Speech and Debate Takes On The World Individual Debating and PublicSpeaking Championships

On Friday, March 28, Deerfield Speech and Debate board members Edie Huffard ’25, Lily Pierce ’25, and Avery Zakowich ’25 (also News Editor of the Scroll), along with Head Speech and Debate Coach Daniel Houston and Director of the Deerfield Fund Kellie Houston, traveled to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to compete in the World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championship (WIDPSC). Huffard qualified for the semifinals in Parliamentary Debate and finals in Impromptu Speaking; Pierce qualified for the Interpretive Reading and After Dinner Speaking semi-finals; and Zakowich qualified for the Persuasive Speech finals.

During the competition, each speaker competed in four events: Parliamentary Debate, Impromptu Speaking, and Interpretive Reading, and either Persuasive or After Dinner speaking.

Huffard noted that Parliamentary Debate at WIDPSC differed dramatically from the traditional New England format. Instead of ten minutes of prep time, partnerships were given a full hour before each debate. In addition, the organizers randomly assigned partners for each round; during her time in the competition she had a partner from South Korea and two from South Africa.

In addition to coaching the team, Dr. Houston also served as a judge for rounds of various competitions. He said, “[Parliamentary] debates are really cool at this international tournament because the partners are randomized, so as opposed to working in someone you’re used to working with, like a teammate, you’re partnered with someone from a different place in the world who might have a radically different debating style... It was really fun to see.”

Pierce felt that the global aspect of the competition was also reflected in the prompts themselves. “On the world stage, there are things that are... much more broad and universal,” she said. “There still are topics about language and health care and education, and sometimes it can be a little bit difficult... bridging the gap in a way we don’t have to when we’re competing in our own debate league in New England,” she said.

In the Impromptu Speaking competition, speakers were given three topics to choose from and two minutes to prepare a three to five minute speech. Huffard noted that these prompts could vary widely. One memorable prompt for her was a quote from Albert Einstein: “Reality is an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.”

For the Interpretive Reading competition, each speaker chose a written work of literary merit between five and eleven minutes to perform. In the Persuasive Speaking category, each speaker prepared and delivered a speech on a serious topic between seven and thirteen minutes designed to persuade, and in the After Dinner category, each speaker prepared and delivered a speech between five and seven minutes meant to both persuade and entertain.

For her Interpretive Reading piece, Pierce read “What Dark Thing” by Rachel Zucker, which she described as “a commentary on the monotony of daily life as a woman and how the world that we live in kind of places a superficial value on everything around us,” she said. She described her After-Dinner speech as “a satirical kind of commentary on the... wealth and privilege of some private schools... and what the wealth gap looks like between some private and public institutions,” she said.

The Deerfield team also explored the area of greater Kuala Lumpur during their trip. Before the competition officially started, they, along with the rest of the tournament’s debaters, toured the National Mosque and Independence Square. They also visited a local durian orchard where they built chairs for a nearby school.

Huffard enjoyed this break from the debate room and the opportunity to learn more about her fellow debaters and Malaysian culture. “I built a chair with a girl named Advika. She’s from Singapore, super sweet, and it was just a cool way to meet people outside of the competition... and a sense of the culture,” she said.

The location of the competition reflected its intentions. “The multinationalism of Kuala Lumpur was really cool,” Dr. Houston said. “Being able to see a beautiful mosque and Hindu temples in one city was so neat, because it’s that part of the world where these cultures [coexist harmoniously].”

During the competition, the team visited the National Gallery and the Perdana Botanical Gardens. After the Grand Finals, the team stayed in Malaysia for one more night before they visited the Batu Caves, which housed a Hindu shrine.

Reflecting on his experience as a coach, Dr. Houston said, “It’s extremely busy when we’re there... The tournament is... around the clock. It’s a lot of time in debate rooms. So it goes by in kind of a blur, but it’s really, really fun.”

With this year’s championship wrapped up, the debaters are now getting some much-needed rest as the Speech and Debate program sets its sights on WIDPSC in 2026.