Interview by Logan Scisco
At the 2009 NFL National Tournament in Birmingham, Alabama, Evan Larson of Bellarmine College Prep anchored the best extemp squad at the tournament and emerged as the United States Extemporaneous Speaking National Champion. A two-time champion at the California Invitational, a two-time California state champion in United States extemp, an MBA Round Robin Exhibition Round participant, a three-time national finalist, and CFL runner-up, Larson agreed to sit down for an interview to discuss his extemp career and provide advice for those wishing to compete at the highest level in extemp.
Logan Scisco: Thanks for doing this interview with us Evan. The first question to get us started here is how did you get started in extemp?
Evan Larson: Kim Jones, my team’s head coach, teaches a class for freshman that goes over the fundamentals of public speaking and debate. It’s a great resource for newcomers that are just getting started in speech. The students practice policy debate and then choose an IE event to work with. I chose domestic extemp during rhetoric class and I competed in it all four years. I think I was drawn to extemp because I wanted to speak on new topics, rather than memorizing a speech. I was also drawn to the current events element of extemp— I like talking about politics. Finally, as you may have already ascertained, I am both tedious and longwinded. In any other speaking event, this would be an extreme disadvantage, in extemp, it may have given me the competitive edge.