The Student Speaker Showcase will feature speech and debate team members participating in various forms of speech on Tuesday in the Knox Center from 7 to 9 p.m.

Tickets are $5 for students and $10 general and can be purchased in advance from any speech staff member.

Speech assistant professor Randy Carver said among the types of speeches performed will be debate, oral interpretation, impromptu and persuasive. A film will be shown along with a set of speeches.

Communications major Sakeema Payne said, at the showcase, she will be showing a film she produced. The film is a visual of the recent tournament the speech and debate team attended in Reno, Nevada.

Payne said the audience will see the process of debate and what it is like for those on the speech and debate team.

Speech department Chairperson Sherry Diestler said the film will show how friendly, focused and hardworking the team is. “I hope it encourages people to join the team,” she said.

Payne said the goal is for the audience to be entertained and to spur conversation.

He said the showcase will allow students to see the result of hard work and the various hours spent in the speech lab preparing for the showcase.

Diestler said the speeches are meant to “educate, entertain and enlighten” the audience.

She said the showcase will also give students a look into the many different ways speech can be applied.

Among the speakers being showcased there will be a parliamentary style debate taking place. It will be a two-on-two debate with one side taking the agreeing position and the other side taking an opposing position.

“Speech is the way to use and apply everything you learn in college,” speech and debate team member Richard Pinkard said.

Pinkard said debate reflects what college should be about, such as discussing values and policies.

He said engaging in speech allows him to assess consequences and exercise his mind.

Diestler said, “It enables people to have a voice as a citizen, as a worker and through all their relationships.”

Speech is a way to establish a voice and work ethically toward a goal, Diestler said.

Pinkard said speech is a way to keep the mind active.

Diestler said the speeches will be thought-provoking and will create conversation and engage the audience.

Communications major Daniel Santos will be doing a speech about the history and significance of graffiti. “I want to teach people about the history of graffiti art,” Santos said.

“I hope I can learn a lot from the other speakers as well.”

Carver said, “All of this is coming from the students. We are just facilitating a stage for students to showcase their skills.”