at the Department of Montana Oratorical Contest.
Good Luck Michael!!!
- PERRY BACKUS pbackus@ravallirepublic.com
You would have thought that first question would have been enough to scare him away.
Michael McKay was a freshman last year when he stepped forward to pick his first question in an extemporaneous speaking competition at a speech and drama meet.
He walked through the door with a couple of magazines under his arm and admittedly not a lot of knowledge on what he had just volunteered to try.
When the three slips of paper were overturned, the easiest question on the table had to do Matteo Renzi’s chances as a center-left candidate for the prime minister of Italy.
“The other two questions were much worse,” he remembered.
In that first meet, he learned that he had a lot to learn. More importantly, he met the other bright young competitors that who came prepared with filing cabinets filled with magazines, and computers with spreadsheets.
But most importantly, McKay discovered that this fast-paced competition was right up his alley.
Last weekend, the sophomore went up against the best the state had to offer in the Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking competition in the state speech and drama qualifying competition in Great Falls. By the time it was over, McKay had earned a prestigious spot on the state team that will compete in June at the National Speech and Debate Association’s tournament in Birmingham, Alabama.
McKay and one student from Columbia Falls were the only two competitors to qualify from A schools. The rest were from much larger AA school districts.
“It has been an honor to coach Michael for the past two years,” said Corvallis Speech and Drama Coach Doug McConnaha. “He is self-motivated and determined. At the start of this speech season, Michael set his goal to qualify for the national tournament and he worked very hard all season to perfect his research and presentations skills.
“It’s an amazing opportunity for him to attend the national tournament, more so since he is a sophomore and has two more years of competition ahead of him,” McConnaha said.
McKay competes in an event that requires nerves of steel, an ability to analyze information quickly and then speak under pressure.
Contestants in extemporaneous speaking begin their competition by selecting one of three questions on a current event’s topic. From there, they have 30 minutes to research that topic using materials they have brought with them. Use of the internet isn’t allowed.
Before that half-hour expires, they have to be ready to give a five- to seven-minute mostly memorized speech on the issue in front of a panel of judges.
McKay admits there’s some adrenaline involved when he first sits down to prepare.
“I use all that nervous energy to create the best speech that I can,” he said.
To make the event even more challenging at Great Falls, competitors were allowed a rapid-fire session of cross-examination of each other in an effort to explore the depth of their opponent’s knowledge.
“They weren’t softball questions either,” McKay said. “Everyone wanted to qualify for nationals. I thought it was really fun.”
McKay’s father, Tod, said there is hardly a day that goes by that he doesn’t learn something new from his son.
“I learn a lot from Michael every week,” Tod McKay said. “Whether it’s about a crisis in Venezuela, the situation in Syria or the latest on climate change, it’s all really heady stuff… . He comes home and tells me about it and I just shake my head when I hear about the topics that come up.
“He really lives for speech and debate,” Tod McKay said. “He loves the challenge. He loves being surrounded by like-minded, bright kids who are tracking what’s going on around the world.”
Michael McKay said it couldn’t happen without the support that he’s received from not only his coaches and teammates, but from the whole community.
That support comes in many forms.
The Bitterroot Library makes sure that he has the magazines he needs to be able to compete. Other Bitterroot Valley speech and drama competitors cheer him on. And between now and June, coaches from Corvallis, Hamilton and Stevensville have volunteered to help him practice for the national meet.
“It was an incredible experience to compete for Corvallis at NSDA qualifiers this weekend and I am thrilled to be going to nationals in Birmingham, Alabama this June,” he said. “This has been an extraordinary two years of speech and I am so thankful and humbled to have an outstanding, supportive team, two exceptional coaches and statewide support from incredible competitors and coaches in extemporaneous speaking who have pushed me to achieve my goals."
“I cannot wait to represent Corvallis, the Bitterroot Valley and the state of Montana at NSDA Nationals,” McKay said.
