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by Logan Scisco
Although the goal of forensics is to encourage and teach people to speak in front of audiences, the size of those audiences can greatly impact a competitive round and a competitor’s psyche. Depending on what event you do in forensics the crowd sizes fluctuate, especially when elimination rounds are held. Of all forensic events, extemporaneous speaking tends to pull in the fewest number of audience members. Extempers do not make their audience laugh as often as an HI or cry during a DI and there are some people that just do not find a discussion about the next Federal Reserve chairman that interesting. Extempers usually speak in front of audiences ranging from one to five people for most of their rounds but what do you do when you are in a state or national elimination round and there the room is suddenly packed to watch the round? Some extempers panic in this situation because they are not used to it. This strategy piece will give you some tips on how to master your nerves and conquer those rounds.