by Stacey Chen
The Glenbrooks is one of the largest tournaments of the year in both speech and debate events, as well as one of the most fun! Extemp at Glenbrooks generally contains a fairly large and diverse pool of extempers from across the country. It is also “mixed” extemp, which may be different for extempers who come from districts that regularly split between “domestic” and “international” extemp. Although the size and quality of the field, as well as a possible switch to combined extemp, can be intimidating, there are a few things you can do to prepare well for the tournament and enjoy the experience rather than stressing out.
Preparation for the Glenbrooks was pretty standard for me because my district did not split between USX and IX. The rounds at Glenbrooks alternate between foreign and domestic topic areas, so it is important to prepare for both types of questions equally. Be sure to read and file articles from major publications like The New York Times, The Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Boston Globe, The Economist, The Christian Science Monitor, etc as usual. Many questions will be drawn from the headlines of these papers in the few weeks leading up to the tournament. On the domestic front, it is also useful to find smaller regional papers for more specific issues (e.g. The Denver Post, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, etc). For international issues, also try to include source diversity with articles from news sources like Der Spiegel, AllAfrica.com, The South China Morning Post, The Council on Foreign Relations, etc. These publications should give you a solid base of background knowledge and recent events; for more advanced extempers, delving into journals ranging from Foreign Affairs to Current History to The Washington Quarterly will provide you with a deeper theoretical knowledge for analysis. If you are just beginning to extemp or do not have enough time to devote to searching for journal articles, however, it may be much more beneficial to focus on covering major newspapers first. Although it is always helpful to have detailed and specific articles, do not waste time on obscure happenings in, say, Moldova, when you could be bolstering your Iran file.
Another useful method of preparing for a big tournament like the Glenbrooks is giving practice speeches. In addition to analysis, presentation is a very important component of your speeches. The judging pool at Glenbrooks includes extemp in the pool of events for “speech” judges, so you may be judged by former competitors, coaches, or parents who are mostly familiar with interp. In these cases, having a fluid and unique presentation can really set you apart from someone with solid analysis but an inability to communicate it in an understandable and engaging manner. Giving practice speeches can make a real difference in ironing out fluency issues before the tournament begins. Get advice from coaches, teammates, and even random friends you can force to listen to you; think about what your major delivery flaws are and focus on correcting those that may not be fixed naturally but can be solved fairly quickly with a little attention (e.g. that one annoying gesture you make too often, breaking eye contact, etc).
At the tournament itself, the Glenbrooks is a pretty standard national tournament experience. It has four preliminary rounds, followed by (probably) a break to quarters, then semis and finals. Like I said previously, these rounds should alternate between foreign and domestic topic areas. Usually, the areas are predictable: domestic will include the economy, US politics, social issues, etc and foreign will include Africa, Middle East, Asia, Europe, etc. Last year’s final round topic area was something along the lines of China, although in previous years it has been an “experimental” round (two years ago, finalists were given a list of nouns, told to pick 3, and then created their own triadic questions). In the final round, the best thing to do is take whatever the topic is in stride and enjoy the opportunity to speak in front of a large audience!
In addition to competitive concerns, there are a few other things to keep in mind before heading off to Chicago. First, be prepared for a somewhat grueling experience. Traveling to a national tournament, speaking, and waiting for rounds (or trying to scramble in between rounds) can be exhausting. Being well prepared is important, but at some point it’s best to call it quits and go to sleep the night before rounds. Sleeping on the prep room floor is usually not quite so fun… and I say that from a lot of personal experience. Also be careful not to tire yourself out competitively depending on your level of comfort – for advanced extempers, it may be more efficient to give solid but not mindblowing speeches in prelims to conserve energy for finals, while for more beginning level extempers, it may be critical to go all-out in prelims. In outrounds, I believe breaks are clean, so it is absolutely crucial to give each speech all you’ve got because you must be in the top three in each room to break out.
The last piece of advice to remember is that the most important thing at any tournament is to be comfortable with yourself. Because Glenbrooks is such a large and prestigious tournament, there will certainly be plenty of gossip about strong competitors and reputations. However, at every tournament, some “big names” drop and other “unknowns” make it to the top. If you have been competitively successful, don’t put too much pressure on yourself or worry about others’ expectations. Relax, do your best, and see where it takes you. If you don’t have national circuit “rep”, the same goes – don’t be intimidated by others’ talk, and certainly don’t be afraid to approach other competitors and introduce yourself! (The social aspect of the Glenbrooks is one of the tournament’s best attributes.) Remaining true to your style is one of the best ways to distinguish yourself in the eyes of the judges, so do not try to revolutionize your extemp model to fit some perceived “successful” example. Keep the judges in mind, but remember that being unique will often get you a higher rank because the judge will remember you and your speech will be much more natural and comfortable in an extremely stressful environment.
The Glenbrooks is an all-around fun experience: it’s well-run, filled with great people, and has large shiny trophies. (On a completely random note, it can also be absolutely frigid, so be prepared for unfortunate weather…) Take advantage of the competitive and social facets of the tournament, and you will definitely have a fantastic memory no matter what the results may be!