Photo Essay: A Topic is Worth a Thousand Words

Speech members Alyssa Riha, Louden Ferguson, and Ella Ferguson pose for a photo with their medals.

Dylan Conover, Staff Writer
February 19, 2019

Into topics such as Extemporaneous, Entertainment, Informative, Persuasive, Humorous or Serious Interpretation, Poetry, Duet Acting and Oral Interpretation of Drama? Interested in developing performance, organizational, and memorization skills? The Speech team might be right for you! Members of the speech team compile and memorize 1-4 speeches on any of the nine NSAA-recognized topics. They develop writing skills, persuade others to their point of view, and make friends. Some, like Alyssa Riha, Reed Lenker, Louden Ferguson, and Ella Ferguson have answered the call. They spend their time building finals-worthy and award-winning speeches. Often, their speeches are just that, and one more medal goes up on their wall.

Alyssa and Reed pose with the day’s awards. “I love how speech shows me who I really am,” said Alyssa. “In order to understand my characters, I have to understand myself and make a connection. Not only is public speaking a great life skill that I will always use, but it also gives me a deeper meaning of myself and what it means to be a performer.”
Senior Alyssa Riha has earned many medals for her Humorous and Serious pieces. Some of the competitions she has placed at include Crete, Lincoln Southwest, and Lincoln East.
Last season (2017-2018), some of the speech members had the opportunity to compete at the National Level. Returning speech members hope to earn enough bids to do so again.