Speech season begins with two third place wins

The speech team took third overall in their most recent tournament.

Students competed at Carbondale last Saturday.

“I feel as though I’m doing well in speech so far, but I know I will get better with practice and time,” freshman Bella Teston said. “Speech is a great new experience that I’ve admired for so long ever since my older siblings participated in their HHS years.”

How the judges score each performance can heavily impact an individual’s place and a team’s performance.

“Judges from up north judge completely different than judges from southern Illinois,” said senior Neva Wasson. “The judges from central or northern Illinois take things a lot more seriously.” 

During a performance, a performer’s state of mind and overall mood can also affect how their performance goes.

“When I get to my first round, I get nervous and those nerves tend to make me mess up a lot more,” senior Kirsten Eversmann said. “By the second round I’m used to performing so my second round goes better than the first.” 

Members continue to practice throughout the season, refining their pieces for the next performance.

“Practicing my speech is like a rerun of a TV show– I’ve seen it 100 times but it’s still good,” said junior Grant Dooley. “Memorization is hard though. To memorize, it really helps to record yourself, and then listen to yourself giving the speech later.”