John Semple
Stoa Coach
John Semple has been involved in the Stoa community since 2011. He is a two-time national champion who has a passion for instruction, mentorship, and growth.
What is John's competitive experience?
John competed in Stoa for six years. Beginning with Apologetics and Lincoln-Douglas, he eventually added more events to his repertoire. Throughout his senior year, John consistently placed high in all 10 of his regular events, earning first-place titles in Apologetics, Impromptu, Extemporaneous, Original Oratory, Expository, and Open Interpretation, Parliamentary Debate, Parliamentary speaker points, Lincoln Douglas-Debate, Lincoln-Douglas speaker points, and Team Policy Debate.
What were the highlights of John's career?
Over the course of his career, John won the Tournament Champion award four times. His favorite speech was his Expository which won first-place at six tournaments. At NITOC in 2023, John captured two national titles—the Lincoln-Douglas Debate National Title and the Apologetics National Title. He broke the NITOC record for the most picket fences with seven and won second-place Tournament Champion. John ended his final season ranked 1st in the nation overall. He has continued his speaking journey by competing in collegiate speech and debate. Since starting, John has captured first-place titles in multiple events.
What makes John a good coach?
John desires to influence, instruct, and encourage the next generation of students. John is certified to coach all Stoa speech and debate events so regardless of your experience level or your personal goals, John is here to help.
Why Does John Coach?
From the very beginning, John recognized the value and importance of personal growth inspired by those who have walked before. John builds his coaching methods on the foundation of instruction and mentorship. He seeks to be an inspiration to the next generation of speakers and leaders because of the prior generations that effectively inspired him. John finds coaching rewarding. He enjoys equipping students with the tools they need to achieve their unique goals. He seeks to encourage those who pursue excellence and to inspire tomorrow's leaders. This is why John coaches.
John’s Services
Hourly Session
Book a 1-hour session to receive coaching on any limited preparation event, platform speech, interpretive event, or debate event. If you are booking a session to receive coaching for either Team Policy Debate, Parliamentary Debate, or Duo Interpretation, you may book as a team under the same hourly rate. Once you book a session, John will reach out to you to confirm, schedule, and send you his payment information. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Coach John.
Semester Package
The Semester Package is for students seeking to benefit from all aspects of Coach John Semple’s coaching. If you are looking for a semester-long coach who will work through all aspects of your speech and debate journey with you—from goal-setting to practice to coping with successes and disappointments—, then this package was made for you.
The Semester Package gives students 10 hour-length sessions with Coach John to be used over the course of a semester. The Package also gives students on-demand access to quick calls and advice at no extra charge.
Did you just break to Parliamentary Debate semifinals and would like help prepping? As a package student, you can call Coach John for a quick 20 minutes of prep at no extra cost. Is it the day before a tournament and you are struggling to word your case's conclusion? Call John for some quick out-of-session help. The Package is just that—a package deal.
John’s Reviews
"Coach John Semple is a one-of-a-kind coach. He helped me break the barrier of low placements and led me to win tournaments. There are no words to describe my experience with him other than amazing!"
— Emmanuel Lejeune (7X Lincoln-Douglas Debate Champion from Virginia).
"John Semple isn't just good at what he does, he is legitimately fun to work with and has a great mindset for NITOC prep. He is focused on the things that matter and he actually listens to where you are at. Book the dude already!"
— Jude Fouche (2025 National Dramatic Interpretation Finalist & 6X Lincoln-Douglas Debate Speaking Champion).