Speech Instructors - University of Houston
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UH Honors Debate Workshop

Speech/Individual Events

Eric porter

Eric Porter, Instructor

Eric Porter holds a bachelor's from the University of Texas Austin and a master's in acting from The American Conservatory Theater (San Francisco). With a 25-year membership in the Actor’s Equity Association, he has showcased his talents in various states including California, Utah, Ohio, Texas, and New York City. Notably, he served as the assistant to the Senior VP of casting at Paramount Studios, where he contributed to Cameron Crowe’s film, “Elizabethtown,” featuring Kirsten Dunst and Orlando Bloom.

In addition to his acting career, Eric has dedicated over two decades to teaching Theater Arts and Competitive Speech in Texas. He has also coached numerous summer competitive workshops across Texas, California, and New Jersey. As a diamond coach and active member of organizations such as TFA, NSDA, TETA, and TTAO, he serves on the diversity committee and acts as an adjudicator for the UIL One Act Play contest.

Eric's coaching prowess is evident in his students' achievements, including State HI, Duet, and DI Champions, as well as two National Dramatic Interp champions and several NSDA semifinalists. Currently, he teaches Theater Appreciation at HCC and Challenge Early College HS, where he serves as the Academic Coordinator and HUDL debate coach. Under his guidance, Challenge Early College HS has produced UIL State qualifiers in Congress, LD, and Prose Interpretation, as well as a quarter-finalist at TFA State in LD and a TOC LD Champion on the HUDL debate circuit.

Recognized for his outstanding contributions, Porter has been honored as Teacher of the Year for HISD and was recently inducted into the Texas Forensics Association Hall of Fame.

Carlos Diaz

Carlos Diaz, Instructor

Carlos Emi Diaz has joined the UH staff as an assistant specializing in individual events. His journey in speech and debate began as a student at Spring Woods HS, where he excelled under the guidance of coach Victoria Beard. At Spring Woods, Emi qualified for TFA state in Dramatic Interpretation, Humorous Interpretation, DUO, and prose for UIL State. In 2016, he clinched the DUO championship at both TFA State and the Tournament of Champions.

Upon graduating, Emi attended The University of Texas at Austin and became a member of the nationally recognized speech team under Randy Cox. During his time at UT, he competed in various events including prose, POI, DI, DUO, and persuasive speaking. Emi's consistent success led him to qualify for the National Forensics Association and the American Forensics Association tournaments in all his events for four consecutive years, contributing to UT's first-place ranking in the country. During the summers of 2017-2019, Emi served as an assistant interp coach at UTNIF and the Director of Interp at the SWHS summer camp, where he worked with qualified staff and coached numerous students.

Although his days as a competitor concluded upon graduating from UT Austin with degrees in communication and ethnic studies, Emi transitioned into coaching as the interim director of forensics at Memorial HS for the 2020-2021 school year. He successfully managed a team of over 100 students, guiding them to qualification for TFA and UIL State competitions. For the past three years, Emi has served as the director of forensics at Stratford High School, overseeing the 2022 NSDA Congress champion and qualifying students for TFA and UIL State, as well as NSDA Nationals in various events.

In his free time, Emi enjoys biking at Buffalo Bayou, watching the newest season of Drag Race, and thrifting at Value Village. He is excited to join a staff that shares his values for the activity and hopes to contribute to the legacy of the Houston area speech and debate community.