And our tournaments have become giant cookie factories where we present our current batch for examination and approval, hoping that few or none will be rejected to the crumb heap. Now, don't take my cynical analogy the wrong way. I am all for competition. I value competitive forensics. After all, creating opportunities for students to showcase their abilities in a tournament setting is much of what forensic activity is all about.
Tournaments can be a great motivational factor to encourage our students to work.
And one of the severest dangers in the quest for perfect orators is that many of our colleagues have succumbed to the temptation of writing the speeches for their students. And yes, come on, admit it. And after we critique a speech one weekend and suggest major changes in its development, if by some quirk of fate we are selected to judge that student during the very next weekend's tournament, we expect to see that student with the completely revamped speech, completely re-memorized. I admit it. I have asked this impossible task of some of my own students before.