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David Templeton's Seldom Seen: Flirting was his key to winning national competition
Sunday, July 15, 2001 By David Templeton, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
Seldom Seem, David Templeton's whimsical perspective on life and times in and around Washington County, appears weekly in Washington Sunday.
He's shy. That's the unanimous description of the 18-year-old Trinity Area High School graduate who speaks with award-winning splendor. His speech teacher claims he's bashful. His grandfather says he's timid. Even his former theater coach once used theatrical aplomb to say this guy is shy.
But in Justin's case, shy is as shy does.
Justin Welch recently returned from Norman, Okla., where this reputed shy guy from Canton was named the National Forensic League's champion in expository speaking. That's to say, he's national champion in persuasive explanation.
The topic he chose also seems to belie his reputation for reticence.
Flirting.
During the competition, Justin successfully toyed with the idea that people in the 1990s were so obsessed with careers and cash that their coquetry got rusty. Hey, winking requires practice. With that, Justin described how to become a fabulous flirt.
It was a risky topic for an expository speech, because students opt for topics judges won't consider to be shallow. They seek topics with bite, not winks. To add to the drama, Justin found himself tied up in oratory and cross-examination debate competitions that left him scant time to memorize and practice his speech.
He flirted with disaster.
"I went back to the hotel and began memorizing," he said. "I stood in front of the mirror with a timer, trying to get it together."
Together he got it.
Although successful expository speaking presents facts and information in a persuasive manner, Justin contends "delivery surpasses content."
"I try connecting with the judges," he said. "You try to look natural, but you are really nervous with 60 people watching, along with the cameras and judges."
Timing is also important. The speaker needs to use expressions and hand gestures at precise moments. While spoken language rules, body language can win points. The expository speaking champ, as with the boxing champ, must know how to bob and weave.
"One of my teammates said I point with my hips and do bizarre things with my body," Justin said. "But you have to do what's right for you. My gestures and body movements might be unique, but I do them naturally."
In March, Justin was crowned state champion in persuasive oratory at the Pennsylvania High School Speech League competition, and he designed the official T-shirt for the event.
Trinity placed fourth in the state under the direction of Mary Ann Berty, an English and communications teacher and speech coach.
But each student had to compete from scratch for an invitation to the national competition.
Trinity again proved its depth with seven qualifiers, who joined 2,500 students June 10 in Norman, Okla, to compete in 13 speech and debate categories.
To prepare, Justin researched the topic of flirting in books and on the Internet, then boiled his speech down to less than five entertaining minutes of information, humor and insight.
Flirting begins, he said, when children learn to play peek-a-boo, and it becomes the process of "acting amorously without serious intent."
"We flirt to try out our sexual drive without going all the way," he said. "For girls, there are two top ways to flirt. They tuck their chin down and use an averting glance, and they smile."
When he explained that part, he used an admittedly "exaggerated smile" and raised eyebrows.
Justin said girls initiate 60 percent of all flirting encounters. For guys, the common protocol is the pickup line, and Justin came up with two to provide the judges with "incredibly bizarre" examples.
"I may not be Elmo, but you can tickle me anyway," he said, drawing laughs with his demeanor and delivery. "I've been watching you all night, and I think you deserve me."
If you don't like those pickup lines, he noted, there are Web sites full of bad pickup lines.
"In the end, I wrapped it up, along with the insane pickup lines," he said. "They are cheesy, but they reveal an important part of flirting -- having fun. While it may not be true in sports, [in flirting] it's not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game."
The speech charmed everyone. Yes, he "cheesed it up," but he mixed in vital information, skilled presentation and jabs of humor to claim the national title. Berty said everyone could identify with it.
"He delivered it with sincerity, made it come from the heart and made sure everything he said was correct," she said. "He was like a lounge singer trying to pick up somebody. It was real cute."
Seeking a career in communications, Justin now plans to attend Syracuse University.
"He loves the whole idea of communicating," Berty said. "The senior class voted him as the person most likely to take my job."
Justin's mother, Tracy Lynn McVeigh Welch, died in a car accident in 1989. For the past eight years, Justin and his sisters, Amanda and Kylie, have lived with their grandparents, Ralph and Hilda McVeigh of Canton.
So Justin has had to deal with family tragedy. But he has found comfort performing in school plays, and he also has performed in Kid's Theatreworks productions under the tutelage of Linda Shannon.
In a 1997 story I did on Justin, shyness was the theme. I explained how the handsome 14-year-old used wide-eyed expressions, a voice bubbling with character and keen awareness of his audience to entertain. His talent was apparent.
With years of training in speech competitions and theater, he's developed a stage presence augmented by desire to succeed. Berty said the national championship trophy finally has brought him some sense of accomplishment.
Because, for a shy guy from Canton who "comes alive in front of a camera," life is a grand performance that draws insight from tragedy, drama and humor.
"I always knew he had magic," Berty said.
David Templeton can be reached by e-mail at: dtempleton@post-gazette.com
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