Oral Interpretation

The Oral Interpretation session offers classes that will focus primarily on the Interp Events: Dramatic Interp, Humorous Interp, Prose, and Poetry. Students who are interested in putting together a POI cutting throughout the week may be able to do so. Students who are attending camp with their partner from their school may also pursue duo or duet.

During our time at camp, students will develop the fundamental skills to grow as a performer and take on ownership in the performance process. In order to accomplish the students will learn how to:

• Find and select pieces for competition
• Cut a piece for competition
• Identify universality
• Write a meaningful introduction
• Engage in character development and environment creation

Our goal is not to have a piece entirely cut, memorized, and polished in performance within the week. Instead, our goal is to find and cut a piece and develop the base of the performance while focusing on cultivating the skills a student needs in order to continue to develop their material throughout the competitive season, mentor others on their team, and independently develop other events in Interp.

Interp is about finding stories that resonate with you. Interp is about understanding how stories can resonate with everyone. Interp is about creating a world and engaging an audience in an authentic story for 10 minutes. Honor the text. Do the work. Find the heart. This is my own personal philosophy as an educator of Oral Interpretation and as an active participant in the fine arts. I look forward to helping you find and tell your story!

Divisions, Date and Pricing

Division Co-Directors

Alaia Snell

Alaia Snell is a recent graduate from the University of North Texas, where she majored in English Literature and Economics, minored in Spanish and History, and earned a certificate in Latino/Mexican-American studies. During her time there, she served as president of the Speech and Debate team for three years and earned awards in Lincoln-Douglas debate, IPDA debate, communication analysis, informative speaking, persuasive speaking, and extemporaneous speaking. In 2021, Alaia was a national champion in JV Lincoln-Douglas debate and has qualified for nationals in extemporaneous speaking all four years of her college career. She was a two-time national semifinalist in extemporaneous speaking at the National Forensics Association (NFA) tournament, and she placed as a national quarterfinalist in persuasive speaking in 2024. Alaia also has experience competing internationally, where she received two gold medals in IPDA debate and placed fourth in extemporaneous speaking at the 2024 International Forensics Association (IFA) tournament. With experience teaching public speaking, public forum debate, and extemporaneous speaking, Alaia is excited to co-direct this year’s original oratory and informative speaking camp. In the fall, Alaia will be attending Northwestern University to begin her PhD in Literature.

Aaron Delgado

Aaron Delgado competed for over 8 years on the high school and collegiate level. Aaron has been to TFA for multiple years as a competitor, coach, and judge. As of 2024, Aaron started his master’s in communication at UNT where he finished his bachelor’s and now coaches the speech events at UNT. Aaron has coached multiple national semifinalists and out-rounders in addition to being a national out-rounder themselves. Aaron loves thrifting, plants, and good a book and his number one coaching philosophy is “Anyone can excel in speech and debate you just need to find your voice and style and remember to enjoy every moment you get to perform as if it were you last.

Directors' Statement

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