
Coaching Philosophy:
Speech rounds are inherently random– the judges, other competitors, and even the room where you’re performing are entirely unpredictable. Yet, so many people consistently place towards the top. In my eyes, the job of a student before a tournament is to control every variable that they can. The speech’s content and its delivery are at the top of this list. I want every word, gesture, facial expression, and pause in the speech to have a clear purpose, while not making the speaker appear robotic. This is extremely difficult! I am far from fully living up to these words myself, but adopting this philosophy has helped me see clear improvements in my speeches, which is worth more than any trophy. Most importantly, it is my duty to make sure the student loves the activity— because the activity is great! Learning how to incorporate your personality into a style that helps you advocate for a cause you truly believe in is nothing short of magical. For this reason, my job is not to make sure you win blah trophy, or achieve blah rankings. If we are able to discover how you can best deliver a speech that is true to your personality and your values, the trophies will be a mere afterthought.
Accolades:
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NSDA 2019/2020 Rankings:
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1st in Original Oratory and Informative Speaking
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3P Speech 2019/2020 Rankings:
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1st in Original Oratory and Informative Speaking
Sophomore Year:
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1st - Glenbrooks (Info) - 2017
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3rd - Harvard (Info) - 2018
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2nd - Tournament of Champions - 2018
Junior Year:
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1st - UK Season Opener (Info) - 2018
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1st - Glenbrooks (Info) - 2018
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1st - GMU Patriot Games (Info) - 2018
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1st - Sunvitational (O.O.) - 2019
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1st - Harvard (Info) - 2019
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4th - Harvard (O.O.) - 2019
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3rd - Tournament of Champions (Info) - 2019
Senior Year:
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1st - NYC Invitational (O.O.) - 2019
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1st - NYC Invitational (Info) - 2019
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1st - Glenbrooks (O.O.) - 2019
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2nd - Glenbrooks (Info) - 2019
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1st - Sunvitational (Info) - 2020
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1st - Emory (O.O.) - 2020
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2nd - Harvard (O.O.) - 2020
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1st - FFL State Championship (O.O.) - 2020
Cory Wurtenberger
OO, Info
Short Bio
Hello! My name is Cory Wurtenberger, and I am currently a second-year at Vanderbilt University studying political science and Asian studies. I also compete in collegiate speech at Vandy and have coached privately since 2019. I competed in original oratory and informative speaking for all four years of high school in the absolutely brutal South Florida circuit. In 2017, I was fortunate enough to win my first national tournament: the Glenbrooks. I was able to defend my title in the coming years. In the 2018/2019 season, I really began to pick up momentum, winning the Glenbrooks, GMU, Sunvite, and Harvard consecutively, ending with a second-place finish at the Tournament of Champions. In 2020, I double-championed the NYC Invitational, placed 1st (O.O.) and 2nd (Info) at the Glenbrooks, defended my title at the Sunvitational, won Emory, placed 2nd at Harvard, and ended my career with a state championship in original oratory. This resulted in my being ranked 1st nationally in Original Oratory and Informative Speaking for the 2019/20 season by the NSDA and 3P, becoming the first competitor to do so. Essentially, I am super humble. Jokes aside, joining speech was the single best decision I have ever made. I can say with certainty, I would be nowhere near where I am today without it. Coaching through 3P allows me to, in a way, give back to the community that I owe so much to. Oratory and Info are special events and I would love nothing more than to help people find their voices within them.
Expertise:
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Humor - I was always known as the “funny” speaker on the circuit and I can confidently say it was likely the most important factor towards my success. A lot of people who I’ve coached tell me that they’re not funny, but this is ridiculous. Everybody has a sense of humor and with the right writing, everyone can be the “funny” speaker.
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Writing - I have written more oratories and informative speeches than I can count. I have edited more than I can even remember. I pride myself on being able to work with someone’s speech quite intensively while preserving their style. We are in control of very little in speech, but those 1300-1500 words are all ours.
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Delivery - Delivery in speech is a bit of a paradox. You must speak conversationally to come off as genuine, but being so comfortable requires intensive practice. Most of my delivery coaching is centered around the goal of trying to speak to the audience, not at them.
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Competition - Speech is absolutely about advocating and personal expression, but the competitive side of it is entirely valid and important. I have probably competed at more high school tournaments in O.O./Info then any person on Earth, so I have a backlog of tips and advice. Specifically about how certain tournaments work, how to change your speech for different audience sizes, and how to maintain energy in the seemingly endless tournament days.



























