Question selection is one of the most essential parts of Extemp, but sadly it is also one of the most undervalued components of preparation. While good extempers should be able to speak on any topic, picking the right one can set you up for a great speech and sometimes even make the difference between getting picked up and dropped in late elimination rounds.

There are many factors to consider in question selection, but the most important are polarization, specificity, recency, and personal knowledge.

The first factor to consider is polarization, and this is usually a binary decision, where you either rule out a question or continue to consider it. Picking a question on a highly charged issue opens you up to risk, as the judge listening to your speech may disagree with your opinions on the subject. While judges are supposed to rank competitors objectively, personal bias sometimes creeps into their decisions. The worst feeling in Extemp is getting dropped for a great speech that your judge just didn’t agree with! Importantly, a prohibition against polarizing topics doesn’t just apply to “should” questions (ex: Should the Electoral College be abolished), as bias can also impact “will” questions (ex: Will the Democrats push to abolish the Electoral College) because many judges don’t like hearing that something they don’t like will happen. As a final note on polarization, you should think about this factor within the political skew of your circuit (for example, arguing that Abortion is a necessary part of healthcare isn’t too risky on the very liberal national circuit) because, depending on what tournament you are competing in, the “center” of the judge pool can move around a lot.

Next, you should think about specificity, or how narrow the question is. You want a question that is as specific as possible because it gives you the most room for thoughtful analysis. While there are ways to narrow down broad topics, it will take time to get to a clear and concise argument, which would be better spent on actual analysis. Remember, an Extemp speech is only seven minutes long and can fit a lot less information than it might seem! Short and clear link chains are your friends, and the more specific a topic, the more robust you can make them. In addition, when speaking on broad topics, you can more easily fall into the trap of overgeneralizing (missing the nuance of the subject and making an argument that doesn’t really go beyond the evening news) and being too specific (not actually answering the broader question).

The third factor that you should consider is recency. Long-running or non-front-page issues are worse for an Extemp piece because getting your judge connected to the story will be much more challenging. If the recency isn’t suitable for a topic, the issue may have evolved into a behemoth that is impossible to tackle in seven minutes, or there may be a dearth of good recent sources, or perhaps your judge just doesn’t know what the topic is at all! New, front-page issues are always preferable because they allow you to most easily jump into what it is that you want to talk about.

Finally, personal knowledge has to be at the front of your mind when choosing a question. The three criteria above are good rules of thumb when presented with three new questions, but, as an Extemper, you will have questions that you have practiced before or just know more about. Depth of knowledge can include background knowledge, jokes prepared on an issue, or anything else that will give you a leg up before you start researching.