Figure of Speech

Larry Radden graduated from San Francisco State University in 1987 with a minor in Theater Arts and a major in Communication Studies. While attending SFSU he was actively involved in theater productions with highlights such as Tom Stoppards “The Real Inspector Hound” Charles Fullers “Soldiers Story”, Bernard Pomerance’s “The Elephant Man” and Cole Porter‘s “Hot and Cold.” He went on to audition for American conservatory theater and which he landed his first professional acting job in August Wilson‘s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” After touring the country with the production, he landed in Los Angeles and did commercial and television work. He also coached on the forensics teams at El Camino College and LA Valley College, receiving multiple state and national awards. Radden then enrolled for graduate school at Cal State Los Angeles and graduated with a degree in communications studies in 1994. Radden was hired at Saddleback College in 1995 and has continued to teach in the Communications studies department to present.

•

In this episode, Robert and Larry discuss the time commitment to be excellent in both speech and theater, the unique casting opportunities in speech, and where you end up in a life after speech.  Listen for free through Apple Podcasts, GooglePlay, Overcast, Podbean, Spotify, iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Larry Radden graduated from San Francisco State University in 1987 with a minor in Theater Arts and a major in Communication Studies. While attending SFSU he was actively involved in theater productions with highlights such as Tom Stoppards “The Real Inspector Hound” Charles Fullers “Soldiers Story”, Bernard Pomerance’s “The Elephant Man” and Cole Porter‘s “Hot and Cold.” He went on to audition for American conservatory theater and which he landed his first professional acting job in August Wilson‘s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” After touring the country with the production, he landed in Los Angeles and did commercial and television work. He also coached on the forensics teams at El Camino College and LA Valley College, receiving multiple state and national awards. Radden then enrolled for graduate school at Cal State Los Angeles and graduated with a degree in communications studies in 1994. Radden was hired at Saddleback College in 1995 and has continued to teach in the Communications studies department to present. 

•

In this episode, Robert and Larry discuss the the time commitment to be excellent in both speech and theater, the unique casting opportunities in speech, and where you end up in a life after speech.  Listen for free through Apple Podcasts, GooglePlay, Overcast, Podbean, Spotify, iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Lucas Ochoa competed for the Orange Coast College State national team, garnering several gold medals. Lucas then transferred to Cal State Long Beach qualifying numerous events for the American Forensics Association. Lucas advanced several interp events to the quarterfinal and semi-final Rounds. Finally, Lucas earned a master’s degree in communication studies from Cal State Los Angeles. Lucas is a tenured professor at Saddleback College leading his team to multiple State and national championships in interpretation and Readers Theatre. Lucas’s wife, Heidi, writes a family blog called The Autism Collection, which focuses on their son’s autism. The link to that blog is: https://www.theautismcollection.com

In this episode, Robert and Alex discuss the changes from middle school to high school, navigating the waters of circuit LD, and get into the nitty gritty world of Worlds Debate.  Listen for free through Apple Podcasts, GooglePlay, Overcast, Podbean, Spotify, iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Adam Sharples Brooks loves helping people impact others. He discovered speech in high school and won a national championship in Prose and earn second place in Poetry. He went on to compete at Bradley University where he would win a national title in Prose at NFA in 2008 and was a national finalist in Prose, Duo, and Poetry as well as a team sweepstakes title. He coached briefly at Bradley University helping the team earn a team title in 2010 and The University of Alabama where he earned his PhD in Communication. Adam left the activity in 2013 and become an assistant professor at UA, Director of the public speaking course and founder of UA’s speaking center The Speaking Studio. Since then Adam has led workshops with hundreds of organizations and businesses to train their talent in presentation and communication skills. He recently published his first book Engineered to Speak: Helping You Create and Deliver Presentations to help those with STEM backgrounds communicate to nontechnical audiences. He continues to use his skills he first developed in speech unironically on TikTok and in life.

•

In this episode, Robert and Adam discuss the terror of joining a legendary team when they have expectations, the nuances of winning Prose, and do a full breakdown of one of the greatest interps to ever grace a final round (complete with 30 seconds of silence).  Listen for free through Apple Podcasts, GooglePlay, Overcast, Podbean, Spotify, iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Kevin is a professor and Director of Forensics at Los Angeles Valley College. He didn’t break any events at nationals his senior year, and it clearly ruined his career. Through hard work and sheer luck, his students have somehow managed to consistently win national championships despite having him as their coach. It is truly a marvel to witness. Outside of forensics, Kevin has been a mediocre slam poet, an average artist, a second-rate photographer, a so so husband, an adequate D&D Dungeon Master, a wannabe TikTok influencer, and most importantly, a dad of 3-the one job he will admit to being great at.

