Institute for Speech and Debate Original Oratory and Informative Speaking Summer Camp

You leave with a ten-minute speech on a topic you picked, built from evidence, logic and emotional appeals, and rehearsed until you can give it entirely from memory. ISD's oratory faculty guide you through developing your own ideas, push you to add proof that connects with listeners and help make the arguments stronger and clearer, but they never write the speech for you.

The two-week program spends the first week on fundamentals and the second on applying them, while the one-week program covers only the fundamentals. ISD doesn't mention a certificate or any academic credit, so the speech itself is what you take home.

Most of the day goes into your speech. After breakfast at 8am and warm-ups at 9am, there's a 10am to 12:30pm block of seminars, writing time and one-on-one sessions, then lunch and free time until 1:30pm. The afternoon opens with practicum and group activities and ends with a second seminar and writing block from 2:45 to 5:15pm, which adds up to about five hours a day of seminar, writing and one-on-one work.

After dinner, evenings from 6:30 to 8pm bring group activities or staff performances with a Q&A, and commuters head home at 8pm.

Experienced coaches lead the teaching, with recent top competitors helping out. ISD's senior faculty are all accomplished speech and debate coaches with a college degree, and every lab is taught by an adult senior instructor, while junior instructors, all top former competitors, rotate so each student works with them. Maggie Woodward is the curriculum director for Original Oratory and Informative Speaking.

ISD is still confirming its 2027 faculty and only lists people who have signed a letter of intent. Its 2026 roster for Original Oratory included Esther Oyetunji in both sessions and Isra Yasin in Session 1. ISD describes its teaching as small-group but doesn't publish lab sizes.

Two weeks cost $3,999 if you live on campus, which covers all meals and your room, or $2,799 as a commuter, which includes lunch and dinner. One week costs $2,999 residential or $2,199 commuter, and the one-week option runs only in the first week of either session.

Registering after 31 May 2027 adds a $200 late fee. If you're flying in, ground transport to and from Raleigh-Durham International Airport costs $160 round trip or $110 one way, and it has to be booked when you enroll.

ISD offers need-based financial aid for students who would benefit significantly but couldn't otherwise afford to attend. You apply by emailing letters from the student, a parent or guardian (stating the level of need and the amount the family can budget) and the student's coach. Funds are limited and handed out first come, first served, requests completed by 1 March 2027 get primary consideration, and all aid is awarded by 15 April 2027. Since ISD takes full payment once it approves an enrollment, it's worth asking how aid and enrollment fit together before you sign up.

A full-time nurse lives on campus and is available around the clock, and ISD's resident life staff supervise afternoon and evening activities. Residential students must be back in the residence halls by 10pm, with a room check at 11pm and quiet hours until 7am.

Every staff member passes a background check covering local, state and federal criminal records and the National Sexual Offenders Registry, and trains on harassment, mandatory reporting and professional boundaries before each session. ISD also keeps a zero-tolerance policy for substance use, discrimination and harassment.

• Flying in

  Flights go to Raleigh-Durham International Airport, landing between 9am and 2pm on the first day, and ISD doesn't provide unaccompanied-minor service, so a student too young to fly alone needs a parent to travel with them or another arrangement.