SuperDebate is building competitive debate infrastructure for adults. Local clubs, a technology platform, and championship tournaments designed to give millions of people a place to compete with their minds the way others compete with their bodies. We have run events across Chicago, Portland, and Bali, and just finished our first international tournament in Roatan, Honduras.
Most of the great competitive debaters in this country hung up their spurs after college. Our next advisor never did. He is still in the arena, winning national titles while running two companies and coaching the next generation. He is exactly the kind of person we need to help carry this activity out of the academic world it came from and into the modern adult world where it belongs.
Iain is one of the foremost public speaking and competitive communication experts in the country. He is the founder of Authentalk, a communication training company built to help professionals speak with greater clarity, confidence, and persuasive power. He also serves as COO of ModernBrain, one of the most successful speech and debate education organizations in the nation.
His path into this work is as unlikely as his record. As a kid, Iain struggled with a lisp and a speech impediment. In high school, he set out to become the most successful Impromptu speaker in California, and went on to set a statewide record for the largest margin of victory in the event's history.
In college, he turned that same drive toward mock trial. He became a two-time national champion in trial advocacy and set the all-time record for the strongest four-year run at the American Mock Trial Association's national championship tournament.
He later entered the professional speech and debate world and quickly established himself as one of the most accomplished active competitors in the activity. In 2021, he was named the Professional Speech and Debate Association's season-long professional national champion, taking first place across acting, oratory, spontaneous speaking, and debate categories at the final contest.
In 2023, Iain joined the International Public Debate Association's professional division. No competitor from outside the Deep South had ever won a national title in that category. Living and working from Wisconsin, he became the season-long professional national speech and debate champion and set an all-time record for debate wins. In 2026, he repeated as season-long national champion in both categories and set the all-time record for speech wins. At his first IPDA national championship, he was also named Top Speaker in the nation.
Beyond competition, Iain has built an equally serious record in education and leadership. After graduating from UCLA, he earned a master's degree in education and human development from George Washington University and a doctorate from Vanderbilt University, along with additional certifications in educational leadership, college counseling, and human resources. He then attended Northwestern University's executive MBA program, where he began teaching fellow executives and managers the art of competent communication. He has coached students to over 1,800 public speaking championships and 400 national rankings.
Across coaching, executive education, and national-level competition, Iain has developed a rare combination of practical expertise, intellectual depth, and high-performance communication training.
SuperDebate exists to pull competitive debate out of the academic silos it has lived in and turn it into something adults everywhere can take seriously. Startups, boardrooms, public stages, local clubs. That is a cultural jump, not just a product one. And it needs someone who can stand in both worlds credibly.
"I keep looking for people who still treat debate like a craft worth mastering, and who can carry that craft into places it has not been yet. Iain is that person. He is an active national champion, he coaches executives, and he is connected to every corner of this activity. He is exactly the kind of advisor who helps us build the bridge from the debate world to the modern world, and beyond."
— John Connor, Founder & CEO
As an advisor, Iain will help shape how SuperDebate trains, develops, and supports its community of competitors. He will help us raise the ceiling on what competitive debate can look like for adults who actually want to get better, not just participate. And because he sits at the intersection of mock trial, speech, debate, congress, and executive education, he brings a network across every major corner of this world, which we will lean on as we scale from local clubs to a real national league.
SuperDebate is raising a pre-seed round and assembling an advisory team of operators and experts who bring real networks, real experience, and the ability to open doors. Iain is exactly that kind of advisor. We are thrilled to have him on board.
If you want to see what we are building, our next event is the Chicago Debate Showcase. And if you want to help build the future of competitive discourse, reach out. We are always looking for great people.
John Connor
Founder & CEO, SuperDebate
superdebate.org
