Seven Students to Compete in Speech Contest on April 14, 2026

  SMYRNA – Seven Motlow students will receive career-changing recognition, prizes and awards on April 14 (Tuesday) when they take the podium for the third annual Debbie Zimmerman Oratorical Contest.

The event will occur at 7 p.m. in HSC 138-141 on the Motlow Smyrna campus. A reception with food and beverages will follow.      

      According to Professor Robert Davenport, participants will deliver original persuasive/argumentative speeches ranging from 5 to 10 minutes long. 

      “This is a wonderful opportunity for students to develop better speaking skills and more experience,” said Davenport, who serves as the event’s oratorical contest coordinator and an associate professor of speech on the Smyrna campus.

      The Smyrna Entertainment, Arts and Media Club and Motlow Humanities Department began sponsoring a college-wide public speaking competition called the Debbie Zimmerman Oratorical Contest in 2023. Professor Emeritus Zimmerman was a longtime speech and theatre professor at Motlow and instrumental in helping create and grow both disciplines.

Students to Compete in Third Annual Debbie Zimmerman Oratorical Contest

  SMYRNA – Motlow students can receive career-changing recognition, prizes and awards by participating in the third annual Debbie Zimmerman Oratorical Contest in HSC 138-141 at 7 p.m. on April 14.   

      According to Professor Robert Davenport, the contest is open to Motlow students from any of the MSCC campus locations, regardless of major or prior speaking experience. The deadline to enroll is April 1. Students can register by accessing the QR code on the event flyer or sending an email with their name, email address, phone number, and MSCC campus location to rdavenport@mscc.edu.

      Students will deliver original persuasive/argumentative speeches. The contest rules and requirements can be found in the Dean of Students shell on D2L.    

      “This is a wonderful opportunity for students to develop better speaking skills and more experience,” said Davenport, who serves as the event’s oratorical contest coordinator and an associate professor of speech on the Smyrna campus. “Effective communication skills are the number one characteristic employers look for in potential employees. Give this a shot to grow your communication skills.”

      If more than 10 students enter the contest, there will be a “semifinal” round in which students will submit a video recording of their speech. These speeches will be evaluated by a group of communication professors. The top 10 speakers from that round will qualify for an in-person final round on the Smyrna campus. If there are 10 or fewer entrants, all will advance to the final round to be eligible for prizes and awards.     

      The Smyrna Entertainment, Arts and Media Club and Motlow Humanities Department began sponsoring a college-wide public speaking competition called the Debbie Zimmerman Oratorical Contest in 2023. Professor Emeritus Zimmerman was a longtime speech and theatre professor at Motlow and instrumental in helping create and grow both disciplines.

      “Ideally, participants should have already completed the COMM 2025 – Fundamentals of Communication course or be currently enrolled in the class, but that is not an absolute requirement,” Davenport added.

Professor Robert Davenport and Smyrna Center Director
Gary Winton present a plaque to the 2024 first-place winner.

      Students who are taking/have taken English 1010/1020 can potentially turn a persuasive/argumentative essay they have done in the past into a persuasive speech for this event.

      As a former intercollegiate speech and debate coach/instructor, Davenport has always seen the benefits of students being able to effectively prepare and present presentations to help prepare them for their chosen careers.       

      “This event is an important extra-curricular activity for our students,” he said. "It can help them become better communicators in every aspect of their lives."

The Buzz Print Issue for November 2024

 

Motlow Students Invited to Participate in Public Speaking Contest

     SMYRNA – Motlow students can receive career-changing recognition, prizes and awards by participating in the second annual Debbie Zimmerman Oratorical Contest on Nov. 18.      

      According to Professor Robert Davenport, the contest is open to Motlow students from any of the MSCC campus locations, regardless of major or prior speaking experience. The deadline to enroll is Oct. 18 (Friday). Students can register by accessing the QR code on the event flyer or sending an email with their name, email address, phone number, and MSCC campus location to rdavenport@mscc.edu.

      Students will deliver original persuasive/argumentative speeches. The contest rules and requirements can be found in the Dean of Students shell on D2L.    

      “This is a wonderful opportunity for students to develop better speaking skills and more experience,” said Davenport, who serves as the event’s oratorical contest coordinator and an associate professor of speech on the Smyrna campus. “Effective communication skills are the number one characteristic employers look for in potential employees. Give this a shot to grow your communication skills.”

      If more than 10 students enter the contest, there will be a “semifinal” round in which students will submit a video recording of their speech. These speeches will be evaluated by a group of communication professors. The top 10 speakers from that round will qualify for an in-person final round on the Moore County campus in November (date to be announced soon). If there are 10 or fewer entrants, all will advance to the final round to be eligible for prizes and awards.     

      The Smyrna Entertainment, Arts and Media Club and Motlow Humanities Department began sponsoring a college-wide public speaking competition called the Debbie Zimmerman Oratorical Contest in 2023. Professor Emeritus Zimmerman was a longtime speech and theatre professor at Motlow and instrumental in helping create and grow both disciplines.

      “Ideally, participants should have already completed the COMM 2025 – Fundamentals of Communication course or be currently enrolled in the class, but that is not an absolute requirement,” Davenport added.

      Students who are taking/have taken English 1010/1020 can potentially turn a persuasive/argumentative essay they have done in the past into a persuasive speech for this event.

