Most students will feel the pressure of writing the SAT essay in 25 minutes. However, writing a speech in 30 minutes and presenting it to the audience is definitely harder than a “simple” SAT essay. Three participants from each IASAS school experienced the timed writing crunch by participating in extemporaneous speaking.
The majority of the extemporaneous speaking participants, including Lauren F. and Praneet B. (both from JIS), expressed that their interest in current issues and politics influenced them to join Extemporaneous Speaking. Others like Prin Oungpasuk from ISB stated that his purpose of joining was simply because it was the most interesting forensics event out of all, and he wanted to do an event similar to MUN, which he enjoys a lot.
While many of us would feel intimidated by only having thirty minutes to write a speech, these extemporaneous speakers feel that thirty minutes preparation time is more than enough.
Kyle P. (TAS), one of the finalists described his work process. “I find the article I want as quickly as possible, and I start writing the body paragraph, then the introduction, and then finally the conclusion.” Others like Praneet B. (JIS) feel that the introduction and the conclusion are the most important part, while the body paragraph can be made up during the speech.
From eighteen participants across six IASAS schools, six participants were chosen as semi-finalists. Semi-finalists included Raheem A. (ISM), Michael G. (ISKL), Leandro L. (ISM), Emily C. (ISB), Ryan M. (ISKL), and Kyle P. (TAS). Even though all these semi-finalists were outstanding, one winner was chosen. Emily Corning from ISB was chosen as the winner of extemporaneous speaking for her detailed speech about whether the international community was effective in responding to national disasters such as Haiti.
Extemporaneous speaking is definitely for those who are interested in current issues as many of the topics are related to the current issues going on globally. While the process of writing a speech in such a short period of time is nerve racking and stressful, it will possibly help prepare for the SAT essay as one works on providing concrete evidence.
-Tiffany
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