Newton South Winter Festival

2017 — Newton, MA/US

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Varsity Extemp

Event Description:

The students will draw three topics of current interest from the material prepared by the tournament director.  Usually topics are based on articles taken from recent issues of publications from major media outlets.  The student must pick one of the three topics to prepare for a presentation.  The students will have a 30-minute preparation period during which personal information files of books, magazines, and/or newspapers may be used to put together the presentation.  This preparation period is the responsibility of the prep room, not the judge.  After the presentation period, the student should deliver a speech to be evaluated for content and delivery.  A single note-card with no more than 50 written words is permitted.  If a note-card is to be used, the judge must review it prior to the presentation.  Any note-card violation should be brought to the attention of the prep room coordinator prior to the speech; or, the student may choose to proceed without the use of the note-card.  The topic slip must be presented to the judge in the round.  No visual aids are allowed.
Time:  7 minute maximum (30 second grace); no minimum
 
In the final round of Extemporaneous Speaking, a 3-minute cross-examination period will follow each speech.  Each speaker will be cross-examined by the speaker who spoke before him/her in the round, with the first speaker being cross-examined by the student scheduled to speak last in the round.  As a student speaks, the student who will ask him/her questions will watch.  Immediately following the speech, the questioner will engage the speaker in cross-examination for a three-minute period.  The purpose of cross-examination is to expand upon important points in a speaker’s speech and test their full knowledge of the subject.  Cross-examination periods should be cordial and concentrate solely on the topic of the speech.  Speakers should not talk over each other, nor should they monopolize the time; they must permit one another time to answer or ask questions.  Judges should consider each speaker’s answers and the questions they ask in their final ranking of the round.  Neither student may refer to notes during the cross-examination period.