What is Forensics competition?
The following answer was provided by Rolland Petrello of Moorpark College: "Most people have only heard the word "forensics" associated with coroners or with scientists who work in police labs. When we call our speech team activities by that term, it's natural that confusion arises. In fact, Rory Golden (a competitor at Miami University in Ohio) actually convinced an older couple at a roadside stop where his team was gassing the vans that he was a part of a team that participated in autopsy competitions. "Actually, the word "forensics" comes from ancient Greece where the term was applied to speeches made to convince a group of people who would make a judgment based on the arguments and evidence presented in the speech. This definition of "speaking for judgment" still applies in the world today. Hence coroners or police specialists do tests or postmortems, reporting the results to a judge in a court of law -- and our speech team members speak before speech experts (go with me on this one) acting as judges at intercollegiate tournaments. All are engaged in the activity of "speaking for judgment" but in vastly different contexts, with vastly different methods of researching."

How much time does it take?
That's up to you. It depends on how much involvement you desire and the number of units you take. The class (Speech 106) and (Speech 137)  are designed to accommodate a range of student interest levels/competitive goals from entry level to experienced competitor. You can take both the class.  In addition to the class, students spend time in evening work-sessions, coaching sessions, and at tournaments.

Don't I need experience?
No. Competitive experience or a public speaking class are helpful, but not necessary. The Speech 106/137 classes, workshops, coaching, and dedication can get you started at the novice or beginning level. As your skills increase, your competitive level will be adjusted.

Do I have to compete in debate?
No. Of the fifteen different competitive events only three are debate-centered. Each type of competition has intrinsic rewards. All of the events focus on improving your communication skills. Coaches will help you decide what types of competition may help you meet your needs, time management, and abilities best.

Speech Events (unless otherwise noted these descriptions are from the Bradley University Speech Team Website)

Platform Speaking: Also referred to as  Public Address events, these are the most polished and well-researched competitive events. 

Persuasive Speaking: An original speech by the student designed to (get this) persuade the audience to change their beliefs, attitudes, values, or actions. This speech must be memorized and the time limit is ten minutes.

Informative Speaking a.k.a. Expository Speaking: An original, factual speech by the student on a realistic subject to fulfill the general aim to (get this) inform the audience. This speech must be memorized and the time limit is ten minutes.

After Dinner Speaking: An original humorous speech by the student, which is very similar to persuasive speaking. The difference is the use of humor to get the message across. In other words, ya' gotta make 'em laugh. This speech must be memorized and the time limit is ten minutes.

Communication Analysis or Rhetorical Criticism: An original speech by the student (usually with lots of help) designed to offer an explanation and/or evaluation of a communication event, such as a speech, speaker, movement, campaign, etc., through the use of rhetorical principals. This event isn't too popular for some reason. And you guessed it, this speech must be memorized and the time limit is ten minutes.

Limited Preparation Events: like you may have guessed, these events are prepared and delivered within a set amount of time. Little is known why some forensicators compete in these events. Psychologists suspect that a majority of limited preppers had a traumatic childhood.

Extemporaneous Speaking: Contestants will be given three topics in the general area of current events, choose one, and have thirty minutes to prepare a speech. Topics are domestic or international subjects. Limited notes are permitted. Heavy viewing of CNN and C-Span is recommended. Time limit is seven minutes.

Impromptu Speaking: A particularly brutal event. Contestants have seven minutes to both write and deliver a speech analyzing a quotation, proverb, object, style, song lyric, etc. Humor helps; so does bribery.  

Oral Interpretation Events: Oral interpretation (or interp) is close to, but is not, acting. The biggest difference is that actors become the characters in the literature, while we are supposed to suggest the character. We're still trying to work that one out, too. The use of a manuscript is required, so we all have cool black books with our scripts in them that we open and close with great bravado. Interpers (as they're known in the wild) usually find many creative ways to explore the limits of the rules in order to push the envelope of forensics, and also so they can win. The time limit for all of these events is ten minutes. All interpretation programs should have an introduction (intro) that conveys an argument concerning the "theme".  In other words, you need to tell us what we should learn from the literature.  The intro is given with the book closed, usually after a "teaser" (a selection from the literature used to pique the audience's interest).

