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Speech

Nick  Ingles

Nick Ingles

Head Coach


Jared, Emily, Beth & Matt, Elissa, Emily, Kally Daggit, Lueck, Baer, Meuwissen, Nelson, Herdering

Assistant Coaches


2023-2024 Student Leadership Team:

Abby Leach, Alex Radcliff, Amy Watters, Annabelle Presly, Asmaa Hussein, Ava Wheelock, Brandon Kaisersatt, Charlie Olson, Cory Le, Francheska Racelis, Himeeka Sunbeeb, Isabelle Ohlmann, Karishma Kumar, Kloie Kuhn, Lauren Tilkes, Lucy Azinger, Lydia Winick, Mandy Levie, Mia Ngo, Ryan Moroso, Sanju Polavarapu,  Sanya Pirani, and TK Thongvanh


IMPORTANT FILES


IMPORTANT LINKS


AUDITIONS!


JOIN SPEECH

Do you like to talk?  Do you enjoy acting?  Are you interested in current events?  Do you like to read or write?  Do you like to research new topics?  Do you like telling stories?  Do you like to argue?  Are you ALWAYS right?   Do you like to win?  Do you like to meet new people and make new friends?

If you answered "Yes" to ANY of these questions, then SPEECH is for you.

Competitive Speech has something for everyone, and it is probably nothing like you think.  If you have any interest, please reach out to head coach Nick Ingles at ningles@plsas.org or talk to any of our Speech Leadership Team.  Auditions are November 15-17.  We hope to see you then!


Section Results 2024

SECTIONS & STATE 2024

Alex Radcliff, Himeeka Sunbeeb, Isabelle Ohlmann, Owen Hammett, and Sanya Pirani are going to the 2024 MSHSL AA STATE Speech Tournament!

Here are the rest of the Prior Lake finalists from the 2024 MSHSL Section 6AA tournament.

MSHSL Section 6AA - Final results
Alex Radcliff 1 Storytelling (STY) Varsity
Himeeka Sunbeeb 1 Discussion (DIS) Varsity
Isabelle Ohlmann 3 Discussion (DIS) Varsity
Owen Hammett 3 Creative Expression (CrX) Varsity
Sanya Pirani 3 Original Oratory (OO) Varsity
Brandon Kaisersatt 4 Creative Expression (CrX) Varsity
Katie Weaver 4 Prose (PRO) Varsity
Kloie Kuhn 4 Storytelling (STY) Varsity
Mason Baas 4 Humorous Interp (HI) Varsity
Sophie Kalis 4 Dramatic Interpretation (DI) Varsity
Makenzie Bounds 5 Poetry (POE) Varsity
Mia Ngo 5 Great Speeches (GrSp) Varsity
Ava Wheelock 6 Discussion (DIS) Varsity
Cory Le 6 Extemp Reading (ER) Varsity
Abby Leach and Amy Watters Fin. Duo Interpretation (DUO) Varsity
Elijah Mills Fin. Dramatic Interpretation (DI) Varsity

NATIONALS 2024!

PRIOR LAKE is going to NATIONALS!

Congrats Katie Weaver for qualifying for the National Speech & Debate Association 2024 National Tournament in Omaha, Nebraska June 16-21!  Katie will be competing in the category of Dramatic Interpretation.

#bestyet


MSHSL AA State Speech Tournament

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2024 SPEECH MEET SCHEDULE

DATE EVENT Result
JAN. 13 MOCK MEET -
JAN. 20 ORONO 1st
JAN. 27 WAYZATA 4th
FEB. 3 PRIOR LAKE NA
FEB. 10 TWO RIVERS 2nd
FEB. 17 BLOOMINGTON 2nd
FEB. 24 EASTVIEW 3rd
MAR. 2 SHAKOPEE* 1st
MAR. 8

