What to Expect Coaching Program Oral Interpretation
In Program Oral Interpretation (POI), students use selections from Prose, Poetry, and Drama to create a 10-minute performance around a central theme. POI is designed to test a student’s ability to intersplice multiple types of literature into a single, cohesive performance. A manuscript is required and may be used as a prop within the performance if the performer maintains control of the manuscript at all times. Performances can also include an introduction written by the student to contextualize the performance and state the title and the author of each selection. Richard Bowman describes what it is like to coach the event.
What makes coaching Program Oral Interpretation unique?
I love coaching POI because, as I was taught by my former coaches, it’s about demonstrating a mastery of the genres. Depending on the literature you find, you can create nearly anything and tell almost any story you want: that’s the beauty of the event. Also, many of my students have distinct styles and preferences for their events. I have some students who thrive in Drama or Prose but don’t quite take to Poetry as much, so their programs lean more toward creating characters and environments than toward poetic language and devices. POI is unique in its ability to help our students become more versatile with their public speaking, as well as to grant limitless potential in the stories they tell and how they tell them.
How does competing in Program Oral Interpretation benefit your students?
For new students learning about interpretation events, it offers the opportunity to learn the skills and techniques that make for a great performance. For returning students, the challenge is to show how well they can execute the various genres. Each year builds on the last and unlocks more of their potential. Particularly for our students who compete in many events at once, what they learn in POI helps them further develop their other events, and vice versa.
It helps me understand my students…[and] gives me a window into who they are on a more profound level.
Richard Bowman
Richard Bowman is a Project Manager and Indiana Schools Speech & Debate Association (ISSDA) board member. Richard is a part-time speech coach at Bradley University and an assistant speech coach at Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis, IN. In 2017, he was the first runner-up in Program Oral Interpretation at the Indiana State Tournament and a national finalist in Original Oratory at NSDA Nationals. He has mentored back-to-back Indiana state champions in Program Oral Interpretation, coached NSDA Nationals qualifiers and champions, and judged the final rounds of Program Oral Interpretation and Dramatic Interpretation at NSDA Nationals.
What do you most appreciate about coaching Program Oral Interpretation?
I most appreciate the amount of creativity I get to have and how it helps me understand my students. I enjoy working with my students to find new and unique pieces of literature to use or tailor a cutting to their style, so they’ve got something completely unique. My former head coach says that sometimes pieces find students, and it’s the truth in those words that really makes coaching the event fun and meaningful. I’ve worked with students who connect to a program in ways I didn’t realize until one day it gives me a window into who they are on a more profound level. And more often than not, it happens with POI.
What should a new coach know about coaching Program Oral Interpretation?
The greatest folly is limiting your imagination. Any new coach wanting to learn more about POI or get into the event in general should dive headfirst into its possibilities. A POI program can come from anywhere, and the literature possibilities are so plentiful that you’re only truly limited by your own creativity. I also recommend contacting any local college programs. POI has strong roots in the college circuit, so those students and coaches can help you further unlock the event’s potential.