What is Extemporaneous Reading? + Why did you choose it?
-Extemporaneous Reading is one of the many categories in Speech. Its meaning is pretty much in the name: “Extemporaneous” means spoken or done without preparation. Except we actually have 30 minutes of prep, so it’s not completely spontaneous! It is a category where you read expressively out of a pre-chosen book of either poetry or prose. I chose this category because I was worried about my ability to be able to memorize a 10-minute piece, so I chose Extemporaneous Reading to be safe (knowing I could just read the script out of a book), and I ended up really liking it!
Which performance are you most proud of + how did you feel when you won?
-I felt it was one of my strongest performances yet. I did not stumble once, and after my performance, and since it was my last ever Speech performance as a senior, I felt very proud. The craziest part is that I had never performed that cutting during any meet in the season prior. Usually, when this happens, I mess up a few times due to my lack of familiarity with the cutting, but this didn’t happen once! Even if I didn’t place as high as I did last year, I left that room knowing that I did the best performance I could. As the names were called from 8th place to first place, when it got to the second-place person, I was about to step forward because all season I had been getting second place, and I just thought, you know what, I’ll take it! When my name wasn’t called for second place, I was instantly brought to tears. After placing third at state last year, I made it my absolute mission to break my record, and I did just that! I was elated because like many many others, I worked so hard to get here, and I finally made it. It was unreal.
What does the process look like for you?
-Extemporaneous Reading practice for me starts with thoroughly reading the cutting through twice. The first time is for familiarity, and the second time is for annotations. One thing that’s nice about Extemporaneous Reading is that you are given the book in the beginning of the season and you can read through it and annotate it before you even start competing at meets. I had the book throughout my One-Act season and was able to practice with it for my tournaments in the future. Since I wasn’t competing yet, I was able to write my intros for each chapter.
Biggest challenge?
Writing intros was honestly my biggest challenge in Extemporaneous Reading, especially this year. When I write an intro, I want it to have a good attention grabber, brief background, and then a theme in the end that wraps it all up and connects with the audience and/or connects with universal issues or experiences. This was much more manageable last year when the prose for Ext. Reading was The Moth presents: All These Wonders, which consisted of separate, unique narratives. This year, the book was The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart. Each chapter continued from the last, so I had to provide extensive background, which became difficult as the scene cuttings changed so frequently throughout the season, leading me to have to constantly adjust the backgrounds to fit the new cuttings. Another challenge I struggled with in Extemporaneous Reading is not losing my spot in the book when I look up to give eye contact to audience members or judges. When this happens, it’s sometimes hard to find your spot without judges noticing you got lost, which is why I emphasize being familiar with the cuttings so often, so that you can anticipate what’s next.
How do you balance the emotional delivery of a piece with technical skills like timing and clarity?
-This is going to sound very unhelpful and vague, but low-key, the biggest thing is empathizing with the characters. In order to understand something on a deeper level, you have to have empathy. For example, if the cutting was about a refugee from another country seeking asylum in America, the only way to truly capture the emotions present in the piece is to attempt to understand. It’s a lot easier said than done, especially when you haven’t experienced it first-hand, but it allows you to become the character and actively feel what is described in the piece. As for timing and clarity, being in theater has helped a lot with that. Being in a comedic show like Much Ado About Nothing during One-Act allowed me to learn about comedic timing and where to pause for laugh lines or impactful lines.
How do you approach a piece and make it your own so quickly?
-Continuing off of having empathy, I also like having a connection to the main characters one way or another. Many of the characters I’ve played in musicals, plays, or speeches have reflected a certain part of who I actually am (in a large way or small way), allowing me to almost be myself while performing, which makes my approaches slightly unique and more authentic to me
Who has supported or influenced you the most on your journey to becoming a state champion? + What advice would you give to students who are thinking about joining speech or trying Extemporaneous Reading?
I’d like to say a huge thank you to ALL of my wonderful, amazing coaches in Speech, but special shout-out to Mr. Orvik, as he’s been so supportive and kind and encouraging and gave wonderful critiques throughout the season, even back in the olden days when I was kind of buns at Speech. I’d also like to thank Mr. Faust. He’s taken so much time out of his day, having multiple coach practices with me and helping me work on and practice my speeches. I would also like to thank my teammates in speech for being supportive, my parents, and everyone who has come and watched my speeches these last 5 years. My advice to anyone who wants to try Extemporaneous Reading or speech is: Have fun, and work like you want to win.
Now that you’ve achieved a state title, what goals do you have moving forward?
-My biggest competition is myself, so I hope to someday one-up myself in one way or another and reach for the stars
