Prepd partners with the TOC at the University of Kentucky to power a virtual Extemp draw
From April 17 to April 20, nearly 100 of the nation’s top Extempers will compete at the Tournament of Champions at the University of Kentucky. However, this year’s competition will be unlike any other. In response to social distancing guidelines, the TOC has reformatted the tournament as a virtual competition. Every Extemp round will be administered through Zoom, the video conferencing software.
But how will the Extemp draw be administered? That’s where Prepd comes in.
Prepd is excited to partner with the TOC at the University of Kentucky to power a virtual Extemp draw, which will work as follows:
1. A new feature has been introduced in Prepd. When you log into extemp.prepd.in on the Google Chrome browser, you will notice that at the bottom of the vertical, left navigation menu is a new icon that reads Extemp TOC 2020 when your cursor hovers over it. This page is where the TOC Extemp draw will be administered.
2. For now, there is a clock counting down to the tournament kick off. However, the page will update the day of the tournament to reveal the Extemp draw. Every preliminary round, including room assignments and topic questions, have been pre-scheduled into Prepd. The outrounds will be scheduled as the tournament progresses. Those competing at the TOC simply have to log into extemp.prepd.in on the Google Chrome browser before each scheduled round and follow the instructions on the Extemp TOC 2020 page.
3. The overall Extemp draw experience will be similar to Prepd’s practice questions feature, with a few modifications. For one, Prepd will communicate the exact time that you are scheduled to draw, given your speaker position in a particular round.
4. When it is time to draw topic questions, the page will update to display three blank cards. Extempers will click on each card to reveal a random question. As a competitor, it is very important that you press the orange “Select Question” button beneath one of the cards, to indicate to the software which question you intend to speak on.
5. Once you select a question, you can either continue to prepare through Prepd or use an alternative software or method. If you’re using Prepd, you’ll notice that a “Round” was created so you can easily organize your news articles as you prepare your speech. Moreover, you’ll see a timer in the top right corner that counts down from 30 minutes.
Because the TOC Extemp draw is being administered through Prepd’s Extemp application, it is required that every TOC Extemp competitor create a Prepd account. You may create a free Prepd account for individual competition (i.e., a “Free One” account) by visiting https://signup.prepd.in on the Google Chrome browser.
With a free account, you will have full access to the TOC Extemp draw functionality. However, you will be limited to 150 research articles in Prepd. If you want access to hundreds of thousands of news articles, including over 150,000 auto-filed articles in the News Feed, you will need to upgrade to a Premium account. A Premium One account costs $25 for an annual membership.
If you have any questions about the virtual Extemp draw in Prepd, please email hello@prepd.in. We are working hard to build this new product functionality, and will respond to your inquiries in a timely fashion. We will also generate an FAQ and a tutorial video prior to the tournament, so that you may be more comfortable with the virtual Extemp draw before the tournament kicks off.
The coronavirus pandemic has upended daily routines around the world. And certainly, the speech and debate community has not been spared, with tournaments across the country having been cancelled. Prepd applauds the TOC for pressing forward and experimenting with a new type of virtual tournament. Prepd is doing its part to make sure that the Extemp competition at the TOC is a roaring success.
Extemp on!
- Ian and the Prepd Team
