How to Handle Anxiety and Public Speaking

Hi, Y'all! 

I have been teaching at Clemson University since 2012 where I am the Director of Debate and instructor. I start the Clemson Debate Society from scratch and over the years it has grown into one of the most well-respected programs in the country. We travel all of the United States and the world for competitions and training. I put everything I have into my students both in the classroom and on my debate and I love being able to watch students grow, learn, and challenge themselves through critical thinking. 

Throughout the years I have helped to run some of the largest debate tournaments in the United States and the World to help promote critical thinking, argumentation building, and public speaking. I was recently the first woman to ever host the United States University Debating Championship which is the largest debating competition in the country.  

In debate we cover every kind of topic you can think of and help students learn how to communicate effectively, respectfully, and with objective information. I have lead countless workshops on how to communicate about difficult topics such as gender, racial, social-economic, and cultural issues. These topics are difficult and complex but can and should be talked about so that students can start to learn and talk about these issues.  

Below is a list of what I do as a current debate coach and some lists of accomplishments along with the places I have been invited to as a trainer to help promote and develop debate. 

Director, Forensics Program						August 2012 to present
•	Coordinate the implementation of the reinvigorated debate program. 
•	Manage all operations of the debate team, including a budget, facility, and the management of students. 
•	Meet with students at least four times a week to have five-hour-long practices. 
•	Have one on one meetings with each student (hour-long) on the team for individual practice and keeping updates on where they are in debate and in their schooling.  
•	Engage undergraduates in the opportunities of joining the team. 
•	Teach and train students in the British Parliamentary (Worlds) style of debate. 
•	Coordinate all travel (both domestic and internal) for all students. 
•	Promote the debate team through outreach to alumni and friends of the college and university. 
•	(Not required but optional) Raise money to help support our every expensive team to cover our travel needs through student government and private donors. 
•	Keep up to date on the most important tournaments to attend and training opportunities available to students. 
•	Meet with prospective undergraduate students and their parents. 
•	Maintain the debate team’s website and administer the website’s social media features to connect with current students, alumni, and friends. 
•	Coordinate with other student organizations to promote debate and be a resource to those who would like our team to preform public debates covering issues they think are important. 
•	Keep track of students' academic standing to make sure they do not fall behind in their classes. 
•	Work with fellow professors and lecturers to negotiate when students will have to miss class due to travel. 
•	Meet with Student Government and make sure our standing as a student organization is always in good standing.      
•	Attend faculty meetings and give an update on the standing of our team to the department. 




Personal Debate Awards and Accomplishments  

 Achievement 
Convener of United States University Debating Championship 			2019  Clemson, South Carolina 
This is the largest debate tournament in the country and I won a bid to allow
Clemson University to host. The first female to ever convene the national championship. 

Chief Adjudicator for the United States University Debating Championship    2017 Denver, Colorado. 
		This is the largest debate tournament in the country. I was elected to assist in 
 		running this prestige event by my peers at the 2016 National Tournament.  

Judged the final of the United States University Debating Championship 
Anchorage, Alaska 2015 
Atlanta, Georgia 2016 
Denver, Colorado 2017
Chief Adjudicator of Vanderbilt University 2020 
	Nashville, Tennessee 
Chief Adjudicator United States Air Force Academy 2019
	Colorado Springs, Colorado
Chief Adjudicator Herstory Womxn 2019 
	La Verne, California 
Chief Adjudicator Huber Debate 2018 
	Burlington, Vermont
Chief Adjudicator for the Pan American Championships 2017
	Montego Bay, Jamaica 
Chief Adjudicator for University of North Georgia 2016
	Oakwood, Georgia 
Broke as a judge at over 30 tournaments
	Breaking at a tournament as a judge means you are recognized as one of the best
 	judges at the tournament.  

Invited Debate Training 
North American Debate Academy 					August 2013, 2014 
Burlington, Vermont 
International Debate Academy in Slovenia 		        November 2013-2017
 Ljubljana, Slovenia 
Southern Debate Academy						August 2015 
Clemson, South Carolina. 
Jamaican Association for Debating and Empowerment March 2016 
Kingston, Jamaica 
Beihang World Debate Academy, 					August 2016, 2017, 2018 
Beijing, China 

Courses Taught at Debate Academy 
•	Points of Information beginner and advanced 
•	First Principles 
•	Back half teams 
•	Opening teams 
•	What judges look for
•	Motion Analysis
•	Prep Time 
•	Winning from Opening Government
•	What to do when you don’t know anything about the topic
•	Debating Religion
•	Debating Pop Culture
•	Why Beyoncé runs the world (Parasocial relationships)