The Speech and Debate team is one of Mesa’s most successful teams, as they have consistently ranked top 20 in the nation for the past three years.

The team overall, who ranks fifth in the nation among community colleges and fourteenth in the nation among both two-year and four-year institutions, competed in a tournament held at Point Loma Nazarene University Feb. 5-7.”

“We refer to this competition as the ‘blood bath,'” said Kim Gerhardt, the team’s coach. “It is extremely competitive. There are 80 teams, and having one team that broke into the quarter finals says a lot.”

Speech and debate provides students with better public speaking skills and offers them the chance to face that fear of public speaking.

Team member Case Griffiths, who has been on the team for three semesters and debates at the junior level, said he was drawn to the team to do simply just that.

“I was shy and wanted to do something that was outside of my comfort zone,” Griffiths said. “I wanted to challenge myself to do something uncomfortable.”

Griffiths, a Communications major, also notes that being on the team serves as the next stepping stone to his career in public speaking.

“Being a part of this team has made me a better speaker, better at communicating my thoughts, and strengthened my ability to connect with people,” Griffiths said.

The team, who uses parliamentary debating, competes in separate teams consisting of two people, in which one person is appointed the prime minister. There is a constant preparation process involved in arranging this style of debate.

“I’ve become familiar with the way debate is structured,” Griffiths said. “Seventy percent of debating is knowing how to set up an argument, being fair and balanced with the opposition, and entertaining ideas while still maintaining opposition.”

In a typical policy debate, general techniques include finding holes in the opposition’s arguments and exploiting that in the debate.

“I try to let my passion come across so I can connect with the audience,” Griffiths said. “Most of the subjects are controversial and I use feelings to convey what I am talking about. It is important to be knowledgeable of subjects and know why you are arguing them.”

The speech and debate team also offers another style of debate, known as platform speaking. This style is different because it does not involve argumentation, but consists of informative and impromptu speaking.

“We refer to these speaking events as Individual Events,” Gerhardt says. “There are three categories in individual events: informative speaking, impromptu speaking, and an oral interpretation of a literature piece where speakers are acting and becoming the character.”

Calvin Crosby, who is in his second semester on the team, competes in this style of speaking.

“I don’t debate, but still participate in the same competitions,” Crosby said. “I give informative speeches and act out literature pieces, which are fit into ten minute frames. For these, I use my body motions to connect with the audience and gain their attention.”

Individual events differ from debate not only by the style of speaking, but also by the number of people on a team.

“I am a one-man team,” Crosby said. “I give speeches on my own that I prepared myself. I spend 30 minutes a day going over speeches, practice characterizing, and do exercises to help open my mouth wider, as I have a hard time opening my mouth.”

Crosby, who is blind and partially deaf, got involved with the team for his love of speaking and his desire to become a motivational speaker.

The team is preparing to compete in Internationals held in Berlin on Mar. 13 through 20, as well as Nationals in April.

“I think one thing that sets us apart is we are the most realistic team on the circuit and uphold the spirit of parliamentary debate,” Griffiths said.