As extemp styles adapt and shift, this season has seen the rise of more structured AGDs, on-tops, and powerlines. 2026 is sure to be a year of delivery-heavy styles, so it is important to stay up to date on how to keep your speeches feeling fresh. One way to ensure that your speeches are engaging to your judges and general audience is through the use of threaded narratives.
What Are Threaded Narratives?
In extemp, threaded narratives use the same main story or anecdote throughout the speech, within the AGD, on-tops, and powerlines alike. Narratives typically follow the story of one individual impacted by the topic at hand throughout the course of your speech. Though standard on-tops and powerlines that provide new information and contextualization are impactful for their own reasons, using a threaded narrative can be more powerful in the context of higher-stakes questions. Additionally, using a threaded narrative can help you stand out in a round of otherwise similar speeches. Keep reading for some tips on maximizing the effectiveness of a threaded narrative.
Master the Art of Narrative AGDs
Your judges will be introduced to your threaded narrative by your AGD, so it is imperative that your AGD lands. Narrative AGDs are almost always dramatic rather than lighthearted or humorous, so be sure to handle sensitive topics with care (The Extemper’s Bible, incidentally, has a blog article on how to do this). Be sure to know your AGD inside and out, as confidence is a key part of persuading your audience. Your AGD should have depth, meaning, and implications, as it is a major stepping stone in ensuring that the rest of your threaded narrative lands.
Know Your Topic
Per usual extemp fashion, it is crucial to have a deep understanding of your topic to deliver a hard-hitting speech. However, this is especially important when implementing a threaded narrative, as each reference to it must provide new insight. Additionally, threaded narratives may appear stilted if they’re not clearly connected to the topic at hand.
In order to make your narratives as punchy as possible, focus on staying up to date with the news cycle to understand the real-world implications of your topic rather than just the facts and statistics. The more authentic the narrative, the better. Oftentimes, sources like the New York Times and Amnesty International feature the stories of individuals impacted by world events that can easily be converted into a threaded narrative.
To practice, consider setting a short timer to find a threaded narrative for a given topic area and list ideas for interweaving the narrative between several points.
Maintain a Clear Structure
Many competitors overlook the concept of structure within on-tops and powerlines, though this can be the difference between an effective and ineffective speech or narrative. When it comes to threaded narratives, its important to plan out each instance your narrative comes up in your speak because redundancy can undermine impact. Ultimately, each mention of your narrative should build on the last to help give your judge an increasingly clear picture of the exigency of the topic at hand.
Additional Tips
Though narratives at large are primarily dramatic, you can utilize the concept of a threaded narrative with humor as well. Use the same logic as you do with narratives to add new context to your humorous thread, and you will still successfully tie together your on-tops and powerlines. Threaded narratives can be difficult for speakers who excel in content rather than delivery, so don’t get discouraged if you do flub a connection or make a few fluency breaks. Happy extemping!