Extemp is a category where your success depends entirely on the judgement of a single decision-maker: the judge in the back of the room. The introduction of your speech is where that decision starts getting made. An elite introduction is an opportunity to build connection, credibility, and momentum that carries your entire round.
What your intro needs to accomplish
Your intro has three jobs:
- Make the judge care
- A judge who cares listens harder, forgives small mistakes, and remembers you positively.
- Make the judge trust you
- A strong background signals “this speaker knows what they’re talking about” and can be supported by credible source citations and a command of the information being presented.
- Make the judge feel connected to you
- Connection has a direct correlation with higher ranks. If the six people in your round give “okay” speeches, the one who creates a bond with the judge wins the tiebreak.
Structure
Introductions typically follow this structure:
AGD → Link → Background → Statement of Significance (SOS) → Question → Answer
Write these sections on your prep sheet to avoid missing key components and to ensure your introduction flows.
- AGD
The AGD, or attention-getting device, is the first thing the judge hears, and first impressions are real. There are typically three rules of the AGD.
First, be topical
If the question is about Trump’s indictment, and your joke/story is unrelated, you might get a laugh… then lose the room when you pivot. The judge feels “left behind,” and it ruins the flow of your speech. Make sure your AGD is related to your speech in a pertinent manner, otherwise it seems out of place.
Second, choose a route: funny or hard-hitting
- Funny route: joke, quote, clever analogy (can be “canned” if you remember it naturally)
- Hard story route: a true human story that grips attention
For example, in the USX 2022 NSDA finals, Peter Alisky uses a human narrative as his AGD. His question, surrounding gun reform, was a good opportunity to call upon a real survivor story from the Uvalde shooting. It works because it makes the room feel something immediately, and he later uses the victim’s narrative to tie into his on-top/transitions throughout his speech.
However, I must note that it is important not to view victims of tragedy as simply “AGD material.” These individuals are real, and so are the circumstances they are enduring. It is important to cite these individuals to foster empathy and raise the audience’s awareness of the conditions they face.
Third, prep your AGD last
If your AGD doesn’t instantly click, don’t spend precious minutes of your prep time to sit down and think of one. Additionally, don’t force your speech to match a pre-made AGD. Rather:
- Prep your background + points first
- Then find an AGD that fits what your speech is actually saying
The big principle is fit the AGD to the background, not the background to the AGD
- Link: the transition that saves the whole intro
The link is just a bridge sentence or a series of sentences between your AGD and your background. The goal of the link is to transition from your AGD to your topic at hand (what your question is really getting at), tying in your question’s relevance as soon as possible. It should be quick, purposeful, and switch moods. It often uses “but” to pivot from the story/joke to reality. Using words that include the room also helps personalize the speech, including, but not limited to, me, you, us, we, and Americans. It subtly pulls the judge into the problem.
Example: “But this isn’t just a headline, it is affecting people like us.”
In the case of Peter Alisky’s speech, his link looked like this: “No child should have to go through that, but it may have finally convinced Congress to talk about gun reform. An article from U.S. News published two days ago explains…”
- Background: stop trying to fit the entire textbook
Contrary to popular belief, the background does not mean explaining everything; rather, it means explaining what is relevant and necessary. The background should be less than a minute long and split into two halves.
The first half: the mechanics
- Who are the key actors?
- What’s happening right now?
- What’s at stake (policy, decision, conflict)?
- A quick history line, only if needed
I’d limit yourself to 1-2 sources as well, as too many can get convoluted.
The second half: the human reason we’re asking the question
- How does this hit real people?
- What changes in everyday life?
- Why does it matter today?
You need to make the judge feel like:
- They understand what’s happening
- They understand why it’s happening now
- They understand what matters most
Most extemp questions are being asked for a reason. They are not being written randomly. Typically, something has changed, failed, escalated, or something is about to happen. So, explicitly tell the judge why we’re asking this question now.
One of the most important parts of the introduction is defining key terms–and no, it is not a vocabulary exercise. It’s framing. You define terms to control what the question means. You should define:
- Any term that could be interpreted in multiple ways
- Any policy concept that shapes the debate
- Any actor/system the judge needs to track
- Any massive player in the question itself
If your question is “Will the Federal Reserve cut interest rates in 2026?”
You should define the Federal Reserve (The United States’ central bank responsible for controlling inflation and stabilizing employment)
You should explain the main idea surrounding interest rates (Interest rates are the cost of borrowing money, where higher rates mean it’s more expensive for banks to borrow funds, which raises costs for consumers and small businesses…)
- Statement of Significance
The SoS is your “power line.” It accomplishes two things:
- Wraps up your background
- Forces the judge to care by attaching impact(s)
It should act as the portion of the speech that really displays whyyour question matters, why it is important to consider, and makes the stakes more tangible for your judge to grasp.
It should take up some version of
- “But it’s when considering..”
- “And that matters because…”
- “No one should have to…”
- “By the time I finish this speech…”
Peter Alisky looked something like this: “According to data from The Brady Center for preventing gun violence, this year, in just the time it takes me to finish this speech, one American will die from gun violence. Thus, it’s a matter of national significance that we ask today’s question…”
Example: “Will the Federal Reserve cut interest rates in 2026?”
AGD: President Trump, when he entered office, promised America would reach “all new highs.” And he was right, because for a while, inflation hit heights most Americans hadn’t seen in decades.
Link: But unlike stock prices, inflation isn’t something you can just tweet down. It’s something the Federal Reserve has to choke off with policy.
Background: The Federal Reserve is the United States’ central bank. Its job is to keep prices stable and the labor market healthy, and its main tool for doing so is interest rates—the cost of borrowing money. When the Fed raises rates, it becomes more expensive for banks to borrow, which pushes up rates on mortgages, car loans, and credit cards. That slows consumer spending and business investment, cooling the economy and bringing inflation down. When the Fed cuts rates, borrowing gets cheaper, spending rises, and the economy speeds up.
The New York Times explains on January 1st of 2026 that over the past two years, the Fed sharply raised rates to fight the post-pandemic inflation surge, pushing borrowing costs to their highest levels in more than two decades. While inflation has come down from its peak, it’s still hovering above the Fed’s 2 percent target, and the economy is showing signs of strain through tighter credit, slowing growth, and rising anxiety about a recession.
Cut rates too soon, and inflation could flare back up; keep rates too high for too long, and the economy could tip into contraction.
SOS: So it’s when considering that interest rates can be the deciding factor between whether families get relief on monthly payments, whether small businesses can afford to expand, and whether the labor market stays strong, or starts shedding jobs, that we must ask the question,
Will the Federal Reserve cut interest rates in 2026?
Conclusion
At the end of your 60-90 second intro, your judge should feel three things:
- I understand the topic
- I understand why it matters now
- I want to hear this person’s answer
If you can consistently produce that, your intros won’t just be “good.” They’ll be the reason you win close rounds.