Extemp, or Extemporaneous, is a word meaning something which is unprepared or prepared to a very little degree. In the fields of speaking, extemp means an unprepared or little prepared speech. According to most high school competitive speech rules, extemp speaking allows the participant thirty (30) minutes of preparation for a seven (7) minute speech. The topic varies each time, however the theme remains constant. The theme is always "current events." Some speech organizations separate foreign and domestic topics, while others combine the two. Most extemp topics are rather recent, occurring within two months of the tournament. Thus, it behooves the participant to read and follow up on the news. Speakers are encouraged to create "files" of newspaper, magazine, and other news clippings. For example, my files spread into three boxes that include at least 3500 news articles1. Acceptable news sources include The Economist, Time, US News & World Report, Newsweek, USA Today, New York Times, etc...
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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.
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For members of the speech and debate community, perpetual wonderment is all but ubiquitously focused on what it takes to win. To be sure, the drive to win is powerful, particularly in motivating competitors to do their absolute best round in and round out. But another question is often ignored until it is too late: What will speech and, ultimately, wining mean after I graduate? What will I take with me?
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