Market Screening: Speak.

SPEAK. follows five fearless teenage orators on a nine-month quest to the NSDA Nationals—the Super Bowl of public speaking—where a thousand words can change everything. As nerves, biased judging, and razor-thin margins test them, their coaches battle to keep programs alive amid budget cuts, book bans, and a splintering America.

Meet Noor (disability rights), Noah (mental health), Sam (a proudly queer voice challenging political nostalgia), Mfaz (a Sudan-born TikTok creator pushing back on Muslim stereotypes), and Esther, a two-time champion chasing a historic three-peat—aiming to surpass Executive Producer Josh Gad’s own school record.

They rehearse in kitchens, buses, and classrooms—even beside a pet pig—while still being teens: concerts, crushes, college letters. Equal parts competition doc, coming-of-age story, and rallying cry, SPEAK. argues that debate programs aren’t luxuries; they’re training grounds for empathy, critical thinking, and the civility our world is starved for.