LFL Virtual Speech Debate

2024 — NSDA Campus, NY/US

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Varsity Extemporaneous

Event Description:

a. Topics shall be phrased as questions and be supplied by the Regional Directors. Topics will be from popular news magazines and New York State issues of the three months prior to the Tournament. Each round of
Extemporaneous Speaking should exclude topics available for use in any previous round of the Tournament.

b. The event shall be divided between Junior Varsity and Varsity divisions. Only freshman and sophomore students (ninth and tenth grades) may be entered in the Junior Varsity division.

c. Thirty minutes before each contest round is scheduled to begin, the contestant to speak first shall draw three topics, choose one, and return the other two. Subsequent contestants shall draw likewise at intervals of seven minutes.

d. As soon as a topic has been chosen, the contestant shall withdraw to the preparation area and prepare the speech without reference to prepared notes, speeches. These are not permitted in the preparation room. Contestants may consult magazines, newspapers, books, pamphlets and annotated bibliographies. Violations of these rules are to be reported by the preparation room chairperson to the Tournament Committee or Regional Director. The Tournament Committee or Regional Director shall determine the appropriate penalty based upon the severity and nature of the violation.

e. Speakers may use a computer to store information and retrieve information from the internet. They may not; however, communicate with anyone outside of the debate round. Any speaker who communicates with someone outside the round will be disqualified from the tournament. Speakers may not plug into outlets in the Prep Room.

e. The preparation room may be occupied during the Tournament only by Extemporaneous Speaking contestants and the designated supervisors. Other event contestants, judges, and friends will be permitted entry into the preparation room only in an emergency and with the approval of the supervisors.

f. During the speech, Junior Varsity contestants are limited to speaking notes on one 3x5” index card. Effective use of the note card should not be penalized. Varsity contestants may not utilize the card during the speech.

g. The extemporaneous speech should not be regarded as a memory test of the material contained in any one magazine article but, rather, as an original synthesis by the speaker of the current data and opinion on the designated topic as presented by numerous sources.

h. The contestant should be held accountable for strict adherence to the precise statement of the topic drawn and discounted severely for shifting to some other phase of the topic on which he/she might prefer to speak. The information presented should be well-chosen, pertinent, and sufficient to adequately answer the basic question(s) in the topic.

i. The material should be organized according to some logical plan to produce a complete speech within the time allowed. Delivery should be free from marked defects in the mechanics of speech—poise, quality and use of voice, enunciation, fluency, facial and bodily expressiveness—and should be effective in enlisting and holding the interest of the audience.

j. The best extemporaneous speech combines clear thinking, good speaking, and interesting presentation to establish a definite thought with respect to the subject chosen for the occasion.

k. There should be no penalties or rewards given because of the point of view of the contestant or the nature of his/her answers to the topic question(s).