Joining Rutgers University’s Forensic Speaking Team might sound daunting. After all, many people experience “butterflies” in their stomachs, pounding heartbeats, or sweaty palms when speaking in public, or even just thinking about having to speak in public.  

The Rutgers Public Speaking Organization, however, is a welcoming club for all Rutgers students that is designed to help students overcome and avoid public speaking-related jitters and stress. It serves as a fun and exciting way for students interested in improving their communication skills to meet other students while developing expertise that is transferrable well beyond a college public speaking club.

Erin Christie, Ph.D.’14, SC&I teaching instructor of Communication and faculty advisor for the Rutgers Public Speaking Organization, the Rutgers Debate Union, and Women in Communication, said the RPSO is dedicated to helping Rutgers students develop skills and experience that make public speaking an enjoyable challenge. She also noted that these same skills are also transferable to many “real world” public speaking scenarios, such as job interviewing, presenting, networking, and many others.

Christie said she tells all Rutgers students, “If you have even just a remote interest in public speaking, come and hang out with us! You can put in as much time as you wish, and if that changes and you decide to increase your training or involvement, you can let me know and we can adjust accordingly."

Emilie Puja, who is double majoring in Information Technology and Informatics at SC&I and Classics, said, “Having a judge-free environment to become better at public speaking was what drew me to RPSO, but both that and the public speaking tournaments are why I've become so invested in the organization. As I prepared a piece to perform in competition this fall, I didn't feel pressured at all and received great feedback from our members. In pretty much any major, students will be put into positions where communication is key, and I feel that routinely practicing my public speaking skills with the organization has made my presentations (and even just discussions during class) throughout this semester more confident, interesting, and enjoyable for both me and those listening!” 

“Having a judge-free environment to become better at public speaking was what drew me to RPSO, but both that and the public speaking tournaments are why I've become so invested in the organization." -- Emilie Puja, who is double majoring in Information Technology and Informatics at SC&I and Classics.

Christie said the skills the club members work on developing every week in the RPSO help students think better, write, better, and speak better. “The more the students practice these skills, particularly while they are together, helping and supporting each other, the better communicators they will become. It takes time, effort, and a repeated conscious awareness to work on these skills, so club members who find themselves preparing for a job interview discover that through their participation in the club they have become more comfortable thinking, speaking, writing about themselves, and they are ready to display and highlight those aspects of themselves to get that job they want.”

The club welcomes all students who are interested in joining and getting involved, Christie said, regardless of their level of interest and commitment.

“We have student club members who come to meetings because they want to spend time with people who communicate a little bit better than they do,” Christie said. “They come in at a lower buy-in, but they are still active members of the organization. They enjoy the atmosphere, and they enjoy the overarching goal. At meetings we will practice skills by participating together in games such as ‘word associations,’ and ‘complete the sentence,’ -- public speaking types of games. Then there are other students who enjoy the fun aspects of the club but are also dedicated to putting time into becoming successful competitors. These students attend extra practice sessions, they work with me more, and they take the time to travel with me and the team to competitions. Not everybody has to do that.”

The club is particularly popular with Rutgers undergraduates majoring in Computer Science, The Business School, and Political Science, Christie said.

Ruchir Patel, RPSO treasurer and a Business School major, said, “As a competitor, I can say that RPSO enabled me to be a confident speaker at a moment’s notice. The impromptu events I participated in were the foundation of this as they were limited prep and I had to quickly and effectively prepare a speech on one of 2 quotes I heard minutes prior. As treasurer, I was taught the importance of being a diligent planner and making sure money spent is for the well-being of the team. These are important skills that I carry to my job. Lastly, I cannot understate the supportive and inclusive environment RPSO cultivated and how they welcome any student irrespective of their major.”

Explaining RPSO’s recent competition successes, Christie said within the first year, RPSO had their first finalist in a collegiate-level forensics competition, known as SNAFU (Southern Northern Atlantic Forensics Union Tournament). This competition attracts national-level forensics competitors from Seton Hall University, George Mason University, Hofstra University, James Madison University, University of Scranton, and Cornell University, to name a few.

"I cannot understate the supportive and inclusive environment RPSO cultivated and how they welcome any student irrespective of their major.” - Ruchir Patel, RPSO treasurer and a Rutgers Business School major.

Subsequently, RPSO went on to place in the finals (and therefore medal), 19 more times, with their two most recent finalists placing at the SNAFU competition held at Seton Hall. As a result of these accomplishments, Rutgers was invited to the New York/New Jersey State Championships in February 2021, where RPSO had 3 finalists. Since then they have just reached their 20th finalist and were invited to the State Championships just last year.

“I am so happy to report,” Christie said, “that RPSO is now on the collegiate-level forensics map!”    

Christie said she tells all Rutgers students, “If you have even just a remote interest in public speaking, come and hang out with us! You can put in as much time as you wish, and if that changes and you decide to increase your training or involvement, you can let me know and we can adjust accordingly. And if you want to come to the next competition just to check it out, which is a good thing to do, please do! After going you may decide you never want to compete, or once you are comfortable being a spectator, you may surprise yourself and decide you are ready to compete. It’s a process.”

To join RPSO, go to: https://groupme.com/join_group/60888118/kuGvwfMg

To fill out a RPSO general interest form, go to: https://forms.gle/kwN1WyByn7DKyDM7A

Discover more about the Rutgers School of Communication and Information on the website. 

Photos: Members of RPSO in 2022. Courtesy of Erin Christie.