Avni - Week 11: But, Um, So, Yeah
This past weekend, I went to the Stanford Invitational Debate Tournament and was a finalist! Although I regularly go to competitions and talk until I can’t anymore, this one felt different when going up the seed bracket. This tournament made me realize the power of speaking.
After a gruesome ten rounds of one hour each, I learned that many people lost solely based on their presentation skills. Sprinkling their speeches with ‘ums’ or ‘but uh’ took a toll into wether they would actually go on to the elimination rounds or not. Their arguments were sound, and logic impermeable (of course not better than mine), but delivery made the huge difference.
I also realized I have that power very inherently, like a second nature. But others, can struggle immensely. Some competitors had brilliant ideas but faltered because their words failed to carry the weight they deserved.
This overall experience made me reflect on the broader implications of speech beyond debate. The way we present our thoughts—wether in professional settings, socratic seminars, or everyday arguments with your sibling—determines how seriously we are truly taken. Leaders, activists, and visionaries throughout our history have used speech as a powerful tool, shaping our societies and making the change we see today.
Debate has taught me that power doesn’t always come from topic knowledge alone, but also comes from the ability to express the knowledge effectively so that not only your opponents buy it, your judge does too.
But with great power comes great responsibility.
This responsibility of speaking with conviction, and purpose, not just in debate competitions, but in life itself. Power in speech should not be used to manipulate people or mislead them, but to inform and inspire people for positive change. The responsibility comes with the need to use them wisely as well.
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Hey Avni, first off congrats on a successful tournament! It’s really impressive that you have stuck with debate since it is a huge time commitment. Anyway, I agree with the view that a confident presentation without much quality content is much better than a quality-filled but poor delivery presentation. In debate especially, confidence is crucial since judges factor that into their scoring. Politician speeches are a great example of this. Though they may be filled with platitudes most of the time, these speeches emanate confidence, giving the listener the impression that the politician knows what they are talking about. Putting aside political bias, Trump’s calm and collected demeanor when debating or delivering speeches directly translates to his political success. However, as you mentioned, confident words are powerful, giving people like Trump the ability to the persuade and manipulate the public. Your quote “with great power comes great responsibility” perfectly captures this. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHi Avni! Congratulations on being a finalist at your debate tournament! My sister, who just started doing debate, has been complaining to me all weekend about how tiring it is, so I really admire you for having the ability to attend these types of competitions on a regular basis! Regarding your actual blog post, I feel as if I really agree with your statement that your speech and the way you present yourself has a great influence on the way that others view you. Unfortunately, however, I believe that I’m one of those individuals that you mention who “struggle immensely” to gain the power of speech.
ReplyDeleteThrough my very limited public speaking experiences, I’ve realized that I greatly struggle with articulating my ideas and forming my thoughts into actual sentences. Whenever I stand in front of the class for presentations, I find myself often stuttering and spending more time saying “um” instead of my actual speech, which I’ve realized, unfortunately, also has a big impact on the grade I receive during these assignments. With these experiences, I feel like I can wholeheartedly agree that the ability to speak and effectively convey your thoughts is a great power that brings you success in whatever you do. I really appreciated the way that you connected this thought to a more general perspective at the end of your blog and warned us of the dangers with the power in speech as well. Thank you for sharing Avni!
Hi Avni, congratulations on becoming a finalist at your tournament! I’ve always admired people who are able to naturally speak with really good presentation skills, like people on TED Talks, so I think it’s really cool that you’re able to use your ability to not only practice debate but also observe how others present themselves. The power of delivery is something that I don’t want to admit actually impacts a lot of things in society, even our success in this class, as we learn how to improve our communication skills in writing, and the way you explained its value in your blog made me feel a little more grateful for it. I was initially interested in reading your blog because of its unique title, which reminded me of what I hear in daily casual conversations, slang that unfortunately finds its way into the presentations we eventually have to give in school. I’m definitely prone to this problem, but I appreciate how you explained that speaking for the right cause is just as important as the way you present yourself. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHello Avni! I really like the topic of your Blog. You dived deep into the depths of communication and how it impacted you in your day to day life. I find it really intriguing that in your tournament at Stanford, you were able to talk about various topics and aspects that aided you in making sure you succeeded during your tournament. You also mentioned the way of giving out a speech or a certain way of talking during a debate, and how it impacts the overall outcome if an individual places or not during the debate. I feel like an individual can be the greatest public speaker ever, and also have a lot of knowledge, however, if they are unable to bring together their speech and if they say a lot of filler words, the overall quality of their speech/debate will significantly decrease. All the individuals who caused a lot of change in the world were all really competent speakers, and that is one of the main reasons they were able to compel and persuade the audiences of their messages.
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