by Aaron Lutkowitz
Aaron Lutkowitz competed for Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville, Tennessee. In addition to victories at the 2008 George Mason tournament and the 2009 Yale tournament, Aaron finished in 3rd place at the 2010 Southern Bell Forum and went undefeated in the preliminary rounds of the 2009 George Mason Round Robin, where he placed second. He was also a top ten finisher in last year’s National Points Race. Aaron co-attends the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University with plans to major in business and political science.
MY HISTORY
I love GMIF, and I always enjoyed competing in its round robin. I wouldn’t be anywhere without the institute, the camp, the staff, the Round Robin, the tournament, etc. I went to the summer camp all three summers of high school, and I send all the MBA youngins’ there too. At the tournament my junior year, I went 3-4 in 7 prelim rounds (tying 5 other competitors) and managed to earn 3rd place on individual ballot pick-ups. I then went on to win the tournament two days later. My senior year, I went 7-0 in prelims, but lost the final round 0-5. I then continued this trend to an early exit in quarters in the regular tournament. Emily B, Joe, Catherine, Ben, Emily M, Jason, Alex, and Nabeel, congrats on making the tournament. I hope to articulate the ins-and-outs of the Round Robin for you.
GENERAL NOTES
There are 7 straight one-on-one rounds, with each extemper competing against one another. Both speakers draw simultaneously, looking at one slip of paper with 5 questions. The first speaker eliminates a question, then the second speaker chooses from the remaining 4, then the first speaker chooses from the remaining 3. 30 minutes later, the first speaker speaks, the second speaker crosses for three minutes, then the second speaker steps outside and prepares for five more minutes, then the second speaker speaks and the first crosses. There are three judges in the room, and the speaker who picks up two or more ballots wins the round. The most number of ROUND wins (not ballot pick-ups) determines the overall place of the round robin. The tie-breaker (like when 6 competitors in 2008 went 3-4) is the number of BALLOTS won. The top two performers from prelims speak in the final round with a judging panel of the six other extemp competitors (2 collective ballots), the interp RR competitors (1 collective ballot), the PF RR competitors (1 collective ballot), and 3 professional judges (1 collective ballot).
STRATEGY DURING ROUND ROBIN
–Eliminating the question: IN THEORY, the strategy for the first speaker is to eliminate the third best question. That way, even if the 2nd speaker takes the best question, the 1st speaker can still select the second best question. In case the 2nd speaker wanted the third best question, the 1st speaker may have gained a relative advantage. IN REALITY, do not be THAT extemper. Generally, as the two speakers see the questions, you can collectively and politely decide what the worst topic is and remove it. If you are the type of person who seeks to gain any tiny advantage through the “eliminate the 3rd best question” strategy, you are probably over-competitive and should remember the friendly spirit of our event.
–Going 1st v Going 2nd: I found that it was never a big deal and that the difference between the two was negligible. The first time I tried speaking second after an additional 5 minutes of prep, it was certainly out of the ordinary, but it did not much affect my performance. Considering you have no choice in the matter, make it irrelevant even if it does throw you off.
–7 straight rounds: Literally, once you get back from your last round, the next round starts. Be prepared mentally and physically. Also, get there early to set up. My junior year I was late. Not only did I not get to situate myself, but my first few rounds of the morning were thrown into added chaos.
–Don’t freak: You will be competing against names that scare you; keep in mind that these same names are equally afraid to go up against you. Everyone has good and bad rounds over the course of a long day, so even the theoretically top extemper could lose to the theoretically lowest extemper.
–Topics: The categories have some funky names (thanks, Jason Warren!), but the questions are pretty straight-forward. While not terribly complex or long, they are thought-provoking. They often involve more than 1 actor. They can be specific and recent, but it can also be fairly broad and theoretical.
–Judging: Judging is mostly people on the GMIF team. Those who went to GMIF over the summer will have a tremendous advantage (it certainly helped me go undefeated in prelims my senior year). The judging is basically very good and demands a very true form of extemp: fluff won’t fly, but neither will a stiff performance. Adapting round-by-round is minimal because all the judges for the most part have a similar judging philosophy.
–Final round: If you have enough confidence in yourself to make it to finals, save some energy for that last round. My junior year I knew I didn’t belong in the top 2 so I smartly ran out of gas in my final prelim round and got 3rd. But by my senior year, I should have recognized that I had a very good shot at finals and saved energy for a potential 8th round. Instead, I again ran out of gas in my final prelim round and totally crashed and burned in finals.
–Finals judging: This is still very true to a traditional form of extemp. 40% of your ballots are from the other 6 extemp competitors who generally have very traditional views of extemp (a healthy balance of analysis and performance). The 20% of performance-heavy interper ballots are balanced by the 20% of analysis-heavy PF ballots. The 3 professional judges, the final 20%, are generally balanced as well.
TIPS FOR PREPARATION
–Tubs: Have a little on everything recent and have plenty on the big topics. Make sure that there are enough daily sources to answer anything very specific from the past two weeks, but enough journals to answer more theoretical ideas or questions. I also went to the Round Robin with much lighter tubs, mostly because I travelled by myself. However, purging your files can be a healthy practice of removing junk and familiarizing yourself with all of the material in your tubs.
–Read! Focus a lot more on reading and highlighting than printing and filing (or hopefully have younger minions on the team to do the printing and filing). Knowing the information is almost more important than having the article, especially because cross-ex is much easier when you are somewhat familiar with the other person’s topic.
–Practice being the 2nd speaker: This was especially valuable my junior year. I reenacted the entire process with one of my novices. We drew simultaneously, he spoke first, and then I prepped for another five minutes and spoke. Especially if you think you might be uncomfortable speaking second, this step is crucial.
FINAL NOTES
–Have fun later: my first piece of advice for almost every tournament is to have fun. Always. But I’m breaking my cardinal rule. The GMU tournament experience was almost one of the most fun for me, but the Round Robin itself, from 7 AM to 8 PM that Friday, was all serious. Have fun after the Round Robin and during the tournament, but not during the Round Robin. (The post-Robin meal is a superb experience.)
–A prelude to Oscar’s article: Try to forget about the round robin as quickly as possible. When you get your ballots that Friday night, don’t read them. Don’t skim them. Hang out, relax, and sleep. My junior year, I barely cleared out of prelims, quarters, and semis before getting lucky in finals in the regular tournament. My senior year, I barely cleared prelims and the extemp fates caught up to me in quarters. I think a lot of the reason is that I had lost so much energy during and after the Round Robin.
–Contact me! I know/competed against/helped/coached most of the 8 of you. Facebook or email (alutko@gmail.com) me if you have specific questions.
–Prediction: I think Team TALE will not be in the TALE end of the competition.
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