Speech and Debate Team

The Bolles School Speech and Debate Team is an award-winning, competitive, interscholastic program that promotes both individual and team excellence and success. In addition to fostering skills in communication, performance, argumentation and character building, the team is also committed to service and equity and promotes the importance of growth of students as future leaders. The motto by which the speech team operates is “Excellence is the goal; Winning is the bonus!”

Bolles competes in several local, regional and national organizations: Florida Civics and Debate Initiative, Florida Forensic League, St. Augustine Catholic Forensic League, and the National Speech and Debate Association.

Students on the Bolles Speech and Debate Team may choose to compete in a variety of events:

• Public address categories feature speeches written by students that are intended to inform, enlighten, persuade or promote some call to action. These speeches may include Informative Speaking, Original Oratory and an event for novice speakers known as Just Talk.
• Interpretation events feature student presentations of published material from genres such as drama, prose and poetry. These presentations may be either humorous or serious in nature.
• Limited preparation events involve students creating speeches on the spot, with only a short amount of time permitted to compose their presentations. Limited preparation speeches, such as Impromptu Speaking and Extemporaneous Speaking, usually deal with timely and significant domestic and international issues.

Bolles Speech and Debate Team members also compete in Extemporaneous Debate, an individual event, as well as in Public Forum Debate, a two-person stye of debate. Whether individually or as part of team, debate is meant to convince a judge that a particular side of a resolution or topic is valid. Students learn to think critically about both the affirmative and negative development of a resolution and, using evidence and analysis, rebut or counteract an opponent’s case.