Phone: 214-972-8046
Email: julia@readysetresources.com
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Speakers League
Our Speakers League youth public speaking clubs are a fun, supportive environment where kids can become more comfortable and confident with public speaking. Members have opportunities for impromptu speaking, prepared speeches, and constructive evaluation.
Recommended for children ages 10-17, though capable younger children may also join on a provisional basis (click here for guidelines). Enrollment accepted year-round, as long as there is space in the club.
Join Mailing List for updates
Club 1
1st & 3rd Tuesdays
11am-12:30pm Central
(enrollment accepted year round)
Meets September through May
Click here to join
Club 2
1st & 3rd Wednesdays
7pm-8:30pm Central
(enrollment accepted year round)
Meets September through May
Click here to join
Club 3
1st & 3rd Fridays
7pm-8:30pm Central
(enrollment accepted year round)
Meets September through May
Click here to join
"All I can say is WOW! I was so impressed with every aspect -- the kids, the speeches, the way the meetings are organized, the whole thing is totally superb. Bravo!"
"Thanks for starting and building Speakers League and Ready Set Debate. Hands down the best homeschooling education my boys had."
Junior Speakers League
Junior Speakers League clubs (recommended for children ages 7-9) are a great place to begin learning public speaking skills.
The club meetings are very similar in format to Speakers League meetings, with opportunities for impromptu speaking, prepared speeches, and speech evaluations, but the club Chairperson is more hands-on in JSL, making sure the members are ready for, and understand what’s going on at the meetings.
The Member Handbook is simpler in JSL and the members have a worksheet for all speeches they give, to help them achieve the goals of the speech, for example using gestures or vocal variety or visual aids. Like Speakers League, JSL is a progressively-challenging environment to learn public speaking skills and meeting management.
There are three levels in Junior Speakers League – Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced. To move from one level to the next, members must successfully give all six speeches in that level, and do each role at the meeting (like Evaluator, Vote Counter, Timekeeper, MC, etc.) successfully, at least once, during that level.
Although Junior Speakers League clubs are adult led, the presence of a parent or other adult aide may be required to ensure any needs are met that might arise for the member. Additionally, parents are expected to ensure that their children are prepared for their roles at meetings.
To see if your child is ready for Junior Speakers League, click here to see our club readiness guidelines.
Enrollment is accepted year-round, as long as there is space in the club.
Join Mailing List for updates
JSL Club 1
1st & 3rd Mondays, 6pm-7:30pm Central
(Club currently full. Contact us to be added to waiting list.)
JSL Club 2
1st & 3rd Fridays, 5:30pm-7:00pm Central
(Club currently full. Contact us to be added to waiting list.)
Click here for more information about Junior Speakers League
Ready Set Debate
Division 1
Ages 8-11
No experience necessary
Division 1 debate focuses on quick, fun, and creative activities, and debate sparring to learn the relevant skills for any format of debate. Debate sparring sessions are short, fun, and easy, one-, two-, or three-person debates on topics that don’t require deep research, e.g., “School uniforms should be required,” “The rise of selfies is a troubling cultural problem,” “Italy vs. England, scoped to food, clothing, and shelter,” “Whataburger vs. In-n-Out,” etc.
Additional activities are used to instill skills like speaking clearly, note-taking (referred to as flowing), thinking on your feet, organizing your thoughts, being creative and adapting, and determining what is relevant in material.
Emphasis is placed on structuring a case, referred to as the “Constructive,” developing a “Weighing Mechanism” (or “Framework”) (for how the judge should decide the winner), understanding your opponents’ case through “Cross-Examination,” effective techniques for “Rebuttal”, and how to crystallize and convey your win to the judge in a “Summary”.
Some homework is assigned to help reinforce what’s been learned and to prep for debates.
Enrollment accepted year-round, as long as there is space in the club.
