How do I stop the whining?

[GlobalLlama]

I have a team mate who is getting burned out. Now she is a little stuck up, but she is also quite talented. Her complaint is simply that DI is so subjective she can't do anything to consistantly win. Her ranks are all over the place, but she won't work because she says there is nothing she can do. Obviously this can't be right, but not being an interp person I don't know what to tell her to work on. There have got to be ways to get better after you've memorized/charactorized your piece. Suggestions?

[IrishEyes3505]

Here in East Tennesse, DI changes quite a bit too. I've had competitions where I've gone 1-1-5 and not broken and then 1-2-1 with a break and then all kinds of other stuff. I don't know what to tell your teamate; not practicing is definitely not the answer. I pretty much do all interp events and practicing allows me to see the parts of my pieces that are really strong and need to be played up and the parts that aren't as strong, but can be made more interesting...I don't really know what else to say...see you at G-Burg!

[Jordan F]

your a senior in forensics right? you know that the whining never EVER stops

[GlobalLlama]

True, true. Actually, I'm a junior, and I am an extemper. Extempers just don't whine as much by nature. I suppose thats why it bothers me so.

[Cinderella]

I think the "she won't practice" is the answer. No one ever gets anything accomplished by not practicing, and no one ever gets anything accomplished by practicing the same thing the same way over and over and over if it wasn't working to begin with. Suggest that she goes through her ballots and sorts out what the ballots with the 1s have said and what the ballots with the 6s have said as far as "I like when you do this" and "This could be improved" and just PLAY WITH IT. Stand in front of a mirror and try making different choices. Try playing with motivations and really digging for different reasonings for the character's word choices and actions. If your teammate keeps doing it the same way, nothing is ever going to change.

[debatespeak]

First: Interps are more subjective than extemp in their nature, however there are still some things she can do to improve her ranks.

Has her piece been done before? Sometimes critics take into account previous interps they have seen of the same script and while it shouldn't be held against the current competitor, I know that subconciously whenever I seen Private Wars done, I can't help but think of my freshman year (over a decade ago) when I saw it done to near perfection. I will try to be objective but human nature would say that this cannot be done completely.

Second: Is she consistent in her performance? I have two interpers who had cumes of 4 (ie 1-2-1) going into semis at a tournament where they both ranked a little lower and then finals where they ended up 5th and 6th in their respective events... why? One sped up because he was tired of hitting his punchlines... the other one thought he would be more dramatic if he added extra pauses which ended up making his piece 48 seconds overtime. Consistency is key to consistent rankings.

Third: What is her intro like? Does it make an argument? There is a debate on the college circuity about the development of arguments through interps and whether or not this is a requirement. Depending on the critic this may come into play.

But yes, it will always be subjective... then again so is every forensic activity.

[Jordan F]

She need to know that the magic that can happen has to spawn from rehersal. In acting every moment is special, tell her to look for these moments, her instincts and impulses in rehersal, and then use them in performance.

[Nocturne]

I've seen people who have consistantly won, excelled at invitationals, not even break to sems(or finals, depending on the size of tournament) at a local tourney.

But it also can go the other way, some people who consistantly did badly, do really really well at a single tournament.

Forensics is really subjective. It can even be seen on the national tapes.

People expected to make it to final, while people who aren't bad by any means, but not the best of the best make it. It just goes to show that its all really luck of the draw.