I was involved in speech for almost my entire high school career, and it created some of the best experiences of my entire life. I strongly believe that everyone should be involved in speech in high school, because it not only gives you skills with public speaking but also gives the community of being involved in a team. Here are these reasons, and a few more, explained.

Speech helps develop better public speaking skills.

This one is pretty obvious, but it’s so important. The wide variety of performances you can do in speech allows you to gain skills that are essential in real life public speaking settings. Yes, speeches you gives in class in high school may give you the basics, but speeches outside of this setting will require more skills than “don’t sway, don’t swear and don’t smile.” Not every presentation you give in a job or other setting is going to be strictly informational or persuasive. In the real world, you want to be more relatable and relaxed. The many different aspects of competitive speech helps you learn these things. Humorous helps you relax on stage. Impromptu teaches you to quick thinking in the face of whatever is thrown at you. Extemporaneous shows professionalism and and organization in high pressure situations. None of these things can be learned from a “3-5 minute presentation about your favorite author.”

Speech allows those who aren’t athletic to compete.

I was never very athletic high school, and while I dabbled with volleyball when I was younger I never connected to any sport. I know that many kids in my high school and across the country felt the same. However, just because one isn’t athletic doesn’t mean they don’t feel competitive. Speech allows kids to have an outlet to practice, compete and win at something they are passionate about other than the classic high school sports. Having the ability to find passion in something other than schoolwork or sports is essential in high school.

Speech gives a sense of community.

The first couple years of high school I was pretty deep in an unhealthy relationship, and when that ended I felt like I was adrift without any friends. The girls on my speech team remedied that almost immediately. They took me in and made me feel like I belonged. Not only were we teammates, but we were friends. This school activity that took up almost every one of my Saturdays allowed me to reconnect with friends I’d lost over the years. This type of community is something that everyone in high school needs. It’s important to have a sense of belonging.

Speech allows students to excel at something.

Speech is different than regular sports because each meet you receive specific, written feedback on what you did well at, and what you should improve on. You can then use the following week to focus on improving these things for the next week. If you are truly passionate and work hard you will see yourself improving, be it how you place, what judges write on ballots or simply how you feel about your performances. And if that doesn’t work out for you, there are many more types of speeches you can gives. I did persuasive speech almost my entire speech career. I did okay, but consistently placed low. Then, senior year I tried a serious piece on a whim, and won first place. This was quite a shock but truly showed that anyone can find their place in speech, no matter their interests.

Speech just might help you figure out your future.

Today, I am an English major at UNL and I can honestly attribute my being here to my being involved with speech. Being apart of speech and finding my love for this type of art brought my close to my English teacher who was also the speech coach. If it weren’t for that, I don’t think I would have realized that English and writing were what I wanted to focus on in my future, and I am so thankful for it.