With pieces ranging from drama, anger, sorrow and excitement, the EIU Speech Team put on its annual fall showcase.

Speech team coach Sara Gronstal said this event was a showcase to highlight the hard work and success of the EIU Speech Team.

“This showcase was meant to show EIU students and factuality exactly what the students have been working so hard on,” Gronstal said.

This event took place at 6:30 p.m. in the Coleman lecture hall Wednesday. The speech team does this showcase in the fall and the spring of each semester.

“Events like this let students get to know more about the team as well as expose them to the different types of events that we do,” Gronstal said. “Events like this show how hard we work with the limited resources we have.”

Gronstal said the speech team has a small budget for their speech team, so they are taking up several fundraisers, one including handmade scarves for $10.

Gronstal said she selects what events the students will showcase, then goes on to advertise the showcase on social media and within the university.

The event featured seven diverse speeches ranging from prose interpretation, impromptu speaking, program oral interpretation, dramatic interpretation to informative speaking.

Marques Brown, president of EIU speech team, presented his section, which was a prose interpretation piece.

A prose interpretation piece is a part where it is a 10-minute portion from a book or a short story.

Brown’s speech came from a piece focusing on religion and the belief of a higher power. He spoke on being brought up in a Catholic church, but never really feeling connected to religion.

A piece on a man’s realization on his sexuality was what Brown’s focus was. In this section he revealed his realization of his sexuality was what pushed the artist away from the Catholic religion.

Brown took a very sad disposition when the speech began to discuss the sickness and the death of a mother,

He took on a sad voice during this section of the piece to contribute to the dramatic aspect of the piece.

Impromptu speeches were also a part of the showcase.

Austin Mejdrich, vice president of EIU speech team, presented an impromptu speech.

An impromptu speech is when the speaker receives a quotation, or sometimes even a cartoon.

When the speaker receives this, they then have to divide their time between practicing their speech and delivering their speech.

“Generally speaking they prepare in two minutes or less, then they will deliver a five minute speech,” Gronstal said.

Mejdrich’s speech was very energetic. His speech discussed Africa and the Sahara Desert, and it was based off a quote, that he was initially given.

The quote he was given was “Do not consider painful what is good for you” by Euripides.

He emphasized how people must think logically about their situations.

“We cannot let our emotions get in the way even when we think something is bad, because in reality it may actually be very good for us.” Mejdrich said.

From the quote “Do not consider painful what is good for you,” he spoke on The Great Green Wall in Africa.

He spoke on how many different African countries, led by Senegal, will plant a 3,000 mile wide wall of drought resisting trees, which is The Great Green Wall.

“These nations ultimately realized it was necessary for them to band together to have a more unified voice in order to ensure that they could not only survive individually,” Mejdrich said.

Mejdrich said the people of Africa as a whole southern half could preserve their way of life while working together.

The other speech was a program oral interpretation, given by Amanda Lewis, a sophomore cooperate communications major.

A program oral interpretation is a blend of different genres, which can include poetry, prose and drama.

Gronstal said Lewis selected pieces then wove them into one solid piece.

The final type of piece was the dramatic piece, given by Sam Gilbert, a freshman political science major.

These types of pieces come from popular plays or films, or any type of media being scripted. It is 10 minute long pieces.

Torri Griffith can be reached at 581-2812 or tlgriffith@eiu.edu