Gripes About Original Oratory

[OO cubed]

So, I'll preface this by saying that Oratory is without a doubt my favorite event (arguably the best one...). But still, there are trends that are...less than original, if you will. Opinions? Or is Oratory completely flawless?

NOTE: In light of recent events on FOL, the intention of this thread is not to be a place for bashing. There needn't be references to specific speeches, but opinions about trends in Oratory as a whole.

[MCH]

• An excessive reliance on jokes in order to capture the judge's attention. (normally these judges are new or don't judge OO often)
• Using and even relying on interp techniques to demonstrate your point. (i.e. acting, using different voices, and even popping sometimes)

[Nebraska OO]

I like the fact that jokes are becoming more common, I have been doing Oratory for almost three years now and I still enjoy hearing jokes, I also believe that jokes make you sound more conversational. And I would have to agree with MCH when it comes to interp in Oratory. Now the person who won Nationals last year did it really well and it worked for him. However unless your interp is flawless I don't think you should do interp in your piece. Thats just my opinion on it though

[MCH]

Well, it's fine to include humor. It's welcoming and easy to relate to... but when the humor gets in the way of a message, then what's the point of even doing an original oratory? You might as well do HI or Impromptu. Communication comes first, then comes humor, flair, etc.

[klau1230]

It seems that orators feel a need to make up unrealistic AGD stories or the "dead baby story" in order to move the audience.
If you have one, great, If you don't, that's fine.

[MNOratory2010]

I don't like how there seems to be a formula for success. Everybody seems to just do what has worked and don't ever try anything really creative or interesting in their speeches

[crunk]

i hate how people lie and make up stories about their life, just to provide an interesting anecdote. hence the nickname whoratory.

[bilyD.]

I don't have a problem with fake pasts or even jokes in O.O. for me the major problem are these overly complex thesis statement which take two minutes out of your speech to prove how clever you can be or maybe that's just the region i live in. Ooh and speeches which lack general structure.

[prosergal]

i hate how people lie and make up stories about their life, just to provide an interesting anecdote. hence the nickname whoratory.

haha, completely agree. I also am opposed to inserting a "sob" story when it's not necessary.

[DapperInterper]

i hate how people lie and make up stories about their life, just to provide an interesting anecdote. hence the nickname whoratory.

That's one way of looking at it, but there's also the fact that people like taking prefixes that rhyme with "or" and adding "atory" at the end. There's a thought.

I don't have a problem with fake pasts or even jokes in O.O. for me the major problem are these overly complex thesis statement which take two minutes out of your speech to prove how clever you can be or maybe that's just the region i live in. Ooh and speeches which lack general structure.

hahaha are you talking about preview statements/roadmaps? Yeah they get crazy sometimes, and rarely make sense...but they're kind of clever