Extemp is an event that requires the mastery of several skills to be successful. The first is filing, the second speech is preparation, and the third is delivery. The only one of these that you can control before you get to the tournament is the filing. You can also control how long and how often you spend doing your filing, as opposed to the strict 30 and 7 minute time limits on the other two parts.
You will have thousands of articles by the end of one year, so it is important to be efficient and orderly in your filing so you can always find what you are looking for.
Some things to keep in mind:
File to Last:
When you purchase boxes, file folders, etc, keep in mind that they are the ones you will be using for the rest of your debate career. Thus, invest in some durable and spacious materials.
Where to clip from?
Suggestions for magazines: Economist, Newsweek, US News and World Report,Time.
Suggestions for newspapers: New York Times, Washington Post,International Herald.
Internet clipping: CNN.com, Nytimes.com, (if you have access) article searches on Lexis Nexis or another periodical browsing site. Make sure you pick credible sources.
Think Ahead:
Figure out how you will divide your files at the beginning, so you do not have to rearrange them in the middle of the season. Separate domestic from foreign. Then, divide up each section by alphabetical categories (topics). Most extempers separate their foreign files by country or international organization (e.g. NATO, Nicaragua, Nigeria), and their domestic files by topic (e.g. Campaign Finance Reform, Clinton Administration).
Subcategories:
There are two basic ways that extempers create subcategories:
Some use generic divisions like these:
Russia: Economic, Military, Political, Social.
Another way you can consider dividing your files is by major or specific topics that may come up in the year:
China: General, Communism, Falun Gong, Macau, Military, Trade.
Conflicts involving two countries:
If you have a conflict involving two countries, you may want to try creating a new category labeled in one of these ways: India-Pakistan (Kashmir), Kashmir, or India-Pakistan (with a Kashmir subfolder)
What if there is a topic that could fit in both domestic and foreign?
In situations with topics like these (e.g. Nuclear Issues, AIDS, Terrorism), most people do one of two thing things: 1) they start a file in the foreign section and create three subfolders inside of it labeled:
International, Domestic, Both, 2) create two folders and put one in each box, putting articles where they are most relevant.
What if there is an article that could fit in two categories?
This happens very often. You have three options: 1) photocopy the article and put it in both places, 2) just put it in the one place where it is most important, 3) come up with your own solution.
Things to keep in your box:
Tape, pens, pencils, mini-stapler, good luck charms, two or three highlighters of the same color (in case they dry out or disappear, courtesy of your teammates), legal pad.
Things that should stay out of your box:
Prewritten speeches, basically anything you have written yourself, briefs, things highlighted in more than one color, annotated articles.
Group Filing:
Group filing is essentially a good idea because everyone does less work and more filing gets done. Make sure it is clear who does what section and that they keep up with their work. Just make sure that everyone is on the same page concerning the filing procedure, and that you know what articles are in your partner's section. If you are in the prep room and you pull a question that you did not file for, show your topic to whoever did, and let him/her pull out the folder or articles they think might help you.
Marking your articles:
You can only highlight in one color, and cannot write annotations on your articles. The ways that people highlight vary greatly: some read and highlight practically everything, others only mark important names, places, numbers, or statistics, and others choose not to highlight at all. The happy medium sounds like the most effective solution, because the point of highlighting is to help you skim the article faster for information. Marking too much or nothing at all does not help you very much.
Suggestions:
Know what is in your box and make sure that if you do not have enough time to read all of the articles in their entirety, you at least know the gist of what they say.
Some people write the names of all of their categories, in order, on a sheet of paper and stick it on the lid of their box. If you do this, make sure you leave enough space to write in new categories where they belong in the order.
It is better to file a little each day (e.g. clip the magazine/newspaper on the day it arrives) and make a routine, than to work madly on the day before a tournament catching up on the filing you have not done when you had better things to do, like sleep. With all of these, find out what works best for you and run with it.
Cherie Lynn
Celebration High School, class of 2003
Finalist at Florida Novice Tournament