BANDON - There's a secret to the success of the Bandon High School speech team.

The team has taken a trophy at the state tournament in eight out of nine years of its existence, finishing second this year, and routinely racks up awards by the dozens at tournaments throughout the year.

But the secret to how the speakers do it isn't much of a secret in Bandon.

It's an immensely popular show called Sweet Speeches, held two or three times a year and consistently drawing crowds of around 200. The show benefits the team in a variety of ways, according to coach Ellen Howard.

First, there's the confidence boost that the speakers get from performing by a large audience, which makes the small cohort of judges and other speakers they face in competition seem insignificant in comparison.

“It gives us an edge in competition,” Howard said. “They go into a classroom at a tournament and think, ‘This isn't so bad.'”

Then there's the money the team makes from the shows, which helps pay for the team's travel to tournaments around the state. Those were the reasons Howard came up with the program.

But Sweet Speeches does more than that.

“It's vastly popular with other students in the high school,” Howard said. “They see kids who they would think would never have the guts to get up onstage. Some beg to be on the team, and I'm not sure if they would do that. Every year I'm blown away - I can't believe I just saw this person do this.”

By raising the team's profile at the school, the shows attract a steady pool of talent to the team, which Howard limits to 18 members.

But it's not just students and their parents that account for the large crowds at the shows.

“There are a lot of older people who go routinely,” Howard said. “Maybe years ago they had a neighbor kid who was in it, and they liked it and they keep going. Š The kids on the team get stopped in stores by people who are perfect strangers to them and complimented on their speeches.”

There are two regularly scheduled shows each school year, in November and January, and a third in May if someone from the team qualifies for nationals - something that has happened five times in nine years.

The latest Bandon speaker to qualify is Dylan DoVale, a senior who will compete in dramatic interpretation at the National Forensic League's national tournament next month in Wichita, Kan. “Sweet Dylan” will be held in his honor at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 17, at the Sprague Community Theater in Bandon.

DoVale will perform “A Madman's Manuscript” from Charles Dickens' Pickwick Papers at both the tournament and the show. He chose the piece because James Dean used it to go to nationals in 1949, when he finished sixth after winning the state tournament in Indiana.

In addition to DoVale and other members of the Bandon team, speakers from Marshfield High School who also qualified for nationals will perform at “Sweet Dylan.” The Marshfield speakers include Hank Fields, Aaron Marineau and Kate O'Donnell.

While Bandon audiences are familiar with the conventions of speech events, the highly stylized, structured nature of the performances can be jarring to first-time viewers. The events most often performed in Bandon are humorous interpretation, dramatic interpretation and dual interpretation, each of which is limited to 10 minutes and must be published, memorized pieces.

Performers move quickly between characters, giving each a distinct voice and stance. The duals are the most stylized because of rules forbidding the speakers from looking at each other and requiring parallel gestures. Allowing greater flexibility, the humorous and dramatic speeches are essentially acting, according to DoVale, who recently placed fourth in both events at the state tournament and qualified for nationals in both but had to choose one.

Acting is something DoVale knows a little about, though he hasn't had any training. After performing in just four productions at the Sprague, DoVale has been accepted to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles, which boasts 72 Oscar winners among its alumni.

He described the thrill of performing the “Madman” piece at state: “When I was looking around, the coolest thing was no one's eyes left me. I love that - I have them.”

DoVale said he plans to have a ball at “Sweet Dylan,” saying he wanted to “not just put on a performance for everyone but make people feel like they're having a good time.”

Tickets are $10 and $5 for students.