Name

Description

Purpose

Why?
(partners)

Person #1 starts with a question, such as "Why do flowers grow?" The other person will give an answer, such as "Because they are alive." That is responded to with a "why?" This goes on until the answer person repeats anything said earlier or pauses for more than a second or two. See if you can beat your old record!

Thinking fast on your feet, making your words flow smoothly

Yes and No
(partners)

Tow people take opposite sides of an argument (R: that the sky is blue or something). One is the questioner and has 5 minutes to ask yes/no questions, trying to get the opponent to accidentally agree. Meanwhile the opponent tries to slither out of those questions with a complex answer.

Cross-exam, word choice

Parrot Paraphrase
(partners)

One person makes a statement, then the other must reword and parrot back that statement. Person two must then make a related statement, and person #1 will reword and parrot it back.

Listening skills, rewording

Mouth Olympics
(solo)

Like the voice, the mouth needs to stretch before a competition. Practice saying a phrase, exaggerating your mouth's motions as you speak. "I like to eat eight apples and bananas" is a good one.

Mouth warm up, enunciation

Speed Golf
(partners)

One person reads a page of text as quickly as possible while the other times. If at any point the reading becomes unintelligible, the time is stopped and the reader gets 10 minutes for the time.

The two should compete to see who can get the lower score.

Speed without slurring

Press conference
(group)

One person is selected as the specialist of a fictional situation. The others in the group act as reporters and must ask the specialist questions. The specialist must answer as though she was an expert. "Tell me about the war on Neptune!"

Sounding intelligent about the unfamiliar

Using classic or made-up tongue twisters, practice stating them as though they were evidence in a debate round. Repeat 5 times.

Elocution

Only try this if the person is really a good sport. As the person is giving the speech, a partner mimes every action as if in a mirror.

Non-verbal communication control.

Filibuster
(partners)

Time each other to see how long you can talk without any pauses over one second, filler words (like "um"), or repeated words. Again, try to beat your old record.

Eloquence.

Spot the Fallacy
(partner or group)

Each person creates an argument containing a logical flaw. It should be subtle. The other person or people must identify the logical error. This is more exciting if you have speed rounds. For advanced players, occasionally include non-flawed arguments.

Helps you identify logical fallacies and misstatements in rounds.