Impromptu Speaking

Overview:

Students in this event have only 7 minutes to choose a topic from an envelope, prepare an outline, and give a speech to engage their audience. Topics can be light-hearted or more serious. Their speech should be organized, supported with examples or analysis, and interesting. As a judge you will rank them from first to last.

*times and rules vary greatly by tournament for this event, please clarify with your host before judging.

Questions to Consider

As you rank students from first to last, consider all elements of their performances. Using the questions to the left can assist you in writing helpful ballot comments and accurately ranking a very competitive room of performances.

Improptu Example

Demonstration speech from the IHSA 2014 State Champion

Time Signals

Many speakers will ask for you to give them a time signal countdown as their 10 minutes elapses. Many ask for "5 down" or "3 down" and "a fist at grace." The best technique is to set your phone timer to count down from 10. Time begins when they speak the first word. You hold up fingers for the time remaining. (as pictured in the video) and make a fist at zero. At 0 minutes remaining the speaker has 30 seconds to finish. It is wise to consult with the tournament or check your ballot about rules regarding time.

Helpful Tools:

Online Timer

Grab this helpful tool to keep track of time.

See some examples that show the kind of prompt that students encounter in this event.