      As a former intercollegiate speech and debate coach/instructor, Davenport has always seen the benefits of students being able to effectively prepare and present presentations to help prepare them for their chosen careers.       

      “This event is an important extra-curricular activity for our students,” he said.

Motlow Students Invited to Participate in Second Annual Speech Contest

By Robert Davenport
Motlow Buzz Contributing Writer

SMYRNA -- Motlow Students can gain invaluable experience and career-changing recognition this spring by competing in the second annual Debbie Zimmerman Oratorial Contest. 

Emerging, intermediate and advanced student speakers are encouraged to enter the contest. 

The deadline to enter the contest is March 12 (Friday). Videorecorded speeches must be submitted by March 15. The speeches will be evaluated by March 22, with finalists notified they have qualified for the finals. The final round of the competition will occur at Moore County on April 4.

Students can enter the contest by emailing Associate Professor of Speech Robert Davenport at rdavenport@mscc.edu. In that email, they should state their name, email address, and the Motlow campus where they attend. Entrants will be emailed a list of the requirements for speech preparation and video submission.

Davenport is once again coordinating the contest, along with faculty co-advisors (Professor Charles Whiting and Professor Debbie Stockdale) of the SEAM (Smyrna Entertainment, Arts & Media) Club on the Smyrna campus. The event is also sponsored by the Humanities Department at Motlow. 

“I appreciate so much the support we have received from my colleagues who understand how important and rewarding this kind of activity is for our students across all of the campuses,” Davenport said. “We are committed to continuing to offer this opportunity to students for many years to come.”

Motlow debuted the contest last April with four students taking the podium for a series of self-penned persuasive speeches with visual aids. Kirsten Wright, who attended classes on the Sparta campus, won first place to become the first-ever Oratorial Contest champion.

The contest is named after Professor Emeritus Debbie Zimmerman, a longtime speech & theatre professor who was instrumental in building the curriculum at Motlow. She was also one of the judges for last year’s contest, along with two speech communication professors from MTSU. She expressed her appreciation for having the event named in her honor, sharing her hope that the contest would become an annual event.

The second annual Oratorical Contest is open to Motlow students (including dual enrollment students) who have already completed COMM 2025 – Fundamentals of Communication or are currently enrolled in that course.

Students who enter the contest will be asked to prepare and present a 6 to 10-minute persuasive speech on a topic of their choosing. Depending on the number of entrants, there will be a “semifinal” round in which students will submit a videotaped recording of their contest speech, which will be evaluated by a group of speech professors. The top five to 10 speakers from that round will then qualify for a live final round of competition on the Moore County campus and compete for trophies and other prizes.

Davenport emphasized how participation in this activity can be extremely helpful to students from any major or career path. The event will help them improve their speaking and overall communication skills as they prepare for the future. 

“Communication skills are the number one skill employers are looking for when choosing new employees for their companies,” Davenport noted. “Besides that, stronger communication skills can help students be successful in their other courses as they advance toward graduation.”

Motlow to Stage First-Ever ‘Debbie Zimmerman Oratorical Contest’

SMYRNA -- The Smyrna Entertainment, Arts and Media Club and Motlow Humanities program are teaming up to stage the first-ever “Debbie Zimmerman Oratorical Contest” in April 2022.

The contest, which is named in honor of Professor Emeritus Debbie Zimmerman, is open to students from all four campuses who have already completed the COMM 2025 Fundamentals of Communication course, including dual-enrollment students. The registration deadline is April 1 (Friday).

Students who wish to participate in this activity will be asked to prepare and deliver a 10 to 15-minute persuasive speech on a topic of their choosing. Presentations may revolve around societal issues, medical topics, political topics, or topics dealing with other important issues or concepts. The participants will be eligible to receive award certificates and prizes. The overall contest winner will receive an engraved trophy.

Students can enter the contest by e-mailing Professor Robert Davenport at rdavenport@mscc.edu or by calling his office at (615) 220-7963 between now and April 1. They should provide their name, the Motlow campus where they attend, and the semester and year they completed the speech course (COMM 2025). Speech requirements will be e-mailed to students promptly after their contest registration is confirmed.

“Debbie Zimmerman was a longtime Motlow communication professor who was instrumental in building the speech curriculum at the College,” said Davenport, event coordinator and assistant professor of speech. “She is thrilled to have her name placed on the title of this contest and honored to be involved with this opportunity for students.”

The speech contest will feature one semifinal round on the Moore County campus on April 11 (for Moore County and Fayetteville students) and another semifinal round on the Smyrna campus on April 12 (for Smyrna and McMinnville students). The top five speakers from the semifinal rounds will advance to the final round on the Smyrna campus on April 18. 

The Dean of Students Office will help promote the event with flyers and announcements in their shell on D2L. Feel free to submit any questions or comments to Professor Davenport at rdavenport@mscc.edu. 

“This will be a great opportunity for Motlow students to gain more public speaking experience,” Davenport continued. “It is something they can include on resumes and applications for college and potential jobs.”

Davenport added that the plan is to make the “Debbie Zimmerman Oratorial Contest” an annual event for Motlow students. The SEAM Club and Humanities program are encouraging students to help Motlow make history by supporting this historic event.