Ananth Veluvali competed for Edina High School in Edina, Minnesota. He was the 2021 NCFL National Champion and, in 2022, was the runner-up at the MBA Round Robin, Extemp Tournament of Champions, and NCFL Nationals; he is also a two-time NSDA National Finalist, finishing in 3rd place this past year. This fall, Ananth plans on attending Stanford University, where he intends on studying computer science and economics.
Ananth agreed to an interview with Extemp Central to discuss the biggest lessons he learned while competing in extemporaneous speaking, while also providing advice for how future competitors can achieve his level of success.
Logan Scisco: First, Ananth, congratulations on a strong season and belated congratulations on winning last year’s National Catholic Forensic League (NCFL) Grand National Tournament!
Ananth Veluvali: Thank you!
Scisco: How did you get started in extemporaneous speaking? Who recommended that you try the event?
Veluvali: I originally started out in Lincoln-Douglas debate, but because of the way Minnesota structures its debate season, there are no more local-circuit tournaments after December. Still, I wanted to keep competing, so a few friends from the LD team suggested I try extemp speaking, and I haven’t looked back since.
Scisco: When you were going through your extemp career, what extempers did you try to model or look up to?
Veluvali: The biggest extemp role model I had was Tanner Jones. He went to the same high school as me, and his final year in extemp also happened to be my first year in this activity. Seeing him consistently make the final rounds of both local circuit tournaments and national circuit tournaments—and having that culminate in a finals appearance at NSDAs—made me really believe that, if I worked hard, I could maybe find a similar level of success. I’ll also give a shout-out to Dylan Slinger, another Minnesota extemper who competed in the early 2010s.
Scisco: What was the biggest struggle that you had to overcome in extemporaneous speaking? How did you overcome it?
Veluvali: I used to think that the more content I could stuff into my extemp speeches, the better. The result was that I had tons of interesting information in my speech, but my delivery suffered; I’d often speak too fast, not have enough time for important pauses, and I’d consistently risk going over 7:30. Over time, though, I realized that you could have the best content in the world, but it wouldn’t matter if your delivery was underwhelming. I thus started to work on delivery drills, redid extemp speeches, and tried to think more strategically about what information I ought to include (or omit) during extemp prep.
