Episode Transcript
[00:00:09] Speaker A: Hello, friends, loyal listeners and bears everywhere. Welcome to the newest episode of the Sound Barrier podcast, the official podcast of Northeast State Community College. I'm your co host Thomas Wilson, here today with my fellow co host Mackenzie Moore. Gent doing this episode today from the entertainment technology studio here at the technical education complex on the lovely Blountville campus. A nice spring day here in April and there's a saying around these parts, don't argue with the Northeast State debate team. You'll end up on the losing end. So we got a couple of guests from that debate team, a coach and one of our debaters. They're joining us today on the episode to talk about the debate team public speaking and kind of how important it is to be able to talk to people and communicate. Our guests today are student Matthew Hughes and coach Emily Napier and faculty member. Welcome both of y'all.
[00:01:04] Speaker B: Thanks for having us.
[00:01:06] Speaker A: Matt, tell us a little bit about yourself, how you came to Northeast State and how you got involved in the debate team.
[00:01:12] Speaker C: Well, I'm a non traditional student. I took about two gap years after high school. Eventually I realized I really wanted to come back and become a physician. So I came back and I was looking for something to some extracurricular to do to, you know, find a community and, you know, help myself find a support. And I just so happened to attend a debate meeting around. They used to have debate club and then the debate team. I went to the debate club and it was kind of love at first sight when I went there. Just all the folks that were there just have become since lifelong friends and definitely gave me a passion for public speaking. And it was probably I'd never had a debate class before I joined the club and I got a call from Ruth Livingston just randomly around 4pm in the afternoon. I had no idea who that was, right. And she asked if I want to go with us to a debate tournament. And I said okay, sure. And from there, yeah, the rest is history.
[00:02:14] Speaker D: What first appealed to you? You said you just showed up to a debate meeting looking for community. But what was it about debate team versus, you know, other clubs and organizations?
[00:02:25] Speaker C: Yeah, that's a good question. I'd say really what I find in the bait team especially is just such a small knit and close community that really kind of supports each other. And a lot of clubs probably have the same thing. But I find it the most in the bait team because there's only a handful of us. But I think we really have each other's backs. And also too, a lot of us are secondary Comm majors because of Ruth Livingston, Emily Napier. And so we see a lot of each other as well in classes, you know, and so we kind of have that community that we fostered together, which maybe sets us aside a little bit, I'd like to think.
[00:02:59] Speaker D: Glad to hear that. Let's see. And Emily, as the debate team coach, what inspired you to take on this role to mentor these, you know, these debaters, these arguers. Arguers. Would that be the correct term?
[00:03:11] Speaker C: Maybe Debaters?
[00:03:12] Speaker D: I think I'm just Debaters.
[00:03:13] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:03:13] Speaker D: That's a better word.
[00:03:15] Speaker B: Yeah. I think for me, it's always been just a passion of mine to invest in students.
That's really why I got into this career field to begin with, is I wanted to find something that I was passionate about, which is helping people think critically about ideas or to express themselves effectively or just to learn communication. And the debate team is a really unique opportunity to be able to incorporate all of those things. So it's an opportunity for me to invest in people's lives, but it's also an opportunity for these students to grow and flourish. And so it's kind of more of a mentorship role for me that I really love. And it's also an added bonus because whenever I was a student, I was on the debate team, and it personally really impacted me. And so now it's kind of like a full circle moment of getting to see that in the lives of other students, which is really cool.
[00:04:04] Speaker D: Amazing. I didn't know that you were involved with the debate team. So you were a Northeast State debater?
[00:04:10] Speaker B: I debated, yes. So I went to Northeast State for my associate's degree. I debated here, and then I did my undergrad at etsu, and I also debated there. So I kind of had the experience at a couple of different locations. And so I'm able to kind of bring my perspectives from that into being the coach now.
[00:04:28] Speaker D: Certainly.
[00:04:29] Speaker A: Awesome. Yeah. I believe I remember you from being on the debate team a few years ago.
[00:04:34] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:04:34] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:04:35] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:04:36] Speaker A: I just came to me. I ring a bell now, Matthew, for those who may not be familiar, what exactly does being on the debate team involve? How do you prepare? Do you. Does the entire team get together and plan for what?
I guess there are divisions of debate that you go in. How do you kind of prepare for the. For the competitions?
