1:1 Tutoring: Public Speaking, Speech and Debate

Do you have a child that is participating in speech and debate competitions?
This is a chance to get one-on-one guidance and support from award-winning competitors and coaches.

Each tutoring session is tailored to your request. This can include preparing for an upcoming debate, writing a speech, presentation practice, and more. This flexible one-on-one class is designed to allow your student to work on whatever they feel they need improvement: or we can design a specific curriculum with help from you and your student to help them become the best version of themselves.  This can be a one-time class or an ongoing class. 


About Our Tutors:


- Bill Thompson: 
     Bill has coached and instructed speech and debate for more than 30 years with a variety of University, high school, & middle school programs around the country. In the last decade, he has coached 7 high school national finalists and 11 middle school national finalists. He has coached 5 high school national champions and 3 middle school national champions in his career.     
     Bill has an extensive history of building curriculum to teach speech and debate in both intensive speech and debate camp and classroom settings. Central to his curriculum is a focus on helping learners find their voices and helping them develop skills that allow them to hear and appreciate others voices.  His classes are designed to meet learners where they are and develop their research, refutation, speech writing, speaking and overall rhetorical skills.


- Tia Speece
Tia Speece has been coaching debate for over 6 years. In high school, she was a state champion and national qualifier in Lincoln Douglas Debate and competed nationally and internationally in World Schools Debate. In college, she competed in British Parliamentary debate, winning several international competitions. She has coached students to become national semi-finalists at NSDA in LD, winners in state championships, and coached the national debate team of the Czech Republic in World Schools, which won many international championships.  Tia loves working with beginners to debate as well as those shooting for major awards!


- Ken Tieu
Ken Tieu has 5 years of debate experience, including a dedicated and successful university debate career. He was awarded the Judging Excellence Award from the Canadian University Society for Intercollegiate Debate, and also received the Top Judge Award at the 2023 British Parliamentary Championship, one of the most prestigious tournaments in Canada. His aim as a debate coach is to share his passion for the craft, and to support others in accessing the same incredible opportunities that he’s found through debate.


- Karishma Ponkshe
Karishma Ponkshe has had the privilege of guiding students to find their voices and develop critical thinking skills throughout her years of teaching, tutoring, and competitive debate. Her background in debate includes high school debate experience, and Biomedical Debate and Ethics Bowl experience during college. Every summer, she teaches at a public speaking and debate camp, where she helps students develop their communication skills and confidence. Speech and debate have been essential pillars of her personal and professional growth, giving her the confidence to tackle complex issues and the tools to advocate for what she believes in, and she is devoted to helping her learners build that same confidence. Her goal is to create an engaging and supportive environment where students can learn to express their ideas clearly and confidently.