Culture Influencer: Dr. Marie Mater

Dr. Marie A. Mater, Associate Professor and Program Coordinator of Speech Communication in the Department of English, Communication, Great Texts, and Modern Languages, was an invited judge at the National Christian Forensics and Communications Association (NCFCA) Online National Open tournament from April 12 – 15, 2023.

Students from all ten NCFCA regions participated in this tournament. Dr. Mater judged the Extemporaneous Speech Semifinals and the Impromptu Speech Finals with other judges from around the United States. The Extemporaneous Speech is a limited preparation speech in which the speaker is assigned a current event topic and given 20 minutes to analyze news and other sources while preparing a seven-minute, evidence-based speech. The Impromptu Speech is a limited preparation speech in which the speaker draws a topic and is given two minutes to prepare a unique and meaningful five-minute speech.

NCFCA is an organization committed to training homeschooled high school students to address life issues in a manner that glorifies God and ultimately prepares students to shape the culture and impact people for Christ. The formal speech and debate programs are designed to teach young people to communicate truth with both integrity and grace. Each speech event offers unique educational opportunities that promote critical thinking, research, literary analysis and effective delivery. Through regional and national competitions supported by exceptional training and an elite qualification system, NCFCA Speech and Debate provides a proven framework that challenges students to grow their communication skills.

NCFCA has a far-reaching impact in American society. There are 160-plus clubs around the United States that meet to learn, prepare and practice for the yearly competitive season. Thousands of students aged 12-18 participate in competitions, resulting in over 38,000 speeches and 14,000 debates delivered during the season nationwide. NCFCA graduates are influencing the world as analysts, authors, business owners, doctors, educators, engineers, entrepreneurs, lawyers, nurses, pastors and politicians. For more information, visit NCFCA.org.