Stacey Chen competed for North Allegheny High School in Wexford, Pennsylvania. She was last year’s NFL national champion in International extemp and was the first receipient of the Extemp Central National Points award after winning Glenbrooks, the George Mason University Patriot Games Extemp Round Robin, Harvard, and the Extemporaneous Speaking Tournament of Champions. Stacey now attends Yale University and is a contributor for Extemp Central. She shares her thoughts on the NFL National tournament in this article for Extemp Central readers.
4. Keep your analysis clear, especially in prelims. Don’t think about it in terms of “dumbing down your analysis” – it doesn’t have to be that way. However, your judges will as often as not be interp judges drawn from the speech pool, and you should never assume that they know how a sovereign wealth fund works. Talk about sovereign wealth funds if that’s the analysis that you believe is relevant; but take one sentence to explain the background clearly and concisely first. The same strategy goes a long way in break rounds as well to show knowledgeable judges that you know what you are saying and aren’t just regurgitating the Economist. It will also help you keep your thoughts organized as you speak rather than getting lost in a jumble of complex ideas. Breaking down your analysis can aid your style as well – you’ll relax and stop rushing and stumbling.
5. Don’t be intimidated. Sure, maybe you’re in quarters and you find out that five MBA competitors are in your room. It happens, but there’s nothing you can do about it, so take the challenge and just give your speech. You can’t change the speech they’re going to give, and thinking too much about your competition will only make you lose focus on your topic.
6. Don’t be cutthroat. Nobody likes the person who gossips in a corner about other competitors or walks around like they’re already the champion. Extempers who don’t compete on the national circuit are often phenomenal and make it to the final round. Look out for your friends – make sure they eat, call them if they disappear when draw is about to start, clean up the files for your teammates. Be friendly and make both your and others’ time in the prep room more enjoyable!
7. Sleep. If you look at the clock and it’s 1 am, you should not be filing. Go to sleep. This is the most basic piece of advice – you will not speak well if you are running on four hours of sleep. I too often disregarded this rule myself, and as a result, there are several cell phone pictures of me sleeping on the prep room floor at nationals. It’s not comfortable, by the way, and your favorite suit will get dirty.
8. Don’t read into your judges’ facial expressions. Some judges make funny faces at competitors. Some judges stare blankly the whole time. Some judges are really distracted. You will almost never be able to tell whether your judge is into your speech based on their expressions, and it can leave you worrying about past rounds when you are doing well and should be preparing for the next round.
9. If you have a panel of judges or an audience, try to add some personality! Tell a joke, make a sarcastic comment, toss in a cheesy pun. It’s much easier to make an audience laugh than a single judge because if a few people laugh, others will follow. One judge stonefacing after you’ve told a joke can be awkward and throw you off.
10. If you reach your competitive goal or get beyond it, breathe and enjoy it. Don’t put more pressure on yourself! Many people have asked me if I was terrified before my final round speech, and strangely, I wasn’t. It was mostly surreal to me, feeling like I finally made it and had the honor of speaking in front of such a large and friendly audience. If I had thought more about it, I probably would have realized that I was possibly going to trip on my heels in front of an entire auditorium. If you are in quarters, love the round, don’t think about semis!
11. Don’t just check out and call it quits if you end up in a supplementary event. Plenty of extempers have made it to the final rounds of commentary, expository, and impromptu – and these events can be a lot of fun! (Even if you only entered them because your coach forced you.) Remember that sometimes breaks can be arbitrary or dissatisfying, but what you do afterwards is up to you.
12. Pace yourself. Eat regular meals, sleep, don’t stretch yourself thin before day three. If you get really hyped up and nervous before every single prelim round, you will crash by the end of the day. Sit down and chat with friends between rounds, bring water and snacks, take a walk outside.
13. Don’t revolutionize your approach to extemp just for nationals. If you don’t give tons of practice speeches on a regular basis, don’t try to do five a day the week before nationals. Certainly put in some added effort, but stay true to yourself and your style. Nationals is a big tournament, but it’s still just a tournament and not the end of the world, even if it sometimes makes you feel like your world is crashing down.
Always remember above all that nationals is a holistic experience. Savor the competition, but enjoy the team bonding. In the end, thank everyone who helped you get to nationals in the first place. If you set more than competitive goals, like see _______ Kansas City tourist attraction or take 1324298751 pictures (something I may or may not have done), you will surely return home happy with your trip to one of the most incredible tournaments of your extemp career. Good luck!