Josh Hamzehee focuses on quality, creativity, advocacy, and personal connection to make sure researching, writing, and performance skills last well beyond the classroom. Whether coaching interpretation, oratory, or limited preparation, over the past decade Josh has coached collegiate and high school performers to national final rounds and success in interpretation and oratory events. Most recently serving as Co-Director of Individual Events for the consistently top-10 in-the-nation University of Northern Iowa speech team, Josh was honored as the American Forensics Association’s 2016 Outstanding New Coach of the Year. He states, “I love speech because there’s a place for everyone, you just need to find your strengths! As a coach I love to help people learn how to invest in themselves in order to invest in those around them.” In addition, Josh is the Interpretation Curriculum Coordinator at one of the country’s largest summer interpretation camps, the Champion Briefs Institute, and has worked at distinguished speech camps across the country. Before becoming a full-time coach, Josh earned his MA in Communication Studies with performance focus from CSU Long Beach, and he comes from a diverse performance and forensics background that informs his relatable coaching style. He competed for the national champion Mt. San Antonio College speech team, was self-coached at CSU Fullerton, and enjoyed national success in interpretation and platform speaking events throughout his career. Josh is in the process of earning his PhD in Performance Studies at Louisiana State University, where he also serves as an instructor of public speaking.
Josh: “The idea of speech is relatively simple: You want something; You get it, or you don’t. The hard part is showing an audience you care about how that happens, and what that means for the world.”