Impromptu Speaking

Impromptu speaking is the most fundamental individual event in which a student can participate to be ready for a debate. A student learns to think on their feet by being ready to speak with minimal preparation on a wide variety of topics. The beginning of the round will involve receiving a topic slip with choice between a word, a philosophical phrase, and a policy-oriented topic. Each speaker has 1 minute to prepare and 5 minutes to stand and speak (otherwise known as 6 minutes overall), as well as a 30-second grace period to finish. The judge will provide time signals to the student indicating the amount of remaining time to speak. See the above PDFs for official rules and a sample of a ballot a judge would use to evaluate the round. Below is a sample slip with a word, philosophical phrase, and policy-oriented topic. Also, view speech examples below.

Courage

"Bravery is a mean between foolhardiness and cowardice." -- Aristotle

The United States should decrease its domestic surveillance.