Extemporaneous Speaking

Extemporaneous Speaking Online – What Should You Expect

Last year, we had an ambitious vision for the Mean Green Comet Extemporaneous Speaking Camp - offer an extemporaneous speaking summer experience that is exclusively led by professional Speech & Debate educators, caters to students both new to the event and wishing to make it to national final rounds, and takes place in six hours of screen time or less a day. As we have seen the results come in this year, I am pleased to say that we delivered. What's our vision this year? To play it back, and make camp even better.

• Returning is our guest lecturer series, where you can see national champion competitors and coaches delve into Extemporaneous Speaking theory and be available for live Q&A afterwards.
• Labs are back - a perfect opportunity for you to form a connection with an educator and students of a similar skill level so you can jump right into competition next year surrounded by familiar faces.
• We believe that while direct instruction is valuable, you cannot learn without speaking and receiving feedback. This is why at camp, there is a daily opportunity to give a practice speech and that receives coach feedback (read - we don't just stick you in a breakout room with another high schooler), capped off with a full mock tournament at the end of the week.
• Brand new this year is our "showcase speech series," which gives you the opportunity to engage in live Q&A with students who have a proven track record of extemporaneous speaking success.

Join us this summer for an Extemporaneous Speaking camp on par with any in the country at a fraction of the time and expense as other camps. Here is what you can expect from the MC online workshop:

• Students should be available between 12:30 PM-5:45 PM to participate synchronously in camp. We believe that synchronous engagement, while not as good as "the real thing," is better for education than an asynchronous experience.
• All activities from 5:45 PM - 6:30 PM are "optional" in the sense that synchronous participation is not considered mandatory. Office hours and showcase speeches happen during this time. Showcase speeches will be recorded and made available to all students for those who cannot attend. An exception to this is the final day of camp on July 17, which will require all students to be available until 6:30 PM.
• There may be times when, due to health, technology, or family issues, a camper will need to miss a lecture, lab, or practice speech. Camp staff are aware of this, and will make a reasonable effort to make content and activities available to campers who have to miss parts of camp for these reasons.
• Students are expected to use their cameras during lab time, while giving practice speeches, and while receiving practice speech feedback. We have found that this is simply the only way to promote familiarity, rapport, and connection, which is absolutely critical to learning.

Here is our expected rundown of a typical day in Extempland. Some days will be slightly different especially towards the beginning and end of camp, but we will never start before 12:30, go after 6:30, or tell kids there is anything after 5:45 that is a "required" part of camp (except on the last day...finishing the tournament will take until 6:15 or so).

Sample Online Daily Schedule

Director's Statement

The extemporaneous speaking camp is designed to build the skills necessary to excel in extemporaneous speaking events and other individual events. The Mean Green Comet Debate Institute focuses on building speaking and research skills while building a solid base of presentation skills that judges expect. Lectures and speaking activities are designed to immerse students in the many common topic areas. The use of guided symposiums emphasizes the importance of practice, strategy and process. At the end of the session students will be ready to prep multiple topic areas and have the confidence to give speeches on topics that they might not be familiar with.

Divisions, Date and Pricing

Division Director

Neal White

Neal White is returning to the Mean Green Comet Extemporaneous Speaking camp for a third time, this time as the Extemp Division Director! Neal has been a full-time educator teaching Speech & Debate for five years and has had a hand in Speech & Debate education for nine. In extemporaneous speaking, he has coached NSDA national finalists, TFA State champions, Capital City Round Robin exhibition round participants, MBA Round Robin invitees, and UIL State finalists. Neal likes rock climbing, vinyl records, and essential oils…can you tell that he grew up in Austin? Additionally, he is definitely a dog person, not a cat person. He is married and is the proud owner of a wonderful red Beta fish named Rex.

Division Staff

Meg Parker Wilson

Graduated from Southwest Baptist University and Los Angeles Film Studies Center with a B.A. in Speech Communications and Theater and is a member of Pi Kappa Delta. She was a competitor in NSDA for four years and two time national qualifier and Missouri State Champion. She competed in both I.E.s as well as PF and CX. She is the Director of Communication Arts for Prestonwood Christian academy and has been coaching for eight years. She loves this sport and guiding students in their path to making a difference in this world.

Stef Cambra

Stef brings with her 20 years of experience in the activity - as a competitor, judge, and educator. She has coached numerous finalists and champions on the local, state, and national level. Most recently, she was the coach of this year's TFA state double champion in Original Oratory and Informative Speaking and TFA's 5th Place Domestic Extemp Competitor. In addition, Cambra has served as a district curriculum writer in Plano ISD, creating content for Professional Communications, Debate, and Oral Interpretation. She has a lifelong passion for all things communication and performance. If you ask what her favorite event is, she won't be able to just name one. "My favorite event is the event a student is excited about - I am ready to work alongside each and every student to help them with their competitive goals."

Guest Speakers

Jason Warren

Jason competed both in high school and college in limited prep and public address. He is a two-time collegiate national champion in extemporaneous speaking and six-time finalist in limited prep, as well as a top-five individual sweepstakes speaker. In high school, Jason was an NSDA national finalist as well as a TFA and UIL state champion. Jason coached multiple national champions during his time at UT Austin, George Mason University, and the Parish Episcopal School. Jason now currently works as the social studies manager for an education software company.

Cheryl Potts

A 30-year veteran coach of speech and debate, her students have been successful at the UIL State level, the TFA state level, the TOC, the MBA Extemp Round Robin, and the NSDA National tournament level. She co-coached teams to the TFA State Championship fourteen times. She was inducted into the TFA Hall of Fame and was inducted into the NSDA Hall of Fame in June 2020. She is currently serving on the NIETOC Board of Directors.

Angela Wang

Over the past four years, Angela has competitively competed in Extemporaneous speaking on the National circuit. She has finaled at five National tournaments, including the NSDA National tournament twice, the New York City Invitational, Tournament of Champions, Extemp Tournament of Champions, and is a two-time MBA Round Robin invitee for the Top 16 Extempers in the country. She is the 2020 National Champion in International Extemp at NSDA Nationals - the first woman to do so in over a decade - the 2020 Texas State Champion at the TFA State tournament, and the 2020 State Champion at the Capitol City Round Robin for the Top 16 Extempers in Texas. She is a two-time invitee to the Capitol City Round Robin and two-time State finalist at the TFA State Tournament.

Pranav Pattatathunaduvil

Pranav Pattatathunaduvil is a rising freshman at Yale University who competed in Extemp at Jasper and Plano West Senior High School. He is the 2021 NSDA National Champion in International Extemp, the champion of the 2020 Glenbrooks Tournament in Domestic Extemp, the champion of the 2019 New York City Invitational, the champion of the 2019 and 2020 University of Texas Longhorn Tournaments in Domestic Extemp, and the 2018 and 2021 UIL 6A State Champion in Persuasive and Informative Speaking, respectively. Additionally, he placed 2nd at the 2019 NSDA National Tournament, the 2020 Harvard Forensics Tournament, the 2020 Tournament of Champions, the 2020 Capital City Round Robin, the 2021 Montgomery Bell Academy Round Robin, and the 2021 TFA State Tournament, as well as 3rd at the 2020 Florida Blue Key.

Enroll Now

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MGCDI enrollment is open! Follow the link above to reserve your spot in our 2021 summer program. The final deadline for all registration is June 22, 2021.