Camp Options

1 week Camp Option for 2026

The Hoosier Debate Camp will be 1-week only for the summer of 2026.

For students who are looking to focus primarily on improving debate skills, including research, competition style debate that covers contemporary controversies of public and moral significance, choose debate! We will prepare you for success in debate in both your local and national circuits! 

For students and parents who want attendees to present speeches with confidence in a non-competitive but more focused environment through presentations of oratory and advocacy, the Public Speaking and Advocacy camp is for you!

1 Week (July 5th - July 12th)

1 week camp attendees are promised a curriculum that focuses on providing you with a solid foundation. Debate camp is a bridge to the season, we want our camp graduates to have the skills to hit the ground running with the skills and momentum to reach their goals. Each attendee will engage in at least three practice debates, targeted “perfection” redos with our staff, and a real tournament at the end of the week.

Debate fundamentals include:
**Topic knowledge (Policy especially)
**Evidence analysis, production, and organization
**Deliver speeches with confidence, organization, solid logic, and ethos
**Cross examination – handle the truth and ask strategic questions
**Preparation is the key to success – know what to do before and in between tournaments
**Learn to debate local and national level competition
**Form and structure of arguments in debate
**We will work on the skills YOU need to improve!

Speaking and Public Advocacy (July 5th - July 12th)

Speaking and Advocacy is filled with fun introductory speaking activities and assignments that will help your young orator develop and work on the canons of rhetoric. From being inventive about a topic, utilizing stylistic skills to wow their audience, arranging quality talking points in logical and quality order, to utilizing memory devices to speak extemporaneously and finally delivering the speech in a pristine final package. Our camp's goal is to delivery fundamental building blocks for our attendees to ensure that they are developing the quality and art of the essential human skill of communication. This camp will also help current and future speech team members improve their art form!