgeon and Shreyaa Nagajothi break down the 2020 NSDA National Final Round.
From attempting to belt the song Defying Gravity in elementary school, performing Shakespeare monologues in middle school, to competing in speech and debate in high school, Jo has always had an affinity for performing. She fell in love with speech and debate as it gave her the ability to embrace her analytical side while never sacrificing her love of performing. This culmination of skills led her to win many accolades throughout high school. Sophomore year, Jo finaled in Humorous Interp at the OSAA State Tournament. Junior year, she was a finalist in After Dinner Speaking, third in Humorous Interp, and second in Lincoln Douglas debate at the OSAA State Tournament. Throughout her career she also won top speaker at several regional tournaments including the Jerry Hudson and Jean Ward Invitationals. Jo also qualified for the NSDA National tournament in Original Oratory in 2019 and in Lincoln Douglas debate in 2020. Senior year she was voted the 2020 Southern Oregon Student of the Year by regional coaches for her success across both speech and debate. Her senior year she also finished as the 2020 NSDA Lincoln Douglas National Champion, making her the first Oregonian to win that title in the history of the tournament. In the fall, she will be heading to American University as an incoming freshman to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience. Jo strongly believes that speech and debate are not monoliths, and that the skills transcend each other more than debaters often realize. Though analysis is the central element of LD, analytics spoken at 350 wpm fail to make an impact when the audience doesn’t understand them. The best debaters are also often the most compelling speakers, because at the end of the day, the persuasiveness needed to win debate rounds depends on your abilities to move an audience. As your coach, I will show you how to blend analytics with powerful performance to sway both technical and lay judges alike. “All the world’s a stage,” and LD gives you 45 minutes to make an impact.
Nathan Fair runs this channel. Nathan Fair is a finalist at the NSDA National Senior Open Tournament. Nathan Fair also broke to semifinals at the National Circuit and Tournament of Champions qualifying Caviler Invitational National Tournament. He has qualified for the NSDA and NCFL National Tournaments. I hope you learned something from this video.
#speechanddebate #nsdanationals #nathanfair