Impromptu

Impromptu is a speech event in which competitors receive three topics, choose one to speak on, and have two minutes of preparation to prepare a five minute speech. Impromptu was formerly a standard event in both the NCFCA and Stoa; in 2013, however, Stoa voted to make it a breakout event for NITOC competitors who did not advance to outrounds. Stoa tournaments at the local level may still feature impromptu.

Goal
The goal of Impromptu speaking is to grow the competitor’s skill of speaking confidently about any subject without advance notice. This builds basic conversational skills and will certainly help in many different areas of life, which is why most parents encourage their students to do this event.

Rules
All judges in a room will be given a list of topics for the round. All the topics for a round must come from the same category - quotations or phrases or abstract words, but not a combination of the three. One of the judges in each room will be given the envelope with the topics for the students. The judge will take these topics, and place them face down on a table.

The competitor may not bring any outside material into the round other than blank paper and a writing utensil. The competitor may write notes during preparation time, but may not reference the notes while giving the speech. The student will draw three topics from the table, select one, and but the other two back. The student must not return the chosen topic. Preparation time starts when the student chooses the three topics. During the speech, the students may hold the topic paper, but may not write any notes on that topic paper.

Near the beginning of the speech, the competitor must state his or her chosen topic. Failure to do so means the competitor will incur a 1-rank penalty. Whatever topic the student chooses must be the main focus of the speech. While the student may take a creative approach to the topic, it must remain the focus, otherwise the competitor will incur a one-rank penalty. The student is allowed to use humor and satire to enhance the speech, but gratuitous vulgarity, as with any NCFCA speech, is strictly forbidden. No visual aids of any kind may be used, and no costumes (clothing related to the speech) of any sort may be worn. The competitor must must wear tournament attire, and only feet may touch the floor at any time.

The competitors may not watch any competitors who speak in the room before him, however he may watch the competitors after him. The competitor also may not tell the other Impromptu competitors what the topics are for the round. Even if the competitor doesn’t use all of his preparation time, he can’t add any extra time to his speaking time.

Preparation time is two minutes, and speaking time is five minutes.

Primary judging areas
Impromptu speaking is evaluated on the quality of the analysis and presentation. Competitors are not required to give opinions that cater to the judge, but some judges (unfortunately) will bring a bias into the round.