Prose Interpretation: Prose is the most popular interpretation event. It is the interpretation of a short story or excerpt from a novel. The student actually becomes the narrator. The stories can be either funny or serious but your best bet is a combination of both known as "funny stuff, funny stuff, funny stuff, ooops, someone's dead."

Poetry Interpretation: This is another popular event and can be potentially lethal if not performed well. The student interps one or more poems tied together by a general theme. Imagine Poe's "The Raven" interspliced with "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere" under the general theme of "poems with the letter 'r' in their title. This would also be an example of a lethal program. Free verse poetry is very popular with competitors.

Dramatic Interpretation: The student takes a cutting (small section) of a play and then becomes all of the characters in the performance. This is accomplished by quickly assuming a different voice, and physical stance for each character, also known as "pops". This event is sometimes called "schizo interp."

Duo Interpretation: As the name implies, this event requires two competitors performing two, or more, characters. Don't be fooled, though, this is not an acting event. The two performers stand side by side and use off-stage focus as if they were looking at each other in a mirror. Duo pieces must be from a play, screenplay, or movie.

Program Oral Interpretation (or POI): This is the gumbo of interp. Students combine pieces of literature from the three literary genres (drama, poetry, prose.) The literature must fall under a general theme. Imagine a POI on birds that would include Poe's "The Raven" and Hitchcock's "The Birds" along with the Jackson 5's "Rockin' Robin." It probably wouldn't do too well, but it works as an example.

Interpreters' Theater a.k.a. Readers' Theater:  This is a 25-minute team event that may include from 3 to 14 interpreters.  According to  Phi Rho Pi, the community college forensics honor fraternity, "Interpreters' Theater is defined as interpretation of literature by a group of oral readers who act as a medium of expression for an audience. While Interpreters' Theater is both oral and visual, the emphasis is on the oral interpretation of the printed word and its resultant effects on the minds, emotions and imaginations of the listeners/viewers. The audience should have the feeling of a unified whole in which each performer at all times contributes to the total effect desired."

Debate Events:

CEDA Debate: This is a heavily research-oriented form of team debate.  For more information visit:  http://cedadebate.org

Lincoln/Douglas debate:  At our national championships Lincoln/Douglas (L/D) is an hour long one-on-one CEDA-style debate.

Parliamentary Debate Parliamentary debate is an audience-centered form of two-person debate. In each debate, two students will represent the government side (or the side supporting the resolution), while two students will represent the opposition side (or the side negating the resolution). Students are expected to present arguments supporting their side while refuting arguments of the other team. Parliamentary debate is based loosely on the British model of parliament, with a bit of American academic debate thrown in. For more info. regarding the form of Parliamentary debate check out:  www.parlidebate.org

A few sites related to Forensics:

American Forensic Association (AFA) This is the umbrella organization for College Forensics.  They also happen to host the AFA-NIET, their national IE tournament.

The National Forensic Association This is the one of the many Collegiate Forensic organizations.  They host the 'other' National IE tournament.

National Parliamentary Debate Association The governing body for NPDA style Parliamentary Debate and organizer of NPDA Nationals.  The site includes the various past topics, a bit of background on parly, some history, and some results from NPDA Nationals.

CEDA The home of the Cross Examination Debate Association, the reactionary style of policy debate to NDT.

NDT The Home of National Debate Tournament which is run by AFA.

NPTE The home of the National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence which is the counter tournament to NPDA Nationals.  The site just has their team rankings and a few documents on how the tournament is run, but the rankings are interesting to look at.

PHI RHO PI is a national honor society for speech competitors in two year colleges in the United States.

eDebate Archives This listserv serves by specializing in collegiate Policy debate.  Although one can find other places that talk about policy this is the only one that specializes in Policy Debate.

The Online NFL Rostrum Library A backlist of articles from Old issues of the Rostrum.  Although it is for a high school organization it still could be useful!

Debate Central One of the better all around debate websites I have ever found.  The site happens to be run by the legendary Al "Tuna" Snider from the University of Vermont.

Ask Jim about Debate A useful tutorial on most of the basics of Policy Debate.

The Unwritten Rules in Public Address This an article that describes some of the unwritten rules of the AFA speech events.  It is a bit long, but may be worth the read.