The National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA) recently released the order of its extemp topic areas for this year’s national tournament, which kicks off tomorrow and will take place online for the second consecutive year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Extemp competitors will start this year’s tournament with a round zero at 10 a.m. CST on Tuesday. The tournament will break to the top 102 competitors in international and United States extemp on Wednesday afternoon following five preliminary rounds. Extemp Central hopes to provide some live coverage of the tournament based on the information that the NSDA releases about outround participants. We are planning to do some live coverage of the final rounds on Saturday as well.
The order of this year’s extemp categories can be found below. Extempers are encouraged to use the R&Ds that were posted over the last two weeks to bolster their files and reading for the competition. These can be more easily accessed by clicking on the R&D, International Extemp, and/or U.S. Extemp categories on the right.
Extemp Central wishes the best of luck to all of the extempers competing in this year’s nationals and congratulates them for qualifying.
International Extemp Topic Area Order
- Practice Round 0 – North America and the Caribbean
- Prelim Round 1 – Global Human Rights
- Prelim Round 2 – East and Southeast Asia
- Prelim Round 3 – Africa
- Prelim Round 4 – Environmental Issues
- Prelim Round 5 – International Diplomacy
- Double Octafinals Round 6 – Europe
- Double Octafinals Round 7 – Central and South America
- Octafinals Round 8 – Elections
- Octafinals Round 9 – Central and South Asia
- Quarterfinals Round 10 – Global Health
- Quarterfinals Round 11 – Militaries and Armed Conflicts
- Semifinals Round 12 – The Middle East
- Semifinals Round 13 – International Economics
- Finals Round 14 – The World Next Week
United States Extemp Topic Area Order
- Practice Round 0 – Transportation and Infrastructure
- Prelim Round 1 – The Executive Branch
- Prelim Round 2 – Racial Justice
- Prelim Round 3 – U.S. Foreign Policy
- Prelim Round 4 – U.S. Economics and Business
- Prelim Round 5 – Arts, Entertainment, and Society
- Double Octafinals Round 6 – Elections
- Double Octafinals Round 7 – Education
- Octafinals Round 8 – The Legislative Branch
- Octafinals Round 9 – Environment and Energy
- Quarterfinals Round 10 – The First Amendment
- Quarterfinals Round 11 – Science and Technology
- Semifinals Round 12 – The Judicial Branch
- Semifinals Round 13 – Entitlements and Health Care
- Finals Round 14 – The U.S. Next Week