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by Logan Scisco
Regular readers of Extemp Central may wonder why I am devoting this week’s strategy piece to using notecards, since you rarely find extempers on the national circuit with them. Although it is true that you will not find many extempers in elimination rounds at national circuit tournaments that use a notecard, at local tournaments they still proliferate. Many beginners start their extemporaneous speaking careers by using a notecard, but many of them do not use it correctly. This creates bad habits that can harm them when they eventually get rid of the notecard and begin to speak without notes. This strategy piece will explain why notecards are used and how speakers should go about using them in a round.