A new movie Speak. follows five high school students as they prepare for and give speeches in competitions leading up to the National Speech and Debate Championship. There are highs and lows as they express themselves through oratory—a form of persuasive public speaking. The film was co-directed by Jennifer Tiexiera and Guy Mossman and is playing Wednesday, May 7 at 3:45 p.m. at the Downer Theater as part of the Milwaukee Film Festival.
The students — Esther, Noor, Sam, Noah and Mfaz — take on a range of difficult topics, from disability rights to LGBTQ advocacy to "protect the children" rhetoric around mass shootings and other issues regarding kids. They each write a speech from scratch, practice it, prepare it, rewrite it over the course of the year, attend a range of competitions and present their speeches to an audience. Doing this requires confidence, tenacity, stage presence, creativity, insight and thoughtfulness. And, often, it involves what's called "a heart story," says Mossman, the film's co-director and cinematographer.
"Every great oratory speech has to have a very clear and sort of, I guess, a 'heart story' that's powerful and compelling. And the 'heart story' is their personal story. This is what they call it in that world and it brings this sort of conceptual and the universal to it. [The heart story] grounds [the speech] and brings it back to the student. And at this level it's very important. And so you're judged based on how well you can do that as well," Mossman says.
Seven thousand kids compete in the National Speech and Debate Championships, says Mossman. In 2024, it took place in Des Moines, Iowa. And the documentary takes you there. "To behold and to experience and witness that [national championship] is thrilling," recounts Mossman. "And it is a sport in every way. I think the level of competition, the level of care and the sort of obsession, if you will, discipline that is required matches anything you would see on ESPN."
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