Last year, the state speech tournament was new and unfamiliar to Luke Hoffschneider. This year, he treated it as just another tournament.
The approach worked for the Centennial junior. After winning gold in serious prose last year, he brought home gold again March 27.
His piece last year was about a young man who lost his brother. This year, Hoffschneider performed “Cardboard Signs” by Linda Kao.
“There was lots of crying this year, too,” he said with a grin.
“Cardboard Signs” is about a homeless kid who is escaping from an abusive stepfather.
“I never completely create a new character,” Hoffschneider said, adding that each character includes parts of himself.
This year, he tapped into vulnerability to play a scared kid.
“The character didn’t have a name,” he said. “I thought about him as just me. How would I feel in that moment?”
The story wasn’t his original choice. When he read his first selection, he said, he hated how it was written. But Nebraska School Activities Associaiton speech rules limit the amount of changes a performer can make to a script. After memorizing the piece, he realized it wasn’t something he could compete with.
So, two weeks before the first speech meet of the season, he started over.
In doing so, however, he had to break one of his unwritten rules.
“My rule for myself is to never use a binder,” he said. “The first meet at High Plains, I had to break that rule.”
Speakers are allowed to have their script with them, but most who perform in the interpretive events memorize their scripts.
During the speech season, Hoffschneider also had a role in the Centennial High musical, so he was working on that, too. He said he didn’t have trouble keeping them separate or learning all his lines.
“I’ve always been really good at memorization,” he said.
He credited his elementary education at St. Paul Lutheran School, where the teachers taught him how to memorize.
Hoffschneider said he memorizes everything first and then figures out how to perform the piece. He works in front of a mirror to see his facial expressions and gestures.
“I want to make them as real as possible,” he said.
Every performance is different, as he tries different things and sees what works and what the judges like.
“All the little things add up and it becomes a thing,” he said.
Hoffschneider said he has become less demanding of himself when it comes to placing at speech meets.
“I put so much pressure on myself. If I’m not first, it would destroy me,” he said.
On the way home from a meet at Wilber-Clatonia, he said, he described himself as shattered because he didn’t win. Then he asked himself why he did speech?
He said he remember people talking to him after his performances about the impact he made. That helped him adjust his approach. He decided instead of just focusing on winning, he would focus on making people feel something.
“That took a lot off my shoulders,” he said.
At first, he said, his acting was like acting. When he adjusted his approach, it became less artificial and more intentional.
“It’s how you interpret the words,” he said.
He doesn’t often see the same judge more than once in a year, but this year, one of the state judges had judged at Shelby-Rising City. Hoffschneider said it was fun to be able to show that judge how he had grown.
He always wears the same outfit – a blue blazer, gray pants and white button-down shirt. He said this year, the go-to was a floral design tie.
Hoffschneider said he was more nervous at districts this year than he was at state. Last year’s state meet was overwhelming, and he felt more pressure to prove himself. This year, it was just another meet. Hoffschneider competed in the same rooms he was in last year, and that helped him relax, as well.
He watched the other finalists, all of whom were new to him, and was impressed.
“I’m proud of how I did,” he said.
When it came to the medal ceremony, he wasn’t concerned.
“All my hard work paid off,” he said. “When they called second and it was not me, I thought, ‘I did it.’”
People who saw his performance complimented him on it after state.
“One judge said it was the best he’d ever seen,” Hoffschneider said.
