Recently, I attended the 2024 NCFCA National Championship. Sitting at the IEW table, I was privy to all of the buzz as students swarmed around me, entering and exiting the student center of Anderson University. Conversations hovered around theology, politics, and the major stands of our day. I enjoyed hearing the cheers for a speech well executed or seeing a high five of support for a speech about to be given. Parents flew by my perch on their way to judge or observe a speech and called out, “We love IEW! We use your materials!” This led me to wonder, “How has IEW impacted this community? Do they use our methods in the preparation of their speeches?” While IEW has prepared each student to write well, the resounding secondary answer I received revolved around note-taking.
At IEW, the cornerstone of our focus on structure is in Unit 1: Note Making and Outlines, where we introduce the key word outline. A key word outline (KWO) is one way to take notes and involves finding the main ideas or “key word” in a sentence. In Week 1 of our Introduction to Public Speaking course, we explain, “In order to deliver a speech effectively, students must speak from an outline rather than read a written page.” Andrew Pudewa goes on to explain that students must “think before [they] write.” The KWO taught in Unit 1 helps with that necessary reading comprehension. Choosing key words is a skill that allows students to ingest information and then make a plan. The second part of the KWO, narration, is a great first step to public speaking. Students think about what the key words mean, look up at their audience, and then speak.
As I interacted with students, I found that many had used IEW materials, so I specifically asked if they created KWOs for their speeches. One young lady recounted that several types of speeches only allow a short amount of time to gather information on notecards before giving the speech. For an extemporaneous speech, students have twenty minutes of prep time, while an apologetic speech gets four minutes and an impromptu speech allows only two minutes. The KWO can shine as students quickly read over material, searching for key ideas and then jotting down those key words and symbols, numbers, and abbreviations on a notecard to aid them when they relay those details verbally to an audience. Another spoke of using a KWO to gather research and later decide which sources to keep and which to discard.
I also met Heather Neumann, who created Lasting Impact with Kristi Eskelund. Heather and Kristi coach students and encourage families, other coaches, and clubs involved in speech and debate. Heather was kind enough to speak with me on “the importance of note-taking during the speech preparation process and provide some insights on why note-taking is not only helpful but essential for crafting an effective speech.” She continued by sharing that note-taking “enhances information gathering, facilitates organization, aids in content selection, improves memory and recall, encourages critical thinking, and supports practice.” She has used IEW materials with her own children and exclaimed, “I love key word outlines!” While agreeing with much of the insight I gained from students at the conference, she added that KWOs could be very helpful while following debate rounds. “[Use] your listening skills to shorthand and put together the flow of the round or arguments. After the round you will hopefully be able to recall what you heard based on your note-taking skills. Both students and adults (judges) use note-taking to keep track of the points and arguments.”
In Week 2 of Introduction to Public Speaking (IPS), the class notes remind students that the structure of a basic speech reflects the structure of a basic essay. Speeches include an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. Heather notes that speeches and essays differ in that with speeches “your own personal experiences and point of view can also come into play.” As students continue through Week 2 of the IPS course, Mr. Pudewa shows how the key word outline is instrumental in weaving those anecdotes, illustrations, quotations, and statistics throughout the structure of one’s speech, making up the needed details and examples that drive a point or platform home. The basic speech crafted from the KWO can then be turned back into a new key word outline to be used as notes for the ensuing speech.
Several parents circled my table throughout the conference, and many expressed what Heather Neumann noted when she said that in the world of speech and debate “note-taking [is] one area [that] could use more emphasis.” I was excited to remind each student and parent that whirled within my sphere that IEW’s key word outline can meet that need. As many described, the KWO can be usefully employed in several ways throughout the speech and debate community along with its most obvious use in planning out the structure of one’s basic speech. IEW’s Introduction to Public Speaking course is a way to introduce your student to public speaking and will give them another avenue by which they can seek to master the important skill of key word outlining. Use the IPS course to start an NCFCA club in your area, use it in the classroom at your local co-op, or use it to prepare an entry for the IEW Speech Contest!
by Katie Eades
