by Jonathan Carter
Overview
What is the first rule of extemp? Answer the question. In the majority of rounds if you are able to answer the question, you will be one of the top extempers in the round. When I say answer the question, I mean this very specifically. Answer every aspect of the question, don’t just use it as a prompt to talk about what you want to discuss. Because answering the question is so important, this brief is going to explain how to break down a question so that you know exactly what it is asking. Once you know this, you can formulate a speech that is a direct answer. Away we go, into how to answer the question land.