Original Advocacy

Original Advocacy is a type of speech event practiced in California High School Speech Association (or CHSSA) event, in which the speaker writes a persuasive speech and delivers it in competition. It is often referred to as 'OA', and is the Californian High School version of persuasive speeches. The speaker has ten minutes to present a problem, its significance, and a legislative solution to fix the stated problem. The problem is not a general one, such as apathy, but is a more specific one that can be legislated and solved, such as medical malpractice or statutory rape. The speaker should also include some discussion of how the proposed solution will actually solve the problem. However, the legislature included should be plausible and sensible. While the speeches used to be mostly serious in nature, the trend has now changed such that speeches contain more humorous material and even some acting. However, the winning speeches generally stick to the traditional, more analytical way of speaking. One theme that hasn't changed is that speeches generally have very specific topics ranging from domestic issues to international issues. Generally, the speeches are inspiring and informative. These speeches should have statistics, numbers, and proof (typically consisting of real stories found in the news) to support the various claims made by the speaker, though many speeches nowadays replace many statistics with jokes. Judges can evaluate this speech on any criteria, but usually the style of delivery (measured by the fluidity of the speech as well as the hand gestures, eye contact, memorization, posture, and tone) and content (the proof offered to prove the claims of problems) serve as fair and impartial indicators.