Are you competing at an upcoming national tournament in Extemp? If so, we want to make sure you get the most out of Prepd’s Extemp software so you can best the competition. Here are three tips:
Read, read, read!
It goes without saying that the most successful extempers also happen to actively read the most news articles. When reading in Prepd, make sure to track your reading activity by clicking on the “Mark as Read” button in the bottom of the article view. Completing a quick comprehension exercise forces you to pause, internalize what you just read, think critically about it, and then articulate an insight.
The comprehension exercises help you learn more while you read. Moreover, tracking your reading activity allows you and your coach to set reading goals and stick to them. Anyone on your team can log into the Classroom, navigate to your user profile, and see your reading activity.
Give practice speeches
Prepd provides hundred of quality Practice Questions in Extemp. Students are encouraged to submit their own questions, which Logan Scisco of ExtempCentral.com actively moderates. Currently, there are over 800 questions in 14 different topic areas for both novice and varsity students.
When you’re giving a practice speech, start by clicking on the “Practice Question” icon located in the bottom of the lefthand navigation bar. Select a difficulty level, a topic area (e.g., Domestic or Foreign) and a subtopic area (e.g., Law and Courts, or Global Economy) — then click “Draw!” You’ll be presented with three practice questions. Select a question and your round will immediately begin.
Memorize Important Facts
Perhaps one of Prepd’s best educational tools is the Memory Bank, which helps you learn more while you read. Prepd empowers you to extract “Memories” from article content and review them at a later time.
To create a memory, simply highlight the article content that you would like to memorize. From the highlighter menu, click on the brain icon. You’ll be prompted to type in a question. The content you selected serves as the answer. Finally, select a topic area to categorize the memory, and you’re done!
Later, when you want to review your memories, simply open the Library and click on the brain icon in the left navigation bar. You can review memories from a list, or click on the “Change to flashcard view” button to view your memories as flashcards.
Be sure to click on the filter icon at the top to open filter settings. Finally, once you’ve learned a memory, click on the brain icon on or near the memory card to mark the memory as “Mastered.” From the filter menu, you can filter out memories that you’ve mastered to review only the ones that you are still studying.
Log into the Library and start saving Memories today!
We hope you find these tips and tricks useful. The formula for success in Extemp is actually quite simple: Read as much as you can, learn as much as you can, and give practice speeches as often as you can.
Best of luck competing at Best of luck competing at Nationals, whether it be NCFL, Stoa, NCFCA, or NSDA!