NSDA Qualifiers - Day 1

WOODBURY

-
MAR. 9

NSDA SF and FINALS

EAGAN

4th
MAR. 14

Section 6AA State Qualifier

(Section Team only) BURNSVILLE

3rd
MAR. 16

ROSEVILLE

2nd
APR. 20

STATE SPEECH MEET

(Qualifiers only) SHAKOPEE HS

-
May 10-12

NIETOC - BELLEVUE WEST HS, NEBRASKA

(Eligible Students Only)

-
Jun. 16-21

NSDA 2024 National Tournament

(Qualifiers Only) Des Moines, IA

-

 


SPEECH REGISTRATION

Students on the 2024 PLHS Speech Team may now register using the link below:

https://isd719a.cf.affinetysolutions.com/

$135 = Registration fee

*Only register if you have auditioned and made the speech team as stated below.


Speech Team Announcement

Thank you for your patience, Lakers!

We are very excited to announce the 2024 PLHS Speech Team!

This year we had the most auditions in the history of PLHS Speech.   Due to our limited coaching resources, it was very difficult trimming the roster down to our final roster.  We thank everyone for auditioning, and we encourage every to audition again next year if you did not make the team.

Below is the link to the team.  The roster includes category placement and your assigned coach. 

Our first ALL TEAM meeting will be Wednesday, November 29 in the auditorium @ 3:00 PM.

Students in Original Oratory (OO) will also meet in room C-203 during Laker Time.

Congrats to all of our new team members!  We can't wait to work with you this upcoming year!


NATIONALS RESULTS!

We had 6 students compete in the 2023 NSDA National Speech and Debate Tournament.

Over 6,000 students from around the country competed in the most prestigious and competitive speech competition in the nation this past week.  Abby Leach, Adriah Hedrick, Amy Watters, Ava McKeon, Makenzie Bounds, and Smriti Datta competed in a variety of different categories.  Below are their final results:

Adriah Hedrick 7th Original Spoken Word Poetry  
Smriti Datta 14th Dramatic Interpretation  
Makenzie Bounds 39th Poetry  
Adriah Hedrick 42nd Poetry  
Makenzie Bounds 66th Prose  
Amy Watters 83rd Storytelling  
Ava McKeon 123rd - tied Storytelling
Abby Leach 123rd - tied Storytelling
Ava McKeon 127th - tied Prose
Amy Watters 127th - tied Prose
Abby Leach 127th - tied Prose

 


NIETOC Results

We had 13 students compete in the 2023 National Individual Events Tournament of Champions.

We had 4 entries advance to Octa-Finals: Adriah Hedrick, Asad Abdi, and Smriti Datta in 2 events.  Smriti and Asad advanced to Quarter Finals, and only Asad Abdi advanced to Semi-Finals.  Below are their final results:

 NIETOC - Final results
Asad Abdi 11th Original Oratory  
Smriti Datta 22nd Dramatic Interpretation  
Adriah Hedrick 51st Humorous Interpretation  
Smriti Datta 54th POI  
 

State Results 2023

STATE RESULTS!

Congrats Smriti Datta who finished 3rd in Serious Dramatic Interpretation at the 2023 MSHSL Class AA STATE Speech Tournament!

Congrats to TK Thongvanh and Ava McKeon for their phenomenal performances at State as well!

Below are the results:

MSHSL Class AA State Speech Tournament - Final results
Smriti Datta 3 Serious Dramatic Interp.  
Ava McKeon 11 Storytelling  
TK Thongvanh 14 Creative Expression

HOW DO I JOIN???

Auditions: We hope to see you next year!

November 15-17 after school, in room C-106.   This will be on a first come basis.  If you earned a SPEECH TEAM LETTER LAST YEAR, you do not need to audition this year, but you must fill out your AUDITION FORM.

Here is the AUDITION PACKET.  Prepare as much or as little from this packet as you want for your audition.

Please contact Mr. Ingles  by email ningles@plsas.org if you have questions.  

Contact any of of our Speech Leadership Team for more information on speech or any of the categories.


WHAT IS SPEECH ALL ABOUT?