[00:04:58] Speaker C: Yeah, good question. So we have weekly meetings that we come to Thursday, which Ms. Napier helps us as well as Ruth Livingston sometimes, and that usually is our preparatory force right there, but also, too, during the day of tournaments or even days that we don't go. Sometimes we'll get together, we'll, you know, collude together and try to help ourselves for next tournament. And even in the tournaments, we'll actually get together and help each other. And a big part of debate, which kind of not many people think about really, is the team aspect of it. Even though you're in a classroom, just you and another partner, a lot of the work that you do and a lot of the preparation comes from the team itself. We kind of like to hold each other up.
[00:05:39] Speaker D: And that's interesting. You had mentioned that you eventually see yourself being a physician. That's what you're pursuing. What factors, facets, what takeaways do you have from debate that could help you in your future profession?
[00:05:51] Speaker C: Yeah, definitely. I mean, with debate, it's just. It's given me such a passion for public speaking, and I just find it so much more easier to be able to say the right things and know when to listen and when to talk, because debate is also listening and talking, and sometimes you really should listen instead of talking, you know. And one thing that's really helped me in terms of what I want to do is I just see it just so clear. I actually went to Nashville around November, and if you told me maybe a year ago I'd be speaking in front of hundreds of people on the Capitol building at Nashville, I probably wouldn't believe you. But I just did it easily. And I don't really have an anxiety anymore to speak publicly. And in my volunteer work at Ballard Health, I kind of see that now. It's just so much easier to talk to people. I can enter a room of patients and just, you know, talk as though I'm talking to you. And Bob, just really easy now.
[00:06:46] Speaker D: Wow. You're seeing changes in just everyday, you know, communication and, you know, other facets of your life through debate team, through what you're gaining here. That's rewarding, definitely.
[00:06:59] Speaker C: And that's. That's one thing I've learned is it often coincides with almost every field that you can think of, because communication is everything. Any field that you go into probably will have communication moving right along.
[00:07:12] Speaker D: I just want to move into. I know that you've explained, you know, team meetings and coaching. What does a competition look like? How is that set up? What's the format? What goes on?
[00:07:22] Speaker C: Yeah, so we usually. Sometimes we travel or sometimes I think we've had two debates that's been here. You know, usually we travel or things like that, and we have four rounds generally. And in those rounds, we have 15 minutes of preparation time. They drop topics. Then we go into our room and we work as a team to work on what we're going to say for the given resolution. Then we'll go into a classroom. It'll usually take around an hour for one of these rounds to be completed. And you know, we usually have about 15, 20 minute break. Then the second or third or fourth topic will drop. And after that, whenever the four rounds complete, then we can move into semifinals or finals itself and go from there. But yeah, that's generally how it works. Usually around eight hours we're there. Definitely a bit of time commitment, but it's a lot of fun, for sure.
[00:08:12] Speaker D: Sounds like a full day. What's been a favorite topic of yours in the past that you've argued?
[00:08:18] Speaker C: Yeah, the one that comes to my mind is they drop this ask believes love at first sight is real. You know, wanting to be a neuroscience major when I transfer, I'm really fascinated by the actual physiology and neurology side of life itself. And I just thought, man, that's perfect because it's all about the brain and everything. And it was just such a fun time. And I remember we were kind of scrambling because the big thing was love at first sight, it being an instantaneous thing. And. And we were kind of struggling to find a way to bring up those instantaneous. But then the last moment I realized, well, the brain is made of electrical chemical impulses, right. Electricity. Electricity moves like crazy quick. Right. And so we brought that up and eventually that helped us win. But yeah, it was such a fun, fun topic because the other students were also psych majors. Which goes to show, which goes to show you. I mean, it's not just communication majors in this thing, right?
[00:09:17] Speaker D: Yeah, it picked everyone's interest.
[00:09:18] Speaker C: And so, yeah, they're bringing up, you know, serotonin, they're bringing up the reward center of the brain. You know, it's just, I guess, you know, we're just nerding out there, right.
[00:09:28] Speaker D: What was the consensus? What did that end up being? Who won?
[00:09:31] Speaker C: We eventually won because whenever I. Thank you. We brought up the electrochemical impulses. How, you know, our brain is made of electricity. It just takes really milliseconds to do that because we showed clearly that it is love is a real thing. But we just really needed to show that at a momentary thing, at an instant. And we got to show that the end, that calm made us win.
