Extemporaneous Speaking

Procedure: The MIFA office will supply specific extemporaneous speaking topics for regional and state tournaments. The Tournament Director supplies topics invitational tournaments. Judge(s) receive a copy of the topics for extemporaneous speaking and the list of speakers in order from the Prep Room.

Topics for the state elimination series will consist of questions on current events as of January 1, of state, national, and international political and social issues. Preliminary rounds will alternate between national and international issues. Each semifinal and final round will include topics from both national and international issues.

After preparation, the judge and contestants should follow this process:

1. The person in charge of the extemporaneous drawing will provide a master sheet for the judge(s) in each round with the code number of each contestant by the appropriate topic. Each contestant should give the chosen topic to the judge prior to the presentation. Only one contestant per section may speak on a particular topic.

2. Following the presentation, the participant must remain in the contest room until the conclusion of the section unless otherwise indicated by the tournament director. A contestant who leaves the room following their presentation may be assigned a rank of four with no percentage points and/or disqualified from further participation in the particular tournament.

3. The judge must return all copies of the extemporaneous speaking questions to the tabulation room with his or her ballot.

BASIS FOR DECISION

Oral Presentation: The delivery of the speech should be enthusiastic, direct, sincere, and communicative. The speaker should give the impression of genuineness without affectation in attitude, manner, or appearance. The speaker's delivery should be effective in enlisting and holding the interest of the audience. The speaker may deliver the speech from a manuscript, memory, an outline, or any combination thereof.

Action and Platform Conduct: The speaker should exhibit personality, maintain direct eye contact with the audience, show physical poise, and demonstrate freedom in posture, movement, and gesture. Prompting from the audience is not allowed and could be the basis for disqualification.

Timing: Each presentation must be timed. Timing starts when the presentation by the contestant begins. Either the judge or an alternate timekeeper, under the supervision of the judge, is responsible for using a stopwatch and for displaying time cards that are clearly visible to the contestant unless the performer prefers not to have visual timing. The number showing on the card should indicate the amount of time remaining. Judges should give an oral report of the actual time at the completion of each performance. Timing must be indicated on the ballot as well as on the contestants' critique sheets.

Presentations that do not conform to the suggested time parameters may be penalized at the discretion of the judge. Penalties are not mandatory for timing irregularities.

HIGH SCHOOL: Time limit for Extemporaneous in high school is four (4) minutes to seven (7) minutes.

MIDDLE LEVEL: Time limit for Extemporaneous in middle level is three (3) minutes to six (6) minutes.

Contestant Evaluation: The ballot must be completely filled out and needs to include the contestant's name and code, the topic, the rank, the percentage score, and the time of the presentation. Judges are to complete their ballots legibly.

Each judge shall rank the participants as 1,2,3, according to the relative merits of the contestants. All other contestants will receive a rank of 4. The judge shall also assign a percentage score ranging from 100 to 75. No two contestants can be given the same percentage.

All point scores must be assigned in whole integers. One hundred percent must be assigned to the best contestant with the points for all other contestants in the range of 99-75. The assignment of a score between 79-75 should be reserved for special circumstances; such as when a contestant fails to complete his or her presentation, exhibits inappropriate behavior, or performs highly inappropriate material.

Critique sheets and ballots must be returned to the ballot collection/tabulation room at the conclusion of each round.

Note: Please follow the instructions given at the judge’s meeting concerning speaking order. Invitational tournaments may draw in round. Regionals & State Finals use the order as listed on the schematic.