Once again, I'm glad that you made it here. Hopefully this can be for you what I needed when I lacked information on speech-making and also on finding speeches. I do realize that the bulk of the speeches I have here are humorous, but maybe that's because generally it is very, very hard to find good serious or poetry speeches that aren't about the holocaust. I sincerely think that the holocaust was wrong and should never be forgotten, and I don't discount the awful things that happened, but it is a bit overdone. In inform categories, diseases (mental and physical) are also overdone. If possible, a tip for you is to try and stay away from these subjects at least until the rage is over (of using them)--and instead find something else. I do realize that some of these cuttings are not to time, they're not supposed to be. Rather they are for you to cut (because I don't know your standard times in your state or country) and also because I simply just cut out interesting scenes. And also, it depends who does them. You can't expect to do well on a speech just because you think it's sad, funny, or just plain like the topic. Although your enthusiasm may carry through to your speech, don't rely solely on that. Instead, a good thing to do is memorize slowly, simply by practicing. This enables you to develop more facial and arm movements. But the most important thing to do is just to let go. Get into your character! Seriously! I swear that all anybody cares about is how THEY are going to do! Chances are they haven't even heard a word of your speech, although they do try to look attentive for show. As for the judge, if your speech was really bad, they won't remember it past one hour after the speech. And if you do a wonderful, it might be two hours. But don't expect them to remember something you did/didn't do right. Everytime you go up there you are up there to prove a point, and to impress the judge. Do so accordingly. Practice and you will be more comfortable. Regardless of anything that anyone else may say, just have fun out there. I promise that if you don't, you will want to quit. Although the socializing part is great, it won't be worth it after a while. And on to the categories!:
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