On Friday I was able to attend part of the speech/debate competition held at Purdue. The particular event I observed was a debate about whether the African Union or the United States should provide primary military support to resolve the situation in the Darfur region of Sudan. The teams consisted of two members each who were given topics/sides then 20 minutes to compose their argument. It was amazing to see how quickly the team members had to think and communicate on the fly. They were constantly having to compose counter arguments and needed to know a lot about the topic if they expected to defend their stances effectively. I felt that this competition gave me a good idea of what it means to speak extemporaneously. The participants were constantly adapting their presentation in order to inform and persuade the others in an effective manner. I hope to be able to 'read' the audience in a similar fashion as I prepare for and give my presentations this semester and in the future.
John Dale
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