Stop Trying
My speaking style has changed drastically through five years of debate. Looking back to my first two years, I spoke at over 250 words per minute. My mother told me I had to try harder to speak slower. So I did: going into my third year, I spoke at a much slower pace. But then I spoke in an unconversational tone, or as my mother loved to call it, the “debater cadence.” Over the next two years, I heard my mother tell me countless times that I needed to speak conversationally. But how does one do that? I tried many methods to talk conversationally. I tried talking with pens in my mouth, speaking faster, and speaking slower. However, these methods came to no avail. Halfway through my fifth year of NCFCA, I learned the answer was counterintuitive.
The key to speaking more conversationally is to stop trying.
This tactic might sound quite confusing, but trust me, it makes sense. When we debate, we try so hard to talk like we usually do that we go the opposite way. But compare that to how we talk with friends or in a normal conversation in daily interaction. Nobody tries hard to sound conversational; we simply speak. When we try to stay conversational, we forget what our “true” voice sounds like, and we speak unconversationally in that “debater cadence.”
This brings us to the tricks to unlock our true voice in the debate. In order to truly stop using this “debater cadence” we have to stop trying to use our authentic voice. The steps to do this might sound somewhat confusing, but they are pretty simple. There are three main steps to unlock this voice.
Relaxing Your Voice
The first and most critical step is to relax your voice. I noticed that I seemed to strain my voice or push it to sound conversational, which was affirmed by one of my coaches when he saw that I tense up when I speak. To relax my voice, I started taking a step back and stopped trying to talk. I just said words and didn’t put as much effort into every word I said. This trick helped me to calm my voice and sound much more conversational. One trick I use before every debate round or speech to help myself relax and not seem as tense and unconversational is to do some breathing exercises. One that I enjoy is like the exercises in Karate Kid. In the words of Miyagi Sensei, "Out through mouth, breath in through nose." The hand motions in the scene may be unnecessary, but I find them very relaxing. I also like to add in a slight breath-hold between each step. Afterwards, you will find yourself more relaxed than you have been in a good while. It will help you get over any nerves and allow you to relax your voice easily. You might notice that the words you say afterward are relaxed and pretty conversational, which is what you are probably aiming toward when you speak.
Being Yourself
This second step might seem somewhat cliche. However, one thing many people try to do is they try to mimic the style of another person who gets good speaker points or that does well at debate. This leads us to communicate differently from our “true voice” and can lead to unconversational speaking. So the key here is to not overfocus on what other people say or how other people debate. What you need to do is find your voice and your style. Through the first step, you can relax and find your “true voice.” To use it properly, you have to be yourself and use that voice, not the voice of someone who might’ve won speaks at a tournament.
Recording Yourself
This third step is the key to using your voice and learning how to maintain that voice. Something I did was make a daily podcast about the news. The podcast not only helped me with extemp prep, but also helped me with recording myself in a conversational tone. The podcast allowed me to be in an uncomfortable position, somewhat similar to debate rounds. The podcast allowed me to practice using a conversational style where I would otherwise use the “debater cadence.” Stopping trying doesn’t mean stopping practicing, it means changing how you practice.
In the end, speaking conversationally comes down to one simple phrase: try less and be yourself.
