Unveiled Voices
Picture this.
You’re getting ready for your first tournament.
Suit prepared? Check
Shoes Ready? Check
Speech Memorized? Well…
The bus ride there is long and when you step into the halls of the high school you’re competing at, you see hurried competitors rushing to extemp draw, parent judges heading to rounds with computer and coffee in hand, and your Tabroom blast hits your phone.
The point: Preparing your materials for a tournament and going to compete are two different battlefields. And while you can never be fully prepared for the ecstasy and rush that accompanies attending your first tournament, it’s important to have resources to prepare yourself for competitions.
That’s where Unveiled Voices, a podcast founded by Adrianna Rodriguez, comes into play.
With Unveiled Voices, Rodriguez finds a way to bridge the gap between the mystique surrounding tournaments, such as NSDA Nationals, and competitors across the nation. In addition to her commentary about the realm of Speech and Debate, she brings on guest speakers who have tournament experience to advise everyone who gives the podcast a listen. It’s time that we all take advantage of and share resources such as Unveiled Voices to access information, advice, and open conversation about the nature of competition so we truly are prepared.
Make sure to check out our interview below with Adrianna Rodriguez about her platform and follow her and Unveiled Voices on Instagram (@adriannarodrgz and @unveiledvoices), and subscribe to her podcast on Spotify (UnveiledVoices). Also, if you’re in for another treat, check out her Youtube channel featuring competition vlogs and performances here.
Check out our interview with Adrianna, the founder of Unveiled Voices!
Transcript Available Below
“I didn’t have this resource, and I want people to be able to have that themselves.”
Transcript:
Joshua E.: Hello you all welcome back to A Seat At The Table, and today I’m here with…
Adrianna R.: Adrianna Rodriguez
Joshua E.: Thank you so much Adrianna for doing this, and I’m just really happy that you were able to make it!
Adrianna R.: I know, thank you for inviting me!
Joshua E.: So before we start, I just want you to introduce yourself. So, I want to know how you got into Speech. Was it during middle school or high school? Just tell us more about that.
Adrianna R.: Okay. I started doing speech my 6th grade year. I had an amazing coach so she really helped me push through. She left after my first year but her being an amazing coach helped me go through as long as I have been. I think this is my 6th year doing speech. I got into it because I saw that there was a Speech and Debate info meeting and I was like “Oh cool, I like talking!” So I just went ahead and I joined. So yeah, the rest is history, I’ve just been going with the flow all these past years, just practicing a lot. I’ve kind of found my safe place here so I really just love it.
Joshua E.: Hm. Also, what events do you do, and what would you say is the highlight of this season so far?
Adrianna R.: The events I do? I used to do everything. I kind of like limited down myself because it's a lot. I’ve done DI, HI and Duo, those are my main three. But, I’ve done mostly all of the Interp events. I’ve never really done any speech thing, but I’ve done like Prose, Poetry, POI, and Duet. Yea, I’d have to say that the best thing this year was probably Glenbrooks. That was like the biggest tournament I’ve been to so far and it was so cool. I’ve never been to Chicago before. And traveling with all of the officers on my team, they are such a joy to be around. It was really cool to bring 5 people, and we all just kind of did our thing. It was nice. Definitely the highlight of the year so far.
Joshua E.: Oh my gosh, I remember I watched your vlog with my team and we were like “Oh my gosh she posted”, and then we saw the leaf background, it was so cute at Glenbrooks.
Adrianna R.: Aw, thank you!
Joshua E.: Thank you so much for introducing yourself, and now I want to talk about your podcast. I want to ask why you founded the podcast and what was the motive behind it?
Adrianna R.: So Unveiled Voices was a project inspired to me by my mom. I was actually just sitting on my couch on my phone and she just came up to me and said “Adrianna, I have an idea!” And I was like “What?!”. She was like “You should start a podcast for Speech and Debate!” and I was like “That’s not a bad idea.” So I started researching all these podcast mics and what I should talk about, and I was like this was actually really cool. Earlier in speech when I was in sixth grade, there was no platform to communicate with people, other than being on your team. But since then, the community has grown so wide, especially online. With accounts like Diversity in Forensics and Catching Up With Competitors and having the speech community built so we can keep in touch with each other. I just wanted to go ahead and build on top of that with the podcast and just have something for a whole bunch of people to listen to and tune in to. I knew it would be something I would've loved when I was in middle school. So I was like “let me sort of just put it out there.” And I know I haven’t posted in a while, but I’m getting back to that. I am for sure!
Joshua E.: I just want to say: Why did you think a podcast was the best format to use?
Adrianna R.: I used to do the vlogs and all of that and that was fun, but with Speech and Debate it's generally just talking. I was like “I like talking and I like to just ramble on about things.” So I thought a podcast would be really cool. Just the idea of having this thing of my own and posting regularly and be like “New episode out!” I just thought that idea was so cool, and just being able to sit at a mic and let all my thoughts about Speech and Debate pour through. I was like, "That's something I want to do and not worry about “Is this light good?’ and let my voice shine.
Joshua E.: And honestly, I had contacted you because I thought it was such a great resource. There’s such a difference between making a speech and going to competitions.
Adrianna R.: Yea
Joshua E.: Like, there’s such a mystique around tournaments like Nationals, but I feel that your podcast does a great job being like “What to do to get ready!” and stuff like that. So your target audience would be competitors, right?
Adrianna R.: For sure!
Joshua E.: So I want to ask you more about the features, and what is one thing you would say you love about your podcast?
Adrianna R.: The thing that I love is just the community that it has built. Just, from whatever I’ve uploaded, the support that I got so quickly too, was overwhelming but like in a good way. I was like “Oh wow, this is so nice.” I had so many friends from across the national circuit who were like “This is so great! I listened to your podcast when I went to Nationals!” And I was like “That means so much.” The best thing about it was that I was able to connect with these people who are my friends, and some people I made friends with through the podcast. I just thought that it was such a great way for connection, again, through Speech and Debate. And, honestly, I’m just so grateful that a lot of people were so on board with listening to it.
Joshua E.: It was such a great resource for not just my team, but a lot of other teams I spoke with. Because going to Nationals for the first time last year, I did not know what to expect at all. And then when I saw your podcast [episode about Nationals], I was like “Okay, at least for the youth after [us], they're gonna know a great resource. If you had to describe the legacy you want Unveiled Voice s to have in the future in ONE word, what would it be?
Adrianna R.: Impactful. I want people to be able to, even when I’m out in college and the podcast is still up, I hope that people can look back on it. People who are just joining speech still listen to it, and still gain knowledge from that and just have some resources. Just something to, again, connect ot. Just to listen to someone who goes through the same stuff they go through. I just want to have that impact for younger competitors, and just that resource for people. I didn’t have that, so I want people to be able to have that themselves.
Joshua E.: Thank you so much. I’m so happy we have people like you in speech who want to emulate devotion to the community. Honestly, everyone needs to [get] ahead of this resource. Check out Unveiled Voice on Spotify, and follow Adrianna Rodriguez and Unveiled Voices on Instagram, where you can receive updates about the platform. Thank you again Adrianna and that’s all!
Adrianna R.: Thank you so much! This was so fun!
