<p>I'm going to do dx this year, for the first time. I really don't know much about it so I looked up some videos, and they confused me even more. I thought that you get a question you take 30min to go over your files and prepare a speech, then present said speech. However, when I looked at the videos there was a section of the round where another contestant came up and asked questions about the speech in a mini type of debate. </p>
<p>Was I looking at the wrong event, or is this what dx extemp is really like? Also is someone could please share some good resources for tips, information, and general setup for dx I would greatly appreciate it.</p>
<p>The way schools set up extemp varies from area to area, and you should check with people in your school and your coach to know what kind of guidelines are apropo for your state. In the NJFL, you usually get 30 minutes to prep and 10 to speak, like you said. The topics have ranged from global warming to the war in Iraq to horizontal-fracture oil drilling. </p>
<p>I do congressional debate and impromptu, which is similar to extemp, except it’s a lot shorter…usually 2 minutes to prep, 5 to speak and the topics are a lot more random. </p>
<p>Extemp is a pretty hard event, my school usually sends only one or two people to do extemp because no one ever wants to put themselves through that haha</p>
<p>Impromptu & extemp are really the events that separate the good public speakers from the average. Cause anyone can memorize a piece and preform it a 1,000 times til they perfect it, but you can never really prepare for extemp or impromptu. It’s either you got it or you don’t</p>
<p>I believe they judge the way you answer questions, but not what you ask. There is a little space on the ballot for commentary from the judges regarding your questioning of other speakers, but I don’t believe they consider it in the overall score.</p>
<p>The questioning is really just to get people to slip up or say something that’s contradictory to their speech, so your speech sounds more coherent in comparison & gets ranked better.</p>
<p>The questioning period you saw is called cross examination. It generally only occurs in outrounds of major tournaments such as state, district, and national tournaments (though this differs by area). As far as resources in terms of magazines, my favorites are The Economist, Bloomberg Businessweek, and The Atlantic. I would also suggest clipping newspapers such as The New York Times and The Christian Science Monitor.</p>
<p>I’d just like to say that DX is not as hard as pch340 makes it out to be. To prepare, be aware of current events. Go through Time, Newsweek, the Economist, CSM, etc. and clip articles or purchase ExtempDex.
You’re judged on organization, content, ability to cite sources, and tone of voice. As psettles said, crossex is very rare. Nonetheless, judges take note of your ability to ask and answer questions.</p>