What’s in a Name?
Let’s face it. Forensics is… old.
Some of the events that we see every weekend have been around for more than a hundred years and were created by organizations that are as old or older. The Interstate Oratorical Association has held a yearly tournament since 1874. The National Forensics League (now the National Speech and Debate Association) was formed in 1925. That's before the Great Depression.
Along the way, these organizations have named and renamed events. And the naming structure has become something of an albatross for forensics ever since. Even the name of the activity is a source of confusion; is it ‘forensics’ or ‘speech and debate’? And, in todays age of crime shows, is it possible to use the term ‘forensics’ without having someone ask, “Wait, you study dead people?”
Event names have needed a revamp and standardization for a long time. Considering multiple leagues and organizations host tournaments and have their naming conventions, and it becomes exacerbated with regional differences. Competitors who are used to an event being called one name in the Pacific Northwest may be taken aback when the same event is called something completely different in the Midwest.
That’s where National Online Forensics (NOF) comes in. We're establishing a naming system. We’re in a unique position to create standardization. We host regular national tournaments. Before the wide acceptance of online tournaments, this was only possible for legacy leagues and organizations. Even then, the tournaments were only once a year.
Our organization has the widest appeal of age ranges than any other league. We believe in our motto, "forensics for everyone from kindergarten to college." We find commonalities across the skill, from college to the elementary competition level because we actively work with these competitors. We hope by highlighting these common threads throughout the forensic community and across skill level, we can work toward building a standard event library that can be used by everyone.
Below is a brief breakdown of some of the more popular forensic events, their respective names, and an explanation of what makes them unique.
Informative (AKA Expository)
Quite possibly the most basic event to speech and debate, Informative is an event that requires the speaker to (gasp!) inform the audience. I know. I know. But the names of this event can differ, depending on where you compete.
Most tournaments have a 10 minute maximum speaking time and allow for visual aids. But some tournaments have named this event “Expository,’ and will sometimes limit the time to only 5 minutes. Sometimes tournaments permit visual aids, other times they prohibit them. Some tournaments even require them. But the goal is always the same: to explain a subject to the audience. The official National Online Forensics name of the event is Informative. And the time limits for our tournaments are: 5 minutes for elementary; 10 minutes for middle school, high school, and college. Visual aids are permitted.
Persuasive (AKA Original Oratory; OO; Original Advocacy; OA)
Persuasive speeches have been around since the beginning of forensics. Many tournaments call this event Original Oratory (or OO), which is the term that the NSDA uses. The rules of the event state that an OO speech could be informative, persuasive, or any other type of speech. It could even be a eulogy, for example. But in practice, the speeches are almost always persuasive. Typically, OO speeches do not allow for visual aids.
The event of Original Advocacy is a persuasive speech that requires the competitor to come up with specific policy or governmental changes to fix a problem.
Naming clarity is really needed for this event since so many people refer to it by a different name. The official National Online Forensics name of the event is Persuasive. And the time limits for NOF tournaments are: 5 minutes for elementary; 10 minutes for middle school, high school, and college. Visual aids are permitted.
Declamation (AKA Oratorical Interpretation; OI)
This event requires the competitor to find a speech that has already been performed, and then the speaker gives her own spin on it. A competitor has the chance to perform their own rendition of “The Gettysburg Address.”
The naming is confusing since Oratorical Interpretation is often abbreviated to simply ‘OI.’ This becomes a problem when trying to distinguish it from other events, such as OO. Many people who are new to forensics become confused with these two events, and it can present some embarrassing results. Just imagine showing up to an event where students are supposed to be performing an original persuasive speech, and a competitor walks in to deliver an impressive version of “I Have a Dream”.
The official National Online Forensics name of the event is Declamation. And the time limits for NOF tournaments are: 5 minutes for elementary; 10 minutes for middle school, high school, and college. Since this is an interpretation event, visual aids are not permitted.
Speech to Entertain (AKA After Dinner Speaking; After Dinner Speech; ADS)
Seems like every tournament, the person announcing the awards slips up and calls this event by the wrong name. For Speech to Entertain, the goal of the speech is right there in the title: to entertain. The speech can be informative or persuasive in nature, but should use humor to make the central thesis of the speech more palatable to the audience. Less of a stand-up comedy routine and more of a structured speech, the competitors still use jokes to affect the audience.
The term ‘After Dinner Speech’ can really confuse a newcomer to forensics. That name was more appropriate when some tournaments actually had a sit-down dinner before/during the awards ceremony. Competitors and judges would mingle, eat, and then watch the final round of the funny speeches. But soon enough, the dinners were cut out, and now the name. But Speech to Entertain seems to be a little more clear; we have speeches to Persuade, Inform, and Entertain. You know, the 3 big ones.
The official National Online Forensics name of the event is Speech to Entertain. And the time limits for NOF tournaments are: 5 minutes for elementary; 10 minutes for middle school, high school, and college. Visual aids are permitted.
Program Oral Interpretation (AKA Thematic Interp; TI)
Program Oral Interpretation, or POI as it is most often called, asks the competitor to combine multiple pieces of literature into one big performance. The literature should come from at least two of the following: Drama, Poetry, or Prose. Competitors are not limited on how many pieces of literature they can use, so go nuts!
As far as misnomers go, this one is pretty understandable. Thematic Interp is a pretty fair descriptor of the event. Competitors are finding a common theme in their literature, and they are bringing it to life. So, calling the event ‘Thematic Interp’ seems like a no-brainer. But POI is also a great moniker. After all, it is a program (meaning, it uses more than one piece of literature), and it is oral interpretation, so National Online Forensics goes with POI.
The official National Online Forensics name of the event is Program Oral Interpretation. And the time limits for NOF tournaments are: 10 minutes for middle school, high school, and college (elementary is not offered). Since this is an interpretation event, visual aids are not permitted. Competitors usually perform from a black binder which contains their literature.
So there you have it! A quick rundown of some events with multiple names. There might be other events with multiple names out there, but these are the most common. Hopefully this quick guide will help clear the muddy waters so that you and your team can better understand the events, compete more, and go for the gold. And if the name of the event is preventing you from trying one of these events, you have to remind yourself: a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.
For more information about these and all our National Online Forensics events, please check out our bylaws.