Many influential people, such as Stephen Colbert, Elizabeth Warren, and Jordan Peele, have taken part in their high school’s speech and debate team. Public speaking is a skill that can be cultivated and an asset in a host of careers, so it’s no surprise that many students participate and go on to compete nationally. Speak. follows five students as they prepare for a competition: Noor, who lives in Texas and has a special needs brother; Sam, a queer teen in Minnesota; Noah, who has autism and recently lost his mother to suicide; Mfaz, a Muslim American with a large TikTok following; and Esther, a child of Nigerian immigrants and the two-time national champion. They all have causes they can speak passionately about, and we spend a year with them as they reach milestone after milestone to qualify for Nationals. While the five students are all powerhouses, Esther is a frontrunner and used to stealing the show with her incredible oratory skills, but it’s really anyone’s championship to win.  BD