Category: Strategy Page 2 of 4

Strategy: Source Diversity

On January 15, 2014

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The ideal extemp speech should utilize, on average, seven to ten sources. Most extempers get their sources from newspapers and magazines, but they fail to enhance their analysis by incorporating a diverse array of sources from different publications and/or geographic locations. Ensuring that your speeches have good source diversity can create more insightful analysis of your topic and also ensure that you are getting a variety of perspectives to consult in order to answer a particular question.

This strategy piece will discuss the importance of source diversity and provide tips so that you can make sure to avoid consulting only a few resources in a round.

Strategy: Books in Extemp

On January 1, 2014

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by Logan Scisco

Extempers have a variety of sources at their disposal when crafting a speech. Magazines, newspaper articles, journal articles, books, and articles from think tanks constitute most of the tools that an extempers has in their arsenal. Most extempers tend to use magazine and newspaper articles the most, with journal articles constituting the third most used source. Think tank articles would probably be one of the least used sources, but they would be on the fourth rung of most used sources and books usually constitute one of the least used sources in extemporaneous speaking. Since books take more time to read and digest, extempers are less likely to use them since they feel they can use the length of time devoted to reading a book to reading a large number of other sources. However, books can be an important source of information and can impress an audience if used during a round. Extempers who watch old NFL final rounds can attest to the power of books in extemporaneous speaking as many recent national champions and finalists have used them.

This strategy piece will discuss the usefulness of using books in extemporaneous speaking and how to cite them, as well as providing tips for what books to read, how to read more of them quickly, and how to file and reference book citations during prep.

Strategy: Proper Time Allocation

On December 18, 2013

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by Logan Scisco

Extemporaneous speaking is a seven minute event and although many proficient extempers wish it could be longer, the time limit is not going to change anytime soon. When extempers begin their careers they find the seven minute time limit daunting, but as they learn more information and learn about the structure of the event, they quickly find that there is not enough time to get everything they want into the speech. During their second and third seasons, extempers traditionally struggle to balance time in their speeches, usually losing time in the introduction or spending too much time on their first point, which tends to limit their analysis near the end of the their speech and/or forces them to abruptly conclude. This week’s strategy piece will discuss the importance of time allocation and tips for extempers who are struggling to properly allocate time in their speeches.

Strategy: Framing Questions

On December 4, 2013

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by Logan Scisco

The first ninety seconds of an extemporaneous speech are very important because it introduces the audience to the topic that you have selected to speak on. Not only do you need an affective attention getting device (AGD), which has been written about extensively on this website and others like it on the Internet, but you also need to provide sufficient background on your question. A mistake that inexperienced competitors make is that they jump directly from their AGD to the question, completely ignoring the fact that they need to give the audience some background information on their topic. This week’s strategy piece will explain how you can provide sufficient background information on your topic and avoid this problem.

Strategy: Transition Tips and Tricks

On November 20, 2013

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by Logan Scisco

Transitions are an important element in an extemporaneous speech. They serve as the glue to unite the different elements of your structure. Without transitions, you cannot easily move from your introduction, between your points, or to your conclusion. You would also struggle in getting the audience to follow your internal structure. While it is possible to resort to generic transitions like “First….” and “Second…”, this topic brief will discuss ways that you can make your transitions unique and meaningful.

Strategy: Using History in Extemporaneous Speaking

On November 6, 2013

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by Logan Scisco

Although I advise new coaches to extemporaneous speaking to recruit students that show an interest in history and politics, one thing that amazes me at tournaments is the lack of historical context that extemporaneous speakers use in making their arguments. It as if handling questions about North Korea, Sino-American relations, and domestic politics happen in a present-day vacuum where historical events are irrelevant to the narrative. Students often get “tunnel vision” when crafting their speeches because of the stress of prep time and the concern that one will not have time to fit all of their arguments in during the speech. They may also lack the needed historical knowledge to add proper context to their speeches. This strategy piece will explain how historical knowledge can aid a speech and provide advice for incorporating it into rounds.

Strategy: How to Use a Notecard

On October 23, 2013

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by Logan Scisco

Regular readers of Extemp Central may wonder why I am devoting this week’s strategy piece to using notecards, since you rarely find extempers on the national circuit with them. Although it is true that you will not find many extempers in elimination rounds at national circuit tournaments that use a notecard, at local tournaments they still proliferate. Many beginners start their extemporaneous speaking careers by using a notecard, but many of them do not use it correctly. This creates bad habits that can harm them when they eventually get rid of the notecard and begin to speak without notes. This strategy piece will explain why notecards are used and how speakers should go about using them in a round.

