Last year in Dallas, Texas, Dylan Slinger of Lakeville South High School in Minnesota and Jared Odessky of Nova High School in Florida were the National Forensic League National Champions in International and United States Extemporaneous Speaking. Both also won their respective final rounds at the tournament. Slinger also capped a unique season by winning the CFL and NFL national extemporaneous speaking titles, becoming just the third extemper to do so. In last season’s National Points Race, Slinger finished second and Odessky finished third. Both of them took the time to talk with Extemp Central about their high school careers and provide some advice for up and coming extempers and those attending this year’s NFL Nationals in Indianapolis, Indiana.

This is part one of a two part interview. The second part will be posted tomorrow.

How did your get started in extemp? In other words, was extemp your first choice of an event or did you “grow” into it over time?

Odessky: I began my freshman year doing Congressional Debate, an event that is really popular on the Florida circuit and especially at my high school. However, very early on during my Congress practice speeches, my coach noticed that I liked long introductions and hated speaking with a legal pad, so one morning she sat me down in her office and told me that I needed to try out Extemp.

Slinger: Minnesota splits the speech from the debate season, so after my novice year of Lincoln Douglas, my debate coach (who also was my Extemp coach) pushed me to join the Extemp crew. I was the first Extemper on our team to focus on Domestic and then my sophomore year I began doing International as well.

What were your early struggles in extemporaneous speaking? How did you overcome them?

Odessky: First of all, Extemp made me petrified. I started out with a very limited knowledge base and a weak public presence, and the idea of speaking with only thirty minutes of preparation freaked me out. A few months later, I couldn’t imagine doing speech any other way. My early struggles were building foundational knowledge, slowing down my speaking rate, and becoming more engaging. To fix the first problem, I read whatever I could, whenever I could. I used newspaper apps on my phone, set my homepage to the New York Times website, and subscribed to periodicals from Foreign Affairs to the Wilson Quarterly. However, what I found most helpful was talking to older Extempers about topic areas. Having dealt with a range of Extemp questions over the years, my peers in the event were really the resource that helped me to learn the ins and outs of everything from economic policy to U.S. relations with Germany. To slow myself down, I did lots and lots of speaking drills. The one that I found most effective was sitting down at the beginning of a speech to force myself to speak conversationally, and then standing up in the middle. Over time, I began to deliver speeches at a natural rate. This also helped me to become a more engaging speaker, which I supplemented with incorporating vocal variation, facial expression, and especially challenging myself to use gestures that illustrated, not just supplemented, what I was saying.

Slinger: During my sophomore year, I struggled with fully explaining complicated concepts and making sure my speech was accessible to all judges. If you are well read and understand the issues, often times it is easy to forget the judge does not know the entire background or concept that you are explaining. Giving practice speeches to someone who is not as familiar with the issue as your coach or teammates will help you give a thorough and accessible explanation. The best speakers will be insightful and accessible to all audiences, not just appealing to a niche of Extempy judges or less well versed parent judges.

Were there any speakers that you tried to emulate?

Odessky: The Extempers that I most admired were also my mentors. During my novice year, I looked up to Ryan Pereira, my team’s Extemp captain, and I often sought to emulate his speech structure and style. Later on, I tried to follow in the footsteps of speakers such as Josh Rovenger, Charlie Metzger, and Alex Stephenson, all of which I had worked with at the Florida Forensic Institute.

Slinger: The speaker that first inspired me was Akshar Rambachan. I was a freshmen during his senior year. Akshar impressed me with how well he could command a room and how he consistently understood and explained the topic in a way that everyone in the room could appreciate. He taught about the subject, rather than just reporting about it and did so with enthusiastic energy that everyone in the room could feel.

What steps did you take in practices to become a better speaker?

Odessky: By junior year, I was usually only giving full practice speeches once or twice a week. I found it more effective to prepare an introduction and first point and then deliver it to several people to see how I could improve my style. I would give that speech snippet, listen to comments, and keep delivering it until that person could no longer identify major problems. Then I would try it out on the next person. That way I was able to make sure my style was satisfying a variety of tastes. At the same time, I also challenged myself to develop a comfortable, personal speaking style. Anyone who knew me outside of Extemp that watched me in a round could see my personality woven throughout the speech, usually in the form of wordplay and political jokes. Fight hard to break past the “Extemp mold!”

Slinger: Three things: watch rounds, read and speak. I was fortunate to compete against and watch several exceptional Extempers in my local area. Watching those speakers and taking note of their commonalities and the differences that separated the best of them allowed me to reflect on my style more critically and improve more rapidly. I started out with confidence as a speaker because of debate but reading is what gave me depth and an ability to organize my thoughts well. Read, read, read. I would read (and still try to read) a wide variety of sources beyond periodicals: scholarly articles, books, think-tanks, government reports, etc… This gives you the concepts, the details and structure necessary for a good speech. Finally, if you are not speaking, there is no way to continually improve. You perform like you practice and if you are not practicing, your performance will definitely suffer.

Heading into NFL Nationals last year, what was your practice routine?

Odessky: Amidst graduation parties and the excitement of being done with high school, I tried not to stress out too much about NFLs and just enjoy the ride. I had been doing Extemp for four years, and I knew that cramming in numerous practice sessions and trying to do massive amounts of reading in a two-week period was only going to spoil an otherwise really fun tournament. Overall, I gave practice speeches every other day before arriving in Dallas, and twice a day once we were cooped up in the hotel. Once the tournament began, I stopped practicing altogether.

Slinger: I would read at least an hour and a half each day and then try to give a minimum of three practice speeches per week. My coach and I put together a plan right after national qualifiers and studied one topic area per week for the 13 weeks prior to NFLs. The questions I would answer for practice would vary in both topic and type: broad, specific, prescriptive, descriptive, how, can, should, etc… I would record myself speaking so I could go back, take note of things to change and be able to understand exactly what my coach was critiquing. I would also think back to my best and worst rounds of the season and take lessons from both. The middle of the season is a long ways away from Nationals so there is a gap during which you cannot let yourself become rusty.

Aside from winning a national championship, what was the other major highlight in your extemp career?

Odessky: As far as tournament wins go, I would say that I was most proud of my second place exhibition round finish at MBA 2011. Knowing that I succeeded in front of a judge panel of my peers meant a lot more to me than any other state championships or national final round finishes. However, the most important highlight of my Extemp career was the friendships I made. If it were not for people like Chloe Rittenhouse, Ryan Sasse, Nathaniel Donahue, and Forrest Richardson, I would not have made it out sane.

Slinger: Winning state, NCFLs and the final round of Domestic Extemp my junior year all stand out as memorable rounds with a great audience and excellent competition. But I think the final round of NFLs has a special feeling. Being on that stage is such a thrill and I reflect on my two NFL final rounds as the most exciting and rewarding speeches I gave. For most people, it is the last speech they will ever give. I was fortunate enough to have a whole season ahead of me after my first final round appearance, but I will tell anyone who makes it to that stage, enjoy it and speak as if it’s your last chance to really shine.

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