BROWNWOOD – September 29, 2026 – Howard Payne University’s Student Speaker Bureau (SSB) speech and debate team invites area high school UIL teams to participate in its annual UIL congress, speech, debate and journalism events workshops on Oct. 8 and Oct. 28.
The first workshop will be for the UIL Congress event. The workshop will cover all the basics of the UIL Congress event including format, writing and presenting bills, debating format, flowing, writing briefs, PO rules and procedures and cross-examination. The workshop will be held on Thursday, Oct. 8 at HPU.
Senior HPU speech and debate team captain Rylie Burden will lead the workshop. Burden was a four-time state qualifier and two-time state finalist.
“Participating in the UIL Congress event really challenged me as a high school student, and I love being able to give back to students to help prepare them for their own competition,” said Burden, a Guy D. Newman Honors Academy and jurisprudence major from Lubbock.
The second workshop, held on Oct. 28, will cover UIL speaking events including prose, poetry, informative and persuasive extemporaneous speaking, LD debate and CX debate.
HPU’s award-winning SSB speech and debate team will provide all speech and debate instruction.
Each session is led by a member of HPU’s team, said Dr. Julie Welker, professor of communication, chair of the Department of Communication, and director of both the speech and debate team and the campus student news.
“Our team does an outstanding job of coaching these high school students in preparation for their upcoming invitational and district spring meets,” Dr. Welker said. “They each have outstanding high school and collegiate records and bring a great deal of expertise and experience to the sessions.”
The journalism portion of the workshop, also held on Oct. 28, will provide instruction in editorial, news, feature and headline writing. Strategic communication majors and staff members of HPU’s Yellow Jacket student media will provide journalism training.
“Our journalism instructors include a former state champion in UIL journalism as well as our HPU student editors,” Dr. Welker said.
Dr. Welker added that high school coaches and students can expect excellent small group instruction in each area.
“We like for this to be an opportunity for novice students to get practical, hands-on training in each event, and for experienced students to dive deeper into their respective events,” she said.
Each school may bring up to three coaches free of charge.
“In addition to helping students be more confident in UIL competitions, we want both new and experienced coaches to gain valuable information for coaching their teams,” Dr. Welker added.
The cost is $50 per student for the Congress workshop, and $35 per student for the speech, debate and journalism workshop. Although not included in the cost, lunch will be available on campus or at local restaurants. All of the workshops will be held on the HPU campus.
Registration is open online at www.hputx.edu/SSBUILworkshops.
These workshops serve as the HPU speech and debate team’s largest fundraiser. HPU’s Student Speaker Bureau relies on donations to fund its program. To support HPU’s Student Speaker Bureau with funds to help with travel expenses and other related needs, please visit www.hputx.edu/give and select “Other” below the “Designation” heading. A space will then be provided to type “Student Speaker Bureau,” and the donation form can then be completed accordingly.
For further information on the workshop, contact Dr. Welker at jwelker@hputx.edu.
ABOUT HOWARD PAYNE UNIVERSITY
Howard Payne University, founded in 1889, is a Christ-centered liberal arts university in Brownwood, Texas, dedicated to preparing students for lives of faith, leadership and service. With more than 100 majors, minors and pre-professional programs across six schools, serving three locations, HPU combines academic excellence with meaningful personal connection in a close-knit campus community.
Guided by its five core values — centered on Christ, focused on community, called to service, committed to excellence and dedicated to stewardship — Howard Payne prepares students through rigorous academic programs, vibrant student life, competitive athletics and service opportunities that equip graduates to make an impact in their communities and professions.