To facilitate this mission, tournament events should be open to students and directors willing to abide by and enforce standards of ethical, responsible, humane and communicative advocacy. Tournaments should be viewed as an extension of the speech classroom. Specifically, the skills we teach as effective in persuading a public audience are the skills rewarded at tournament events. The American Forensic Association Students participate in a variety of individual events including Oral Interpretation of Prose, Oral Interpretation of Poetry, Dramatic Duo, Dramatic Interp, Persuasive Speaking, Informative Speaking, Impromptu Speaking, Program Oral Interpretation, Communication Analysis and After Dinner Speaking. The Association hosts district national qualifying tournaments and a National Individual Event tournament for those qualifying through tournaments throughout the academic year and the district qualifying tournaments.
Parliamentary debate focuses on topics usually framed as motions before the house.
Ordinarily, parliamentary debaters argue about a different motion in every debate. The extemporaneous feature of parliamentary debate is one of the primary differences between it and the cross-examination organizations. Association tournaments are viewed as an extension of the speech classroom. Specifically, the skills we teach as effective in persuading a public audience are also the skills rewarded at Association events. Ideally, a debate is an exchange that, when witnessed by a member of the general public, would be viewed as comprehensible and enlightening.