Figure of Speech

For years, Israel Beltran was just another Chicano from East LA, who loved to daydream, until he discovered the world of forensics. He has been blessed to receive awards from national forensic tournaments such as Phi Rho Pi and NFA. Israel strives to teach his students how to better understand who they are, share their stories, and master the power of rhetoric.

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In this episode, Robert and Israel discuss the differences of small teams and big teams, moving out of Phi Rho Pi and into NFA, and the struggles of getting English lessons from New York rappers.  Listen for free through Apple Podcasts, GooglePlay, Overcast, Podbean, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Paul Davis is a multiple Arizona high school state champion and Humorous Interpretation champion at the prestigious Harvard tournament. During college he was a ten-time national finalist and four-time national champion, including the 2006 NFA Pentathlon Top Speaker. He coached multiple high school and college students to various state and national final rounds and championships. While coaching at LA Valley Community College, he helped lead the team to their first two consecutive national championships. He is currently working on writing and directing films in the Los Angeles area.

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In this episode, Robert and Paul discuss performing in front of your parents, making waves in the speech community, and the problem with speaker points.  Listen for free through Apple Podcasts, GooglePlay, Overcast, Podbean, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Anika is a sophomore at Williams College and has been involved in speech and debate for over eight years. She is a former middle school state champion and an NSDA octa-finalist for Public Forum. As a high schooler, she dabbled in Original Oratory and Public Forum, but chose to stay involved in the forensics community by teaching elementary and middle school students.

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In this episode, Robert and Anika discuss the heartbreak of defeat, the problems with not getting enough sleep at nationals, and the fear that comes with doing an interp when you were born to debate.  Listen for free through Apple Podcasts, GooglePlay, Overcast, Podbean, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Danny Cantrell is a professor and forensics coach at Mt. San Antonio College. He started competing in high school before debating at UC San Diego as a part of a student-run debate team. He helped create ForensicsTournament.net and other apps for the forensics community. He's married to his one-time debate partner Jennifer and has four children.

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In this episode, Robert and Danny discuss teaching community college students, the problems that come with a student-run team, and the power of wearing blue shirts.  Listen for free through Apple Podcasts, GooglePlay, Overcast, Podbean, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Amanda Samoyloff, a Cal State University Long Beach alumni, won Prose at HFO and placed 4th in Poetry at AFA during her first year of competition. She and the rest of CSULB would soon place 5th in the nation at AFA-NIET. In 2009, Samoyloff won 1st place in Prose at NFA. After graduation, she made her way into Hollywood, taking the skills and work ethics she learned from her time in speech and debate and became an actress and filmmaker. She's produced, written, and performed in multiple films over the last decade. Currently, she's the CEO + founder of the PR firm, Samoyloff PR, and is set to publish her first poetry book in Spring 2020.

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In this episode, Robert and Amanda discuss how to continue during interruptions, the annoyance of high heels, and the endurance needed to be successful at nationals.  Listen for free through Apple Podcasts, GooglePlay, Overcast, Podbean, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

In this episode, Robert and Gordon discuss what it means to be a Hong Konger, playing a public piano a little too long, and the challenges of coaching elementary students.

Matt Grisat has the rare combination of proven successes both as a competitor and coach in debate and individual events. As a competitor he was part of a team that won both AFA and NFA sweepstakes. As a coach/ DOF he has mentored students to become national champions in performance pieces, LD, and Parliamentary Debate among others.

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In this episode, Robert and Matt discuss sacrifices for the team, moving from Toastmasters to forensics, and how much sweat a tournament can cause, literally.  Listen for free through Apple Podcasts, GooglePlay, Overcast, Podbean, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Ryan Ohanessian is a former debater for Glendale Community College and Cal State Northridge. While at GCC, Ryan went to a National Tournament where he competed in Public Forum Debate. Afterwards, he did two semesters of policy debate at CSUN where he came in 1st place (2nd place speaker) at the Hornet Invitational policy debate tournament and 2nd place (3rd place speaker) at the Robert Barbara Intramural public forum debate tournament in 2018. Nowadays, Ryan likes to give back to the community by judging both speech and debate.

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In this episode, Robert and Ryan discuss the differences between debate styles, the pressure of going to nationals for the first time, and what it’s like to come back to the community after taking off for a year or so.  Listen for free through Apple Podcasts, GooglePlay, Overcast, Podbean, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Jasmine McLeod, a.k.a The Rainbow of Death, is known for her hair and pens of color. Many think that her wild ballots are color-coded but they are actually a reflection of her eccentric personality: random, honest, and vibrant. Jasmine McLeod competed for CSU Long Beach where she won two national titles in DI and Prose in addition to numerous other national awards. She now coaches for the Mt. San Antonio College forensics team. Jasmine has coached numerous national and state champions in multiple events. At the end of the day, her students continue to believe that she once walked the fiery path to the netherworlds and is the grand master supreme of hell. 

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In this episode, Robert and Jasmine discuss the how race, hair, and when (not) to wear a white suit.  Listen for free through Apple Podcasts, GooglePlay, Overcast, Podbean, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Ira Heffler had been a high school and college forensics coach for 35 years.  He coached speech and debate at John Burroughs High School in Burbank for 22 years, from 1971 until 1993.  Many of his students achieved impressive wins at the state level. After a ten-year break from teaching, Ira returned to the classroom as a Professor of Speech Communication at Glendale Community College for 14 years, from 2002 until 2016.  During most of those years, he was the co-head forensics coach, and his team took first place honors in the President’s Division at National Forensic Association.

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In this episode, Robert and Ira discuss the how competitions were different in the 1970s, the benefits of coaching at the college level, and how to ‘unleash’ your students.  Listen for free through Apple Podcasts, GooglePlay, Overcast, Podbean, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.