Strategy: Conclusions & Why They Matter

On October 9, 2013

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by Logan Scisco

When going over the structure of an extemporaneous speech with beginners, I am guilty of glossing over the importance of the conclusion. When teaching extemp, I place a great deal of emphasis on the introduction and point structure, since the beginning of the speech provides your best impression to the judge and your points provide your analysis for the question you are speaking on. However, conclusions should not be overlooked or simply presented as “it’s the introduction in reverse.” Conclusions do matter in extemporaneous speaking and can make the difference in difficult rounds. Therefore, this strategy piece will talk about conclusion structure and why conclusions matter in extemporaneous speaking.

Strategy: Speaking in Front of Large Crowds

On September 25, 2013

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by Logan Scisco

Although the goal of forensics is to encourage and teach people to speak in front of audiences, the size of those audiences can greatly impact a competitive round and a competitor’s psyche. Depending on what event you do in forensics the crowd sizes fluctuate, especially when elimination rounds are held. Of all forensic events, extemporaneous speaking tends to pull in the fewest number of audience members. Extempers do not make their audience laugh as often as an HI or cry during a DI and there are some people that just do not find a discussion about the next Federal Reserve chairman that interesting. Extempers usually speak in front of audiences ranging from one to five people for most of their rounds but what do you do when you are in a state or national elimination round and there the room is suddenly packed to watch the round? Some extempers panic in this situation because they are not used to it. This strategy piece will give you some tips on how to master your nerves and conquer those rounds.

Strategy: Effective Reading Strategies

On September 11, 2013

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by Logan Scisco

Several weeks ago in a pre-season piece and in another strategy piece on tips for success, I stressed that reading is an important element in becoming a better extemporaneous speaker. The more that you know about the world, the more confident you will be about speaking about various topics ranging from Medicare to Syria to Mali. However, while reading is an important skill that extempers need to acquire, reading effectively is really what an aspiring extempers need to do so this strategy piece will provide some tips on how to do this.

Strategy: Fluency in Extemporaneous Speaking

On August 28, 2013

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Speakers in limited preparation events experience a great deal of stress. Unlike other forensic events, they must speak on their feet with little time to prepare and the speaker is sometimes not sure what will be the next word coming out of their mouth. Mastering a fluid delivery is one of the most important parts in becoming a successful extemporaneous speaker. A fluid delivery can captivate the audience and lead to higher ranks, while a choppy delivery can distract the audience and lead to low ranks. This week’s strategy piece will discuss the importance of fluency and some tips to improve your fluid delivery.

Strategy: How to Improve

On August 14, 2013

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by Logan Scisco

A few weeks ago, I revealed some tips for working through the summer to prepare for the upcoming season. Today, this strategy piece is going to break down how you can immediately start to improve your ranks in rounds. Extemporaneous speaking is a very challenging event and there are no shortcuts, but there are a few lessons that you can learn early that will make you a more formidable competitor and give you a leg up on most of your competition.

Extemper’s Corner: Five Ways to Prepare for Next Season

On July 10, 2013

With the opening of the season’s first national circuit tournament two months away, extempers everywhere are spending their off-season relaxing, but should also be doing some preparation. Here are five quick suggestions for how to spend your summer so that you are prepared for the 2013-2014 season.

2011 NFL National Tournament Strategy Guide

On June 3, 2011

In Strategy, Tournaments

by Tyler Fabbri

Tyler Fabbri was last year’s NFL national champion in United States Extemporaneous Speaking and was a finalist in 2009. He provides some tips in this piece for extempers who will be competing at the 2011 NFL National Tournament in less than two weeks in Dallas, Texas.

With NFL Nationals creeping around the corner, I expect the anxiety is mounting a bit for everyone. Whether Dallas is your first or fourth NFL tournament, there are a few basic things to keep in mind to make this year’s trip the best it can be. This may be an incoherent rambling, but take from it what you can!

Strategy: Five Ways to Improve the Organization of Your File Boxes

On September 24, 2010

In Files, Strategy

Since extemporaneous speaking is a limited preparation event, it is crucial that extempers be as organized as possible. This is very crucial when it comes to filing. Extemp files that are unorganized are not useful and greatly hamper the chances of an extemper to do well at a tournament.

To help novice and veteran extempers alike, Extemp Central presents five tips that can make your file boxes more organized and effective.

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