On March 24, 2023, Deerfield sent three students, Justin Ahn ’24 (*Justin Ahn is an Associate Editor for the Scroll), Lily Pierce ’25, and Thomas Harrick ’23, to the annual World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championships (WIDPSC) hosted by the Clifton School in Durban, South Africa. Chaperoned by Speech and Debate Coach as well as Classics Teacher Dan Houston and Theater Director Catriona Hynds, the three Deerfield students attended the competition as part of the United States team. The team consisted of 15 students associated with the Debate Association of New England Independent Schools (DANEIS). Over eight days, from March 26 to April 2, 108 high school students representing 16 different countries competed in four categories: Interpretive Reading, After-Dinner or Persuasive Speaking, Impromptu Speaking, and Debate. Ultimately, Pierce won third place in Interpretive Reading, while Harrick won the title of Improptu Speaking World Champion.
In order to qualify for the championships, students had to demonstrate their abilities in DANEIS competitions. In October 2022, Pierce qualified by placing as a top 5 U.S. speaker at the International Independent Schools’ Public Speaking Competition (IISPSC), the first Deerfield student to qualify for the competition since 2018.
At WIDPSC, Pierce read two poems by Sylvia Plath. Referencing her strength in interpretive reading, she said, “I’ve been more of a humanities person ever since I was a child, and the events like interpretive reading and dramatic interpretation that have a lot of overlap with theater are just really interesting because I really enjoy connecting with the art and literary narrative pieces. I was honored to have the opportunity to represent our school and our country.”
Impromptu Speaking champion Harrick initially qualified for the competition by placing first overall at the Buckingham, Browne and Nichols School (BB&N) tournament in December 2022.
Finally, earlier this year, Ahn qualified for the competition as a ‘wild card’, selected through DANEIS coaches’ deliberations in February.
Throughout the championships, two or three judges evaluated numerous rounds leading up to the finals. In the initial stages of the championships, the competitors’ audiences mainly consisted of other competitors in their respective categories, as well as students’ chaperones or coaches. However, in the Finals and the Grand Finals, students who didn’t advance joined the audience to support other members of their country’s team, despite students from the same country being their competitors.
Vedant Srinivasan ’24, who attends St. John’s Ravenscourt School in Canada, was the only competitor to make finals in all of the four categories, placing second overall at WIDPSC. Srinivasan said, “While each contestant represented their school and more importantly themself, there was a level of national pride within the Canadian delegation that brought us all together, and allowed us to easily celebrate each others’ victories.”
Pierce recounted how she felt upon seeing other members of the U.S. team join the audience to watch her compete in the final stages of the competition: “At my Grand Final, I had to perform for all the competitors — so all of the judges, all the competitors, in this big auditorium — and it was kind of overwhelming, but I felt the love and support radiating from my peers,” she said.
Chloe Taft ’25, who attends Buckingham Browne & Nichols School and placed 2nd in Impromptu Speaking at Worlds, echoed Pierce’s sentiments: “My favorite part of being on the U.S. team was the camaraderie and team spirit we had,” she said. “I was new to the advanced division, but everyone was super welcoming and kind. I think we all really bonded over the trip and I had a lot of fun competing for the U.S. We had a lot of team spirit, maybe too much at times, and everyone supported each other.”
The competitors found WIDPSC to be beneficial both in improving their skills and in forging friendships across the globe.
Reflecting on his takeaways from the championships, Srinivasan said, “I’m a huge public speaking nerd, so I was able to learn a lot from the other speakers. The strategies employed by each speaker were interesting to dissect, and my favorite part of the tournament was chatting with competitors and coaches about why they chose those strategies, and why they found them to be effective. I’m happy to say that I now have friends in places like Hong Kong and Australia.”
Taft agreed, adding, “I met a lot of really wonderful people who broadened my perspectives and supported me, even though we were technically competing against each other. Most importantly, I gained a lot of confidence in what I am capable of, beyond just as a debater.”
However, Srinivasan noted that the competition didn’t expose participants to Durban’s vibrant culture, saying, “Unfortunately, there wasn’t much exposure to the culture of Durban. While we did watch some traditional dancing, and went to a market, most of the explanations surrounding Zulu culture, the predominant one in Durban, seemed sanitized, whitewashed and rarely came from actual locals of Durban.”
Except for the lack of exposure to Durban’s culture, competitors found their time at WIDPSC to be full of enriching experiences: not only were students able to learn new oratory skills, but they also forged strong personal relationships with individuals from around the world. Reflecting on her time at the championships, Pierce said, “Getting to meet such talented and tenacious people from literally all across the country, and the concentration of talent and intelligence and focus in one place was really, really stressful, but also really driving and really inspiring. If I took one thing away from the competition, it was all the beautiful connections I made with people, and all the pieces I got to work on.”