THE EXTEMPORE SPEAKING COMPETITION
The Extempore was created by Gill E Andrews from Yorkshire Junior Chambers in 1994 and is a fantastic way to build your confidence in public speaking. Extempore stands for “off the cuff.”
First round
Speakers register their entry into the competition at the beginning of the evening and, after the rules have been explained, they wait outside until their name is called. This prevents them from drawing reference to a previous speech.
When it is their turn, they are presented with an object which they can examine and think about for 15 seconds. After 15 seconds (or sooner if the competitor is ready to speak before then) a light goes on and they must then talk about or around the object for 2 minutes. At the end of 2 minutes the light goes out and they must finish their sentence.
Second round
All competitors are present during this round. Half the speakers or six (whichever is the greater/or most appropriate) are chosen from the first round. They are presented with a scenario and then given a specific pre-set topic. They do not know the topic before their turn to speak. They get the opportunity to think for 15 seconds on the topic before speaking for 3 minutes. Again the light goes on as they start their time and off when the time is over and they must finish their sentence.
Third round
Four finalists are chosen and are sat at the front of the room facing the audience. Each of the four chooses one of four pre-set topics without seeing it first, thinks about it for 15 seconds and speaks for 5 minutes.
During this time the other three competitors have the opportunity to interrupt, but only once. The interrupter can speak for up to 20 seconds – this is timed – and is marked for relevance, humour, timing and so forth or equally may be penalised. The speaker’s time still runs during the interruption and continues to speak afterwards in response to the interruption.
The light will go on at the...