            Speech is an extra-curricular activity that is sponsored by the Minnesota State High School League.  It includes thirteen categories, which are explained below.  The categories are divided into two general areas.  Public address categories include Original Oratory, Discussion, Informative Speaking, Extemporaneous Speaking, and Great Speeches.  Interpretive categories include Serious Interpretation of Prose, Serious Interpretation of Poetry, Serious Interpretation of Drama, Humorous Interpretation, Creative Expression, Duo Interpretation, Extemporaneous Reading, and Storytelling.

WHAT IS MY TIME COMMITMENT?

               We begin practicing “officially” right after winter break, but team members are encouraged to locate pieces before then. You will need to practice only 30 minutes a week. These are individually scheduled, and so students can also be involved in sports, the spring play, or other activities and still do speech.  Meets are generally held on Saturdays from late January through March. 

WHAT ARE THE CATEGORIES LIKE?

The thirteen categories are as follows:

1. CREATIVE EXPRESSION -- Creative Expression is the performance of material written by the contestant, of which no more than 20% may be material from other sources.  The piece is typically funny and utilizes multiple characters.  This category is for actors who also enjoy writing creatively.

2. DISCUSSION -- Problem-solving discussion is an effort on the part of a small group to reach a solution to a problem through informal interchange of facts, inferences, and judgments. This method of discussion seeks consensus rather than majority rule. The focus of this event should be the encouragement of cooperation and critical thinking to arrive at the collective goal of better understanding and problem solving.

3. DUO INTERPRETATION -- Duo interpretation features two students interpreting together one or more selections from a single published source or a single anthology of prose, poetry, and/or dramatic literature serious and/or humorous, with literary merit and appropriate to the readers.  This is an acting category.

4. EXTEMPORANEOUS READING -- Participation in Extemporaneous Reading will train a student to introduce and read excerpts from prose or poetry for the purpose of appreciation or enjoyment.   Readings should be delivered utilizing a variety of expression.

5. EXTEMPORANEOUS SPEAKING -- The Extemporaneous Speech should be an original synthesis of current fact and opinion on a topic drawn by the contestant. Speakers may choose from either U.S. or International topics.  Speeches are prepared thirty minutes prior to speaking.

6. GREAT SPEECHES
Great Speeches is an event in which the contestant performs a great speech from history as well as provide analysis into the speech’s composition.  Speakers should be able to deliver an interpretive performance as well as provide strong analytical writing.

7. HUMOROUS INTERPRETATION -- Humorous Interpretation uses any published selection either prose, poetry, or dramatic literature with both literary merit and appropriate to the reader.  Speakers utilizes multiple characters to deliver a humorous performance.  This is an acting category.

8. INFORMATIVE SPEAKING -- Informative Speaking is an event in which the student presents his or her own original informative composition about a topic of interest to them. Students will utilize visual aids as well to convey their information.

9. ORIGINAL ORATORY -- Original Oratory is an event in which the contestant presents his/her own persuasive composition citing research to support their position.

10. SERIOUS DRAMA INTERPRETATION -- Serious Drama Interpretation uses any published selection of dramatic literature.  Speakers should have a good sense of character and emotion to deliver a dramatic performance.  This is an acting category.

11. SERIOUS POETRY INTERPRETATION -- Serious Poetry Interpretation uses any published poetry selection, including lyric novels.  Speakers should have a good sense of character, emotion, and rhythm to deliver a dramatic poetic performance.  This is an acting category.

12. SERIOUS PROSE INTERPRETATION -- Serious Prose Interpretation uses any published selection of prose, fiction or non-fiction.  Speakers should have a good sense of character and emotion to deliver a dramatic performance.  This is an acting category.

13. STORYTELLING -- Participation in storytelling should train students to recreate a familiar story extemporaneously. A selected list of fifteen (15) stories will be announced in the fall of each year. Thirty (30) minutes before the contest begins, the first storyteller shall draw three titles. The storyteller shall immediately choose one of them and return the other two, which will then be placed with the other stories remaining to be drawn.  Storytelling should not exceed 6 minutes in length.