2026 ARCH Madness

ARCH St. Charles (MO) · Feb 5-7, 2026

Completed 9:09 PM Central

Jr. Impromptu Rules

Junior Impromptu Prompts and Rules

Description: The competitor is given two minutes to prepare a speech on a randomly drawn prompt. For the juniors tournaments in St. Louis, we are publishing the prompts in advance to allow young students the chance to familiarize themselves with the topics and think through how they might structure their impromptu speeches. 

Goal : To develop a winsome, polished speaker who can present an original, spontaneously prepared speech. The speaker may choose to approach the prompt in any way, but the prompt must be the central theme of the speech and not peripheral to it.

Junior Impromptu Rules

  1. Judges will lay out all topics on the table face down. Competitors pick three of the topics and must choose one of the selected topics on which to base their speech. After the speech, the competitor will return the two unused topics to the table and take or toss their selected topic strip, so that it is not chosen again by another competitor.

  2. Preparation time is two minutes in length and begins when competitors take the topic strips from the table.

  3. Competitors may write notes during prep time, but competitors cannot use the notes during their speaking time.

  4. No visual aids or props may be used, other than the topic strip.

  5. Competitors must state their name and topic somewhere near the beginning of their speech.

  6. Each speech should adhere to the chosen topic, while demonstrating originality and creativity.

  7. Impromptu competitors may not watch any other competitor that speaks before them. However, once they’ve completed their impromptu speech, they may watch other impromptu competitors.

TO MAXIMIZE PERFORMANCE, COMPETITORS SHOULD:

  • Try to choose a topic quickly so as not to waste any preparation time.

  • After a competitor has figured out what they’re going to say during their speech, he/she should use the rest of their preparation time to further think about the topic and how it will be presented.

  • Structure should be something like this: Introduction, points or ideas, and conclusion.

  • Use Scriptures, quotes, or stories to enrich the Impromptu performance.

Preparation Time Limit: two (2) minutes.
Speaking Time Limit: three (3) minutes. No minimum time. No student will be penalized for going over the suggested time.

 

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