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Miles Saffran competed for Trinity Preparatory High School in Florida. He was the 2014 NSDA National Champion in International Extemporaneous Speaking, the 2014 FFL State Champion in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking, and a two time qualifier to the Exhibition Round at the Montgomery Bell Academy. Miles also won several national tournaments, including Wake Forest, Yale, Bronx, Blue Key, Sunvitational, and Emory, and placing in the top three at Harvard and MBA. He will be studying at Yale University, where he will continue his debate career with the Yale Debate Association.
Miles agreed to sit down with Extemp Central to discuss his career and thoughts on the activity. Part one of this interview can be found here.
At some big tournaments this year, you were always in the mix and prior to NSDA it seemed like you kept falling in the middle. Harvard stands out as a good example of this as you took some first place ranks and also some sixth place ranks that prevented you from winning there. Did you adjust anything prior to NSDA to make this better? Why do you think some judges had a love it or hate it attitude about your style?
I’m honestly not sure what happened in the Harvard final round this year. I thought my speech was pretty middle-of-the road; there was nothing controversial, but nothing special. Apparently I was wrong. I never saw the ballots from the final round, so I’m left in the dark as to why my speech on the Arctic was so polarizing. Generally speaking, I think my problem was that none of my speeches were that unique. I felt like I was being conversational, but there was no spark that made it stand out. Before NSDA, I practiced incorporating specifics and analogies into my sub-structure to make the analysis pop — something I was unconsciously doing at the beginning of the year without realizing it.
Did you like your chances going into this year’s NSDA National Tournament? How did you assess the field and what practice strategy did you adopt heading into the tournament?
I had always been pretty comfortable with the NSDA tournament, but I was only hoping to final. At tournaments later in the year, I would barely scrape through rounds, so I figured that my cumulative score would be pretty bad. I worked with Nathan Leys, last year’s champion, and he wisely pointed out that judges want a bigger picture — they like seeing speakers apply broader theories to specific examples and talk about larger issues. So a lot of my practices revolved around crafting these impacts.
You built quite a comfortable lead heading into this year’s NSDA final round. How did you manage to maintain consistency over the six elimination rounds heading into finals?
I tried to make every speech interesting but accessible. Some extempers accuse the NSDA of being too lay, forcing them to water down their analysis. I think NSDA is just like any other tournament — if you take smart risks with the analysis, you’ll be rewarded. Overall, I think I just had fun with every speech in outrounds knowing that it could be the last (or penultimate) I’d ever give, so I was a lot more relaxed and confident.
What advice would you give an extemper before they head out onto the NSDA national stage to give a speech? How did you handle the experience, having never been there? Do you think your experience at large national circuit tournaments gave you an edge?
I get nervous before most rounds, but NSDA was definitely the most hair-raising. I don’t think I handled it particularly well, so my speaking sounded pretty stiff and uninteresting. That being said, it could have been a lot worse had I not spoken before big crowds at national tournaments. Thankfully, that experience did help a little.
If someone asked you how they could improve as a speaker, what advice would you give them?
Like I said before, I think the extemp circuit is trending toward excessively polished speaking. The best extempers are the ones who seem like they’re just talking to the judge, not speaking at them or above them.
If you could make a rule change to extemporaneous speaking what would it be? Or do you think anything needs to be changed?
I think the community relies too much on sourcing. Obviously, it would be bad if extempers made up whatever they wanted, but I think there’s a healthy balance between specious ramblings and vocalizing the New York Times. Instead, I’d like to see extempers wield 5 or 6 sources more effectively, and perform their own analytical interpolations.
If you could do one tournament or round all over again, which would you choose and why?
I would opt for a do-over of Glenbrooks this year. I took a really narrow question in semifinals, and I think it made my speech much less creative and interesting. I don’t think I’d re-do any tournaments, not only because success and failure inspire in different ways, but also because most tournaments are long and grueling.
What is your opinion about the Extemp TOC? It has a great list of winners but the event never seems to draw more than 25% of the competitors that qualify. What steps do you think the TOC could take to improve participation?
I’ve only been to the ETOC once, but it was a great experience and it had a solid pool of competitors. The reason I hadn’t gone before is that it falls right in the middle of AP exams. It could probably draw in a lot more competitors if it moved the date to a manageable time for students. Also, registering for the tournament was apparently challenging for my coach, so streamlining that process could help extempers keep faith.
You made the Exhibition Round twice at the Montgomery Bell Academy Extemp Round Robin. What makes the tournament so unique and how can next year’s competitors do well at the tournament?
The tournament really emphasizes analysis and structure. After one round, I got verbal critique that amounted to “your speaking was flat and monotonic, but since it’s MBA, I only looked at the flow.” I’m not saying to throw your presentation entirely out the window, but to future MBA participants, understand that the analysis itself will be prioritized.
How does it feel to be the first competitor from Florida to win an IX national championship?
It’s a really nice feeling, but it’s hopefully indicative of Florida’s staying power nationally. Considering that two IX finalists were from Florida this year, and Floridian extempers stood out at a lot of national tournaments, I think we’re going to have a great next few years.
Aside from nationals, what is a moment in your career that you will always look back on with pride? Do any tournament victories aside from nationals stand out from the others?
The one that stands out for me was Yale my senior year. I had a disappointing second semester my junior year, and I wasn’t fully confident that I could really perform my senior year. After Yale, I felt a lot more secure about my place on the circuit.
What was your favorite tournament to attend? Why?
Once again, I really love the Yale tournament, and I’m definitely not just saying that because I go to Yale and I’ll be working in the prep room this year. It’s a really friendly atmosphere, the judging pool is eclectic but intelligent (which beats back the insularity some of the more technical tournaments face), and the campus is beautiful (and go bulldogs).
What are your future plans? Do you plan on maintaining a link with the high school circuit?
After some minor (truthfully major and hair-pulling) equivocation, I’m going to Yale University to study something (hopefully, something with job prospects, possibilities include but are not limited to: economics, statistics, computer science, history, math). I’m joining the Yale Debate Association, so I’m looking forward to a whole new style of debate (but I’ll still miss extemp). Don’t worry though; I’m more than available to the high school circuit. Shameless plug time: I’m coaching through 3P Speech, doing analysis for Champion Briefs, and judging for a couple of tournaments.
When people look back several years from now on your career, what would you most like them to remember about you? What would you like your historical legacy to be in the event?
I’m almost positive nobody will remember me, but in the event that they do, I want to be remembered as someone who had no experience in debate or speaking or really anything related to politics but decided to do extemp anyway. My school wasn’t a big extemp school, but I found some truly great mentors and worked assiduously to build up the program. I hope I can be a model for anyone who feels like they can’t do extemp, essentially.
Thank you again for taking the time to sit down and talk with us Miles.
Anytime. Thank you for the opportunity!