by Jonathan Carter
Overview
Before you can really get going on the season, there are a few fundamental that are always worth noting. Many judges will tell you they can get a sense of where a speaker will place in the round within the first minute of the speech. To that end we are going to focus more on theory and strategy. In that vein we are going to start with analysis on how to write a quality introduction. In extemp, a good introduction is supremely important, without one a good speech is impossible. In a good intro you will set up all of the background for the speech and justify why you speech is the most important in the round. Moreover, the better the introduction the less work you have to do in the body of the speech. Follow this formula and your intros will be golden in no time flat.
The Seven Parts of a Good Intro
Part One, Attention Getting Device (AGD): This is some sort of story, background, anecdote or other device that introduces the topic in question. A few rules on a good AGD. First, it should be something that happened in real life, and could be verified by a little research. Therefore, personal examples or hypothetical scenarios should be avoided at all costs. Second, DO NOT CAN. What this means is that you should not have a small list of AGD’s that you use over and over again. When you repeat AGDs they tend not to fit the specific speech, moreover they are unethical – your speech should be original to the round, not some pre-prepared intro that you have memorized. Canning will lead to judges dropping you and other competitors telling anyone who listens that you are a cheater… so don’t do it EVER. Third, it should be relatively short – 20-30 seconds. You don’t have much time in this speech so don’t waste it with something that isn’t analysis about the question. Fourth, it should be something that engages your audience, make it interesting and/or informative. That being said AGDs don’t necessarily have to be funny. While it does help to bring your audience in with a little humor, it is more important that your words are a good set up for the speech that follows.
Part Two, Link: Once you have razzle-dazzled us with your interesting, but concrete, AGD, it’s time to start moving towards your topic. To do this you need a really good link. The link is a sentence, or two, that explains the parallels and themes between your AGD and the topic. The link is important for two reasons. First, it makes sure that you speech as a flowing and logical feel. If you jump from an AGD to the topic with no connection between them, you will quickly lose your audience. Second, the absence of a link makes it look like you can. If audiences don’t understand how your AGD leads into your topic they are going think that you just use that AGD all the time and are a canning cheater. So make sure to devote time to the link, it makes things smoother and more complete.
Part Three, Background: This may be the most important part of the introduction because this is where you establish everything that we need to know before we can ask or answer the question. That means that any relevant history or background goes here – not in the body of the speech. This is also the first place in the speech that should have at least one source – the one that sets up the basic fact of what’s going on. There are two basic questions that the background needs to address: what facts must be defined to ask the question and what controversy prompted the question. The first is important so that we understand all the basic concepts that interplay in the question; while the second explains why this question is even being asked now – if there wasn’t a contemporary controversy there would be no reason to ask, let alone answer, the question. For example, if you were asked the question “Will the Mediterranean Union bring together western Europe and the Islamic world” you must first establish what facts we need to know. The facts that must be understood are: what is the MU and that there is a divide between western Europe and the Islamic world. Then to establish the controversy you need to explain how some people, think that this may be a bridge between the two groups.
Part Four, Significance/Justification: Now that you have established the facts that have prompted the asking of the question, it’s time to establish why answering is also important. Here you are going to explain why the events in the question directly impact the audience. Because you want to make it have as a much of a direct impact on your judge, the significance is generally discussed in terms of lives lost, impact on the US economy, or impact on US influence/credibility. Basically you are saying that because (controversy established in background) could lead to (impact that effects your audience) we must examine the questions.
Part Five, Read the Question: This means VERBAITIM. Because all of you speech afterwards is designed to answer this question you better get it right.
Part Six, Answer the Question: Always give a short and direct answer to the question. To a “yes or no” question it is “yes” or “no”. To a open ended question, you should give some sort of one to three word phrase that summarizes what unifies your points. After the answer there can be one sentence that clarifies or focuses the analysis. For example: if the question was, “Can McCain win in November?” you can say “Yes, but only if he consolidates the base.” The second part of the answer then focuses the analysis for the rest of the speech.
Part Seven, Preview Your Points: Last–but not least–give us the tags to your points. These should be active, argumentative, statements that highlight how each point is a unique answer to the question.
Time: All of this should happen in no more than 1:30.
SAMPLE INTRODUCTION
Will the US invade Iran?
AGD In the Disney film The Lion King, the lion Scar–tired of mustering playing second fiddle to his brother Mufassa–
uses a wild herd of wildebeest to wrest regional control from his brother.
Link However, Iran has unleashed a herd of wildebeest, of its own, in the form of missiles, to try to gain influence over the Middle East.
Background The Xinhua News of July 11, 2008, explains that this week Iran recently tested a long range nuclear capable missile with the capacity to striking targets in both Iraq and Israel (facts). The increased Iranian threat to US troops, has reawakened concerns that the United States may consider military rather than diplomatic options to respond to Iran’s nuclear program (controversy).
Justification Considering such an invasion would not only place US soldiers lives in jeopardy, but also increase the burden on already overstretched campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is imperative that we ask the question:
Question Will the US invade Iran?
Answer Fortunately, the answer is no. The US will continue to use diplomacy rather than invade.
Preview We can come to this conclusion for three main reasons: first, diplomacy will prevent an Israeli preemptive strike; Second, because the US cannot afford to further stretch its forces; and third, because invasion would harm US credibility.