[00:09:54] Speaker D: So you argued that love at first sight is a thing because of.
[00:09:58] Speaker C: Okay, yeah, really.
[00:10:00] Speaker D: Now I want to start Arguing with.
[00:10:02] Speaker C: That really cool topic. Really cool topic.
[00:10:05] Speaker A: You can't see electricity much like love, but you know it's there because it's a force.
[00:10:09] Speaker C: I guess you're right.
[00:10:11] Speaker D: But how do you know the first electrical impulse was love and not some other, like, subconscious like note of like a quality of that person?
How do you know it was love? What if it was just, I don't know, information gathering?
How do you know when love hits truly? Yeah, I guess you'd have to be like extremely self aware at that part to like know like the inner workings of like the electrical circuit of your brain.
[00:10:38] Speaker C: There's usually physiological markers associated with like.
[00:10:41] Speaker D: Maybe like flushing, like blushing and things like that.
[00:10:46] Speaker A: We need to review your notes on that, Matt. You should.
[00:10:48] Speaker D: Yeah, we need to review. I'm just kidding. That's great. And so we talked about recent competitions and we talked about the format, staging. So it also involves a lot of beforehand, like research, critical thinking, application. How has being on a team helped you develop these skills, strengthen these skills, and use these skills in areas of your life?
[00:11:11] Speaker C: Yeah. Again, another good question. Thank you. I mean, like I said, we have 15 minutes, which a lot of students who take argumentation debate, they generally have about a week to work these things out. So there's definitely a big time crunch when it comes to these things. I'd say it's definitely helped me research. And one weird part of it is it's helped me understand more so where information comes from and what information might be biased. Because being on one side or the other, obviously you have a bias in the argument and you have to be selective with what information you use.
And I've just realized working with like English projects, psychology projects and things like that, I realize now, oh, I can see the author's bias in this. And it kind of helped me understand, okay, I need to be more selective depending on the work I want to do. And yeah, for research as well, it's just helped me get that really quick sort of chops for being able to find relevant and critical information to support me. And for critical thinking as well. I mean, given the time crunch as well as just the back and forth that always is. It's always made me. It's even my personal life, I kind of see that things that I believe. It's made me kind of question that, you know, because there's two sides to any argument. Right. And so, yeah, it's definitely helped in all those areas for sure. Just by repetition, you know, it almost.
[00:12:41] Speaker D: Sounds like debate kind of opens up a bigger perception of our world. Emily, what's it like seeing these students, you know, take these tools and apply it in different areas of their life? And, you know, it promotes growth. It promotes, you know, a new way of seeing things. What's the reward in that?
[00:12:59] Speaker B: Yeah, I think it's definitely very rewarding to see just personal growth in each individual student that we work with, because some students come into the debate meetings the very first time, they're super nervous or anxious about public speaking. Maybe they've never had to read through information and kind of like Matthew was talking about, condense it and then be able to present it in a valid argument. So it's rewarding to see just their personal growth in those type of aspects. But also, I was talking to Matthew the other day about how are you actually going to apply this just in everyday life? And he mentioned that he wants to be a physician, and he's talked a lot about how that's going to enhance how he interacts with patients or seeks to understand really, where they're coming from or to listen to them and to be able to think critically about that situation.
And so that's super rewarding for me to think, okay, they're not just learning basic communication skills or how to process ideas, but this is actually going to play out in the workforce, which is really cool. I have another student who wants to be a lawyer, and he's talked about how this is going to help him feel more equipped to work on court cases and think through things about clients. I think those things are really rewarding, cool to see, and really encouraging that not just what we're doing on the team matters to their college experience, but it's really going to help them in their career, which is really.
I think it's a gift.
[00:14:27] Speaker D: Absolutely.
[00:14:28] Speaker A: I have a question about how do you select members of the team? And there's probably not a draft or anything, but how do you see students that you might go on the team and kind of play to their strengths as far as how they debate? Because I would imagine everybody kind of debates. Debates a little bit differently.
[00:14:44] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure. Usually recruiting is just very organic. Like Matthew mentioned, Ruth just kind of recruited him because I think you were in her class, and she kind of, you know, observed that potential in him. Same thing for me in my classes. I'll bring it up throughout the semester. Hey, if you're interested in joining the team or if you want to have an informal conversation with me, I'm happy to talk to you about it. I had a student just yesterday come up to me after class and express interest. And she just asked, hey, can I come to a tournament and just observe? Absolutely. Come watch, see if it's interesting to you. So it really just happens very organically. I think it helps that we're featured in the emails that Northeast State sends out so more students and faculty can become aware of that. But, yeah, it's usually just organic people. People who are in a public speaking class or an argumentation and debate class, if they have interest in it, maybe a professor will reach out to them. I know Ruth and I do that. Or sometimes students just come up to us and express interest.
