Students benefit from a wide variety of speech and debate events. To create standards for national competition, the NSDA has defined a number of main high school events, described below. These events are prevalent in the United States, and many states adopt the NSDA’s rules and guidelines for each event.
The events offered at local tournaments, and the rules for each event, vary from state to state. We’ve noted a few popular regional events in this course, as well as Supplemental events, which are held during the second half of the week at the National Tournament for students eliminated from main event competition. For more information on popular events in your area, please consult with your state speech and debate organization or your local leadership.