An Interview with our Director of Content, Zoe Becker, exploring her extemp career, hot takes, and advice to other debaters out there.
Before we put our Content Director, Zoe Becker on the hot seat, a quick shoutout to her for her consistent support, dedication, and bright presence! Okay, now onto what we’ve all been waiting for…
How did you first get started with Speech and Debate? With Extemp?
My dad was (briefly) a policy debater in college and encouraged me to go to a speech and debate interest meeting when I was in 6th grade. Around then, I started doing policy in our Urban Debate League (UDL) which I was very mediocre at. I did that through the middle of 7th grade or so when I joined the combined program between my middle school (Alice Deal Middle School) and Jackson-Reed High School through which I began competing in PF and eventually LD. I was an LDer pretty much all through the first semester of freshman year of high school (which is probably still evident in how fast I speak – whoops) when I decided to try out extemp. I’d actually been registered for one extemp tournament in middle school since my coach thought I’d enjoy it but I dropped a day or so in advance because I was literally terrified of it. Anyways, I got into extemp in earnest by freshman year because I qualified for NCFL in extemp but not in LD, haha. From there, I never really looked back.
Favorite tournament and why?
Okay, this is such a hard question because there are so many tournaments I love for so many different reasons. I could probably talk about this for hours (and I will – if you see me at a tournament, come find me and I’d love to chat). That said, I think I’m gonna go with UKTOC. There aren’t necessarily inherent characteristics of the tournament that are particularly notable –though its well run, easy to navigate, etc.– but it’s my favorite because I think it represented a turning point in my career and my life. UKTOC last year was genuinely one of the happiest weekends I have ever spent and I think that’s because it was when I really began to get to know other extempers and immerse myself in the community this activity has to offer. Also, there’s really good boba that’s a quick walk from the UK campus!
What were some challenges you faced as a competitor or for your team?
This is another one I could yap about for hours. I’ll start with the team piece of things because I think this is the area where my answer may be distinct from other extempers’. My school didn’t really have a speech and debate program when I started there so my task of the last four or so years has been building one up. We’re entirely student run which is incredible because it means we’ve become something of a family and also an absolute logistical nightmare. I’ve spent more time than I’d like to admit dealing with things like getting staff approval for tournaments, registering with speech and debate leagues, coordinating fundraisers, and arguing with school administration over support of it all for the last four years.
On the personal side of things (and I’ve written about this a fair bit, including in a recent EB article), extemp has been a mental challenge. I often get really superstitious at tournaments which is something I’ve been working hard this year to overcome. Additionally, even though I’m really thrilled with the program I’ve built at my school, it’s not an extemp focused one. Most of my teammates are PFers or LDers which means that usually when I’m competing,I’m the only one from my team at a tournament. In a way, I’m grateful for that because it’s forced me to branch out and develop incredible friendships with people on the circuit but that was definitely isolating for my first couple years.
What led you to pursue advocacy/activism in a speech and debate context through organizations like the Extemper’s Bible?
This is a bit of a cliche but it really was just that I felt obligated to give back to the resources that have done so much for me. Since I never had formal extemp coaching, almost everything I learned about this activity came from free resources like the Bible. Extemp has changed my life. It’s made me a better thinker, writer, speaker, and most importantly, brought me some of my closest relationships. I feel like I owe it to every other competitor who might not have access to formal coaching to continue putting out high quality, free resources that can help them take advantage of everything this activity has to offer.
Favorite article/resource you have written for the Bible?
I think our updated presentation about the Middle East and North Africa. There are some details that are a bit out of date since I put it together prior to the Gaza ceasefire. That said, I had a ton of fun diving into this topic area.
Was there any advice you received early on that you feel shaped your career as an extemper?
Give speeches that you enjoy. It makes a world of a difference.
Any advice you want to pay forward to any novices out there?
Develop a practice routine that works for you! There’s no right way to do extemp. Some people need to give 3 speeches a day in the run up to a tournament, others need to spend hours canning jokes, and you might need to do something different altogether. Also, seriously, have fun. Touch grass now and then. Extemp is awesome but it shouldn’t be your whole life.
Any funny extemp stories? Give us something better than getting caught talking to walls 🙂
Okay this one is more tragi-comic but on several occasions I’ve been picking at my cuticles (from nerves) during prep and then noticed that my flow had gotten smudged from blood. Hopefully someone laughed at that.
What is your Extemp hot take?
AGDs should be topical! Stop telling generic jokes about Donald Trump that have nothing to do with your speech about FEMA.
What are your predictions for the future of Extemp? Any trends you see continuing? Crazy predictions? Robot Judges?
Okay, honestly, I think in the near future at least the style that dominates the circuit is going to get a little more boring. I’ve noticed recently that extempers who don’t rely on dramatic narratives or punchy jokes are increasingly being rewarded for the broad palatability of their speeches. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but a change. If I had to guess though, that trend will continue for a year or so and then the pendulum will swing dramatically in the opposite direction as it always does.
Also, I don’t know when it’s gonna happen but I think at some point soon an extemper who doesn’t use the traditional three point structure will find massive success on the circuit and folks will start trying to do more to test the limits of the form.
As a senior, how do you feel Extemp has shaped what you want to go on to do/ your future trajectory, both for better or for worse?
Okay, I must confess that I don’t fall into the typical extemper archetype of wanting to go into the foreign service or work for a think tank (though, I haven’t ruled those out yet). Over the past couple years I’ve started seriously considering pursuing comedy writing as a career – shoutout to Tina Fey on that one, I guess. Extemp was a major contributor in me finding the confidence to say that that was what I wanted to do. I think the first time I ever had to hold for a laugh in a round was genuinely one of the best moments of my life. It made me realize that this was something I can do. So, uh, if you happen to watch one of my speeches anytime soon please please laugh. Well, at the jokes. If I say something really dumb you can laugh at that, too. Okay, I think I’ll move onto the next question now.
How can students reading this get involved with our content team at the Bible?
Okay maybe I’m biased but this is my favorite question so far. We just closed a round of applications for the content team but keep an eye out for more! In the meantime, our DMs and comment sections are always open and we’d love to hear from you. And, make sure to sign up for our newsletter to stay in the loop on everything EB!