[00:15:47] Speaker D: And what advice would you have for students who, you know, might be interested in joining debate, but they're just so intimidated by public speaking? And, you know, this could be a question for Matthew and Emily, too. Like, just from the coach's perspective and, you know, from the debater's perspective, I.
[00:16:02] Speaker B: Would just say give it a shot, Come watch a meeting or come to a tournament and just observe. Because I think that all of us have a little bit of apprehension towards doing new things or public speaking or just things that might be inherently fearful. But if you just get in the environment, you're kind of learning how it goes. I had a student the other day say, this is not as bad as I thought it was going to be. So sometimes you just have to take that step and try it out. And I think as you do that, you're going to become more comfortable. Also, like Matthew was saying, I think that's super encouraging that you feel like this is a really good, like, supportive environment. That's really one of the goals of the team. It's not that. Not just that you're learning all these skills, but that you feel like you're getting community while you're in college. So I think knowing that you're coming into an atmosphere or an environment that is going to support you whenever you're trying this new thing, I think that helps because a lot of times our meetings are focused more on not did you win the debate? But are you growing? And let's set goals for yourself. And sometimes that's more attainable and encouraging for students whenever they're entering something new. So I just tell them just to try it out and see, and they might be surprised of how much they like it.
[00:17:18] Speaker D: Would you have anything to say off of that, Matthew? Or, like, what would you have to say to, you know, a fellow student who might be interested?
[00:17:23] Speaker C: But yeah, I mean, obviously, being a psych major, one word that comes across my mind is exposure therapy. Public speaking is the most common phobia with 63% of the population fearing it, which is more than 55%, I believe, fear death. So people fear public speaking more than death. Some folks believe, you know, there's different levels to it. Right. Like maybe me, like, you know, I never had public speaking anxiety, but the opposite is true. Right? Because I remember my first, you know, time there. Obviously I was a little nervous, but really, through repetition, you sort of break away from that. Like I said earlier, I mean, I spoke in front of hundreds of people in Nashville. And it's not to brag on myself, but really it's just. I just went with it. And I wasn't really nervous because I just had done it so many times and now, like at work or anywhere else, I mean, I can talk to about just anyone without being anxious or, you know, fearing what they might think of me or things like that. So, I mean, for students who might be a little nervous to join, I mean, it's one of the best exposure therapies you can have. Because again, communication is with every job you have. If you want to go to an interview and be successful, just speak at Nashville, right?
[00:18:35] Speaker D: Oh, gosh, I don't know about that. I'll pass on that one. Kudos to you though. That's. That's big. That's huge.
[00:18:42] Speaker A: Public speaking more fearful than death. Fascinating. Wow.
[00:18:46] Speaker D: I can see it. I'm sweating just talking in a group, so it's fine. Sweaty palms.
[00:18:52] Speaker A: So tell us a little bit about, like the most recent tournament that the team competed in.
[00:18:56] Speaker B: So the most recent tournament that we were a part of. In March, Northeast State collaborated with ETSU to co host a tournament here on the Northeast State campus. Super fun tournament is a great opportunity just to be able to, you know, host other colleges to come here. And through that experience, we were able to have two teams from Northeast State participate in the novice division. And through that, we placed first and second at the tournament, which is super cool and just a great achievement of Northeast State because a lot of the debaters that we had, this is their first year on the debate team. So for them to be able to not only conquer their fears of maybe some anxiety around debate or public speaking, but to also go to a tournament and to succeed and do so well is just really cool to see how.
[00:19:46] Speaker A: Satisfying is it as a coach and alumnus and former student to see students kind of grow beyond even what they think they can be in debate and not just doing debate, but with their communication skills and how they plan how they prepare, how satisfying is it for you to see them kind of grow beyond what they expect of themselves?
