Individual Events

Competitors prepare and deliver a broadcast-style news presentation, including both prepared and impromptu segments. Students simulate a professional newscast, demonstrating research, scripting, and on-air delivery skills.

Two competitors collaborate to present a commentary segment on a current issue. The event combines research and argumentation with partner coordination, requiring students to develop complementary roles in a shared presentation.

Students draw a current events question and have thirty minutes to prepare a seven-minute speech analyzing the issue. Extemp rewards strong research habits, analytical thinking, and the ability to organize a coherent argument under time pressure.

Given a prompt and a brief preparation period, competitors deliver a short speech with no outside research. The event tests the ability to think on one’s feet, organize ideas rapidly, and communicate with confidence under pressure.

Competitors deliver an original speech designed to educate the audience on a topic of their choosing. Visual aids are permitted. Informative rewards thorough research, clear organization, and engaging presentation of complex material.

An original persuasive speech on a topic of the competitor’s choice. Oratory is the cornerstone speaking event: students develop a fully original argument, conduct their own research, and deliver the piece from memory over multiple rounds of the season.

Competitors present a persuasive sales pitch for a real product or service. The event develops practical communication skills — value proposition, audience awareness, objection handling — within a structured competitive format.

A solo performance of a dramatic excerpt from published literature, performed without costumes or props. Competitors are evaluated on their ability to embody characters, convey emotional truth, and serve the text through physical and vocal craft.

Two competitors perform a scripted scene from published dramatic literature. Unlike theatre events, Duo Interpretation prohibits direct eye contact between partners — all focus is directed out toward the audience — creating a distinctive presentational style.

A group event in which three to five competitors weave together excerpts from multiple literary sources around a unifying theme. The event rewards ensemble coordination, thematic coherence, and the creative assembly of disparate texts into a single narrative.

Competitors perform one or more published poems, demonstrating vocal and physical responsiveness to the language of verse. Poetry rewards sensitivity to rhythm, imagery, and the spoken music of language.

A solo performance combining excerpts from two or more genres (prose, poetry, drama) unified by theme. POI rewards the competitor’s ability to curate a cohesive program and transition fluidly between distinct literary forms.

Competitors perform an excerpt from a published prose work — fiction, creative nonfiction, or narrative journalism. The event rewards storytelling instinct, character differentiation, and the ability to bring a written narrative to life through voice and body.

A performance of a published story told in the competitor’s own words, without a manuscript. Storytelling emphasizes direct audience connection, narrative momentum, and the oral tradition of communal storytelling.