Extemporaneous Speaking (NSDA Extemp)

Until roughly 2018, every extemper carried a physical tub of files — printed articles organized by topic — into the prep room. Today, the NSDA permits both physical and digital files (laptops, tablets) at the National Tournament and most circuit events, with internet access prohibited during prep. Your file system should be searchable by topic, region, and date. Strong extempers maintain rolling files updated weekly: Brookings, Foreign Affairs, The Economist, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, Reuters, AP, and major regional papers.

A competitive speech cites 5-9 sources across three substantive points. That means roughly 2-3 sources per point, found and digested in under 8 minutes per point during prep. Source hierarchy: tier 1 (NYT, WSJ, FT, Economist, Foreign Affairs, AP, Reuters) > tier 2 (Brookings, CFR, CSIS, Atlantic, Bloomberg, regional papers) > tier 3 (Vox, Politico, FiveThirtyEight). Avoid blogs, opinion sites, and partisan outlets unless the author is the argument. Judges flag uncited or sketchy sources on ballots.

The NSDA's current rule (as of the 2025-26 season) is that artificial intelligence tools may not be used during prep. The August 2025 Rostrum (the NSDA's official publication) clarified that this includes ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, and any other generative AI for content production or summarization. Pre-prepared AI-generated files (e.g., AI-written briefs in your file box) are also prohibited if they constitute the primary content of your speech. Static, human-authored files and traditional databases are fine.

Every extemp speech opens with an attention-getting device (AGD): a story, anecdote, statistic, or pop-culture reference that hooks the judge in the first 15 seconds. The AGD then links to the question, establishes significance (why the question matters now), and ends with the speaker's thesis — a one-sentence answer to the question. The AGD should feel current and specific; generic AGDs about 'the world today' or 'in recent years' read as canned. Strong extempers maintain an AGD bank of 30-50 fresh hooks updated monthly.

Extemp uses a three-point analytical body: three reasons that support the thesis, each with a clear claim, warrant (evidence), and impact (so what?). Each point runs roughly 1:30-2:00 with internal signposting ('My first point is...', 'Moving to my second point...'). The three points should be distinct angles — political, economic, and geopolitical, for example, or causes, consequences, and solutions. Avoid three points that overlap; judges flag 'rehash' on ballots.

The conclusion is roughly 30-45 seconds: restate the thesis, recap the three points, and tie back to the AGD. The AGD callback is the signature move of competitive extemp — it gives the speech a clear narrative arc and signals to the judge that the speaker has command of the structure. Strong callbacks are subtle: 'And just like [character/story from AGD], [subject of speech] will face the same choice...'. End with a memorable closing line, not 'and that's why I think...'.

Tier-1 sources are the publications every extemper cites and every extemp judge recognizes immediately. For USX: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Economist, Bloomberg, AP, Reuters. For IX: Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The Economist, Financial Times, BBC News, Al Jazeera English, regional papers (Le Monde, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Asahi Shimbun, Hindustan Times). Citing these signals you've done real reading — judges flag speeches that lean on blogs and opinion sites.

Aim for 2-3 citations per substantive point — roughly 6-9 across the body of the speech. Fewer than 2 per point reads as under-researched; more than 4 reads as source-spam without analysis. Citations should support warrants, not replace them; a good extemp citation is followed by 10-15 seconds of original synthesis. Judges score on the balance of evidence and analysis, not raw citation count.

At most national-circuit tournaments and at NSDA Nationals, extemp is delivered without a podium and without notes. The speaker stands in the front of the room, facing the judge or panel, and delivers from memory after 30 minutes of prep. A small minority of circuits (some Catholic Forensic League events, certain state tournaments) allow a single 4x6 notecard with brief outline notes. Walking out of the prep room with no paper in hand is the standard.

Strong extemp delivery uses purposeful gestures — one gesture per point, sometimes one per major claim. Vocal variety is essential: pace shifts (slow for emphasis, fast for transitions), volume shifts (quiet for the AGD's emotional beat, loud for the impact), and pitch shifts (questions go up, declarations stay level). Avoid pacing back and forth or distracting hand movements. Stand still in a confident posture, gesture deliberately, and make eye contact with every judge in the room.

Most extemp judges are 'lay-leaning' in the technical-debate sense — they don't flow argument-by-argument like a Policy judge. But there's a meaningful spectrum from 'parent who has never seen extemp' to 'former national extemp champion now coaching.' Lay extemp judges reward delivery, narrative, and accessibility; flow extemp judges reward source density, analytical depth, and precise structure. Read the room: a judge taking detailed notes wants substance; a judge watching attentively wants performance.

Watch the judge throughout the speech. A judge nodding at warrants and writing during citations is flow-leaning — keep the source density high. A judge making sustained eye contact and reacting to the AGD is lay-leaning — lean into narrative and delivery. If you have a three-judge panel, adapt to the median — usually the most experienced judge in the middle. Don't change structure mid-speech, but adjust pace, source emphasis, and gestural intensity to the room.