[00:20:03] Speaker B: The first word that comes to mind is just joy. It's a joy to me to see students grow and flourish, but it's also a joy for me to be able to see them finding joy or personal happiness in their own growth. So, yeah, I just. I love to see them set goals for themselves or to tackle anxieties that they're facing and to actually be able to say at the end of the semester, hey, I grew in these types of ways, or I feel like being on the debate team has helped me be successful in college in these types of ways. So it's really rewarding personally for me. But I also feel like our college and our debate team is making an impact on these students that's going to go well beyond these walls, which is just really encouraging.
[00:20:49] Speaker A: Oh, absolutely. I have a question. Have you ever been presented with a debate topic that you had to debate either for or against, that went against your own kind of personal value system? And how did you handle that?
[00:21:02] Speaker C: If so, yeah, there's been many times for sure. Because with, you know, every side of any opinion that you have, there's a counter side. And there was one, I remember, I believe it was actually at the one at Northeast Last, where we, me and my partner Devin, we had to argue on the side of Russia in terms of the Ukraine war.
So we had to argue against NATO expansion, NATO imperialism, and things of that nature. The way I handle that really, is you kind of have to detach yourself from a debate. You have to go in with the best intentions, but you have to keep it as objective as possible, you know, and you have to really be able to understand, okay, this is the strongest points that this side has, even though I might not personally agree with them. This is what they say, and this is what their argument is. It's trying to avoid a straw man fallacy, of course. Familiar?
[00:21:55] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:21:56] Speaker C: Just going into my career, though, I think, like Emily was saying, I mean, that sort of ability is something that's great because there might be times as a physician where maybe patients make decisions I don't agree with personally. It's really good to have the understanding to be objective in the moment and understand the strongest points of why they do what they do.
[00:22:16] Speaker A: So do you think that keeping an objectivity, probably in any profession is critical, is something you also learn in debate?
[00:22:24] Speaker C: Definitely, yes.
[00:22:26] Speaker A: What advice would you give to students, and this is for Matt or Emily, that you would give to students that Might be interested in joining the debate team, but are maybe a little reticent about it.
[00:22:36] Speaker C: Come on down.
Like I said earlier, best exposure therapy you can have. Because you know, for any job interviews that you might. Well, you will definitely have in the future for any interviews that you have. Just makes it simple as pie, really.
[00:22:50] Speaker D: Well, when's your next meeting?
[00:22:52] Speaker C: Now, since the debate team is finished this semester, will be meeting sometime around August or September next semester.
[00:23:00] Speaker D: Okay, good deal. Will those dates be decided over the summer or at the beginning of the semester? Just out of curiosity?
[00:23:07] Speaker B: Yeah. So the way that we usually do our debate meetings is we'll meet meet weekly on Thursday afternoons. So every week when we're preparing for a competition, we'll meet, we'll do practice rounds, we'll do feedback, things like that. But because our semester has kind of come to a close in terms of tournaments, we'll start back when the school semester starts in the fall and then we'll have our meetings again on Thursdays.
[00:23:31] Speaker D: Awesome. And will that be in the humanities building?
[00:23:34] Speaker B: Yes, we meet in the humanities building usually around 3 o'clock in the afternoon. We'll meet for a couple hours and it's usually a great opportunity for students to connect with one another, but then to also kind of refine some of those skills we've been talking about.
[00:23:48] Speaker D: Absolutely.
[00:23:50] Speaker A: Well, like I said before, yeah, don't, don't argue with the Northeast State debate team, but what you can do is join the Northeast State debate team. That's always a great option. Just as Matt and Emily said. Come on down. I want to thank both of you for being on the episode today. We really enjoyed it. Very, very eye opening, very insightful about the debate team and students and how it develops yourself in the classroom and well beyond. So Emily, Matthew, thank you both for being here. It was great.
[00:24:17] Speaker C: Thank you.
[00:24:17] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:24:19] Speaker A: Well, that wraps up another episode of the Sound Barrier podcast. We want to thank you all for joining us. We want to thank the entertainment technology staff here at Northeast State for their always stellar work at recording and engineering these episodes. And you can find us, well, anywhere you get streaming media, Pandora, Spotify, Amazon Music, we're on them all. Just go out there and check it out. Apple podcasts, Google podcast, iheartradio. Also thenortheaststate.com thesound barrier, that's our direct website. You can go right there and listen to this episode and many more in the whole catalog of episodes we've done in the past and in the future. So subscribe, Leave a review on your favorite streaming service. We appreciate it very much. And until the next time, this is the Sound Bear here signing off.
