Instead of taking a public speaking class or trying out for a drama show, students may opt out to join the speech and acting team, led by coaches Shannon Eichwald and Laura Stanton.

The speech and acting team is composed of weekly practices, where students meet with one of the coaches to improve their piece and to prepare for upcoming tournaments. The team competes at tournaments, where students performing in the same category go against each other in 6 rounds. Categories include original comedy, prose reading, and dramatic interpretation,  Eichwald said.

“For an acting or interpretive event, I’m going to be looking for, is this student bring a character to life? Are they telling a story that is intriguing? Are they working to intrigue their audience with eye contact, with slight gestures. Is it a full story? If you’re looking at an original piece, do you have a focus? When you give a speech, there is a certain walking pattern that you have to follow, making sure that they establish that, making sure that they establish strong eye contact, strong volume so they can be heard,” Eichwald said.

Developing the courage to speak in front of others can improve with the aid from other students and peers on the speech and acting team. Not all students on the team are great speakers, according to Eichwald.

“We have students in athletics, we’ve got drama kids that are coming out this year, we have a heavy influence of students in the GSA. Students from book club. We are really getting a diverse group of students that are either interested in getting better, or some students who really have that fear of speaking, but are willing to try,” Eichwald said.

The more comfortable the students feel with each other, the more comfortable they will be when they give the speeches later. And once a student feels successful somehow, that is why they keep coming back to work at the fear and speaking with their teacher or coach. It also helps them get over their fear a little bit, according to Eichwald. The stress of being judged, a common reason of why people are afraid of public speaking, is gone.