•

In this episode, Robert and Kevin discuss ghosts, the trauma that coaches can inflict on students, and the joys of ADHD.  Listen for free through Apple Podcasts, GooglePlay, Overcast, Podbean, Spotify, iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Katie Pengra joined the Arizona State University speech team after competing throughout high school. She placed second in Duo with AJ Moorehead at NFA in 2005 and 6th in POI at AFA in 2007. Pengra moved to Los Angeles where she coached high school speech, and failed at acting. She landed in Austin where she received a master’s degree in journalism, regularly performs stand up comedy, has worked on several short films, and co-directed a feature length documentary. She is currently working on a nursing degree, and lives with her husband and two-year-old son. 

•

In this episode, Robert and Katie discuss how to cut a POI, the terrors of peer critiques, and how to use speech to springboard into stand-up comedy.  Listen for free through Apple Podcasts, GooglePlay, Overcast, Podbean, Spotify, iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Dontae Hill, a.k.a. “The Forensics Guy” is a Speech and Debate coach from Wisconsin currently creating an impact in California and around the world. From YouTube videos, a weekly podcast, to an awesome TikTok, you can find him making content that sparks joy and gives value to speech and debate coaches, students, and judges everywhere! Feel free to follow him on all platforms @Theforensicsguy to join his unique journey!

•

In this episode, Robert and Dontae discuss the impact that Poetry has on a middle school student, secretly repeating literature, and the difficulties of coaching a team completely solo.  Listen for free through Apple Podcasts, GooglePlay, Overcast, Podbean, Spotify, iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Michael H. Miller has been deeply involved in both high school and college debate since 1965.  At the University of Houston (TX), from which he graduated with a B.S.in Political Science in 1970, Michael won first place in more than twenty major college debate tournaments, and was Top Speaker at the National Debate Tournament his senior year.  He won the National Professional Debate Tournament in the Summer of 1970 before moving to California. Michael began coaching debate full-time in the Fall of 1970 and, among other achievements, mentored the NDT National Champions of 1971 (UCLA), as well as the high school Lincoln-Douglas National Debate Champion in 1982.  He was named the California High School Speech Association "Speech Coach of the Year" for his work at Notre Dame High School in 1982-83, was unanimously elected the University of Houston Forensics Society Hall of Fame in 2007, and was a featured character in the 2008 documentary film, "Debate Team."  Michael co-founded Glendale Community College's NFA Lincoln-Douglas debate program in the Fall of 2008. In addition to his debate training, Michael earned his Juris Doctorate degree (J.D.) from the Southwestern University School of Law in 1984, and is a licensed trial attorney.

•

In this episode, Robert and Michael discuss the changes from tournaments in the 1960s to today, review what Extemp questions were offered back then, and somehow get into the way that politicians debate differently than forensics.  Listen for free through Apple Podcasts, GooglePlay, Overcast, Podbean, Spotify, iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Iain Lampert is thrilled to promote empathy, equity, and excellence as a ModernBrain regional director. He earned his B.A. in Political Science from UCLA, his M.A. in Education and Human Development from the George Washington University, and his Certification in Advanced Education Leadership from Harvard University. He is in the process of attaining a Doctorate in Organizational Leadership from Vanderbilt University; his thesis will focus on the intersection of burnout, accessibility, and ableism in the Speech and Debate community. Iain is a lifelong advocate for competitive communication; he founded eight teams, coached winners of over 1,000 individual championships, including six national champions, and received the National Distinguished Service Award for his contributions to the activity. Iain’s students are the only team in the history of Southern California to earn the National Speech and Debate Association’s high school Outstanding Distinction team award (twice!). In 2019, his team won sweepstakes at the Tournament of Champions. He’s coached NSDA national semifinalists, finalists, and champions in PF, Oratory, DI/HI/POI, Congress, IX/NX, Storytelling, Expository, Commentary, and Impromptu Speaking. During his college years, he won the American Mock Trial Association’s national championship twice.

•

In this episode, Robert and Iain discuss the differences between forensics and mock trial, the ‘inside baseball’ of competing at a national level, and how burnout affects the greater forensics community.  Listen for free through Apple Podcasts, GooglePlay, Overcast, Podbean, Spotify, iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to podcasts.