Division 2
Ages 12 – 15
No experience necessary
New members to Division 2 debate clubs learn high-level debating skills that are relevant to any form of debate, through our coaching, training videos, proprietary handbook, in-club and home exercises, debate sparring, and full debates. Additional activities are used to instill skills like speaking clearly, note-taking (referred to as flowing), thinking on your feet, organizing your thoughts, being creative and adapting, and determining what is relevant in material.
Emphasis is placed on structuring a compelling case, referred to as the “Constructive,” developing a “Weighing Mechanism” (or “Framework”) (for how the judge should decide the winner), understanding your opponents’ case through “Cross-Examination,” effective techniques for “Rebuttal”, weighing “Impacts,” and how to crystallize and convey your win to the judge in a “Summary” speech.
A primary focus in Division 2 is to prepare for (and optionally participate in) our four annual tournaments. Tournament topics are chosen through a vote of all Division 2 club members. Typically, members will work on the tournament topic for three meetings, and then interested members can compete on that topic at the online Tournament, either debating with up to two other members from their team, or solo. There is an additional fee to participate in tournaments, to cover professional judges.
2020-2021 Online Tournament Schedule (depending on number of entries, the Tournament may extend into Sunday).
- Saturday, November 21, 2020
- Saturday, February 13, 2021
- Saturday, April 10, 2021
- Saturday, May 29, 2021
Some homework is assigned to help reinforce what’s been learned, and to prep for debates.
Enrollment accepted year-round, as long as there is space in the club.
Days | Times | Dues* | Typical Coach/Member Ratio |
There are no refunds for club registration fees or dues, once paid. Monthly dues are charged year-round even though we don’t meet in the summer. See our faq page for details. Dues include participation in the Winter Classic Tournament held in early December, and the SLAM Online Tournament held in late May or early June. | |||
"Debate really opened the world to my son this year. It challenged him to substantiate his claims, learn how to research a topic, see the advantages and disadvantages of both sides of an argument, and get up and debate."
Other Offerings
Workshops
Learn new skills related to speech and debate through one of our workshops. Current and past workshops have included:
Introduction to Public Speaking
Intro to Debate
Creating a TED-style Talk*
How to Use a Teleprompter
One-on-one and small-group coaching
Do you have a presentation coming up that you want to get feedback on? Do you need someone to provide feedback on, or tighten up, your debate constructive or blocks? Could you use a hand with writing your speech, or editing it?
We offer one-on-one coaching, editing, and writing, to help you shine.
We can meet via Zoom, Skype, FaceTime, or email.
Available for adults as well as children.
Thinking on your feet and actually expressing yourself in a organized, sincere, passionate and charismatic way are important skills that all adults should have but so few do. It is a joy to see these attributes being developed in our children within the encouraging environment [of these trainings]."
RSREducation.com is part of Ready Set Resources, a homeschool-family-run endeavor, that began when our son was only one year old. At that time, we created our Bright and Ready activity idea cards. When our son was 10 (and our daughter, 7), he expressed an interest in public speaking, so (as we homeschoolers tend to do when there are no offerings of that sort) we started our own homeschool public speaking club, in 2008. The first club is still in operation and we’ve opened new clubs over the years so other children can learn this great skill.
There was so much enthusiasm from families that we wanted to share what worked, so we eventually rolled out our club method in an ebook. But what most excited us was the idea of a network of clubs that could have events together and support children around the world. That’s why, in 2011, we created the Speakers League organization. Now there are clubs popping up all over the world and we’ve held four annual conferences in Los Angeles, in June 2016-2019. Annual conferences in the Dallas area will begin in 2019.
We are in development on Debate League and Skill Builders club curricula, and hope to start offering those materials to people who want to start these kinds of clubs soon.
So, the thing to know is, if you join one of the clubs on this website, you are joining a headquarters club for the whole shebang!
Contact
Phone: 1-214-972-8046
Fax: 1-310-868-2891
Email: julia@readysetresources.com
PO Box 866092 Plano TX 75086
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