On Monday, Oct. 30, from 4-5 p.m., the speech team will be hosting a closed mock speech tournament for their novice members in the B200 forum. The speech team will be split into groups with both varsity and novice members. 

“It’s huge for novices because this is their first introduction to the speech team and how a meet should look,” junior Maya Stevenson, varsity speech member, said. “The varsity members not only get to be a leader for novices, but we get to learn how to give constructive feedback.”

Varsity members of the team will act as judges within the group and give ballots to each novice member.  

“It will give us an idea of how the competitions go while still working with people from our school,” freshman Ben Campbell, a novice member, said. “I will actually get to see how a tournament works.”

Novice members will bring their suits to school and place them in the conference room (B217) in the B200 TPC. After the speech meeting from 3:15-3:45 p.m., novices will change into their competition suits and prepare to perform as if they are at a tournament. 

“It’s really important because the (mock) tournament is a great way to experience and figure out what a round would look like,” Stevenson said. “Speech is nerve wracking enough trying to stand up in front of people and present, let alone trying to figure out the intricacies of a tournament.”  

Novice members are practicing in preparation for their first novice tournament on Friday, Nov. 3, from 3-10 p.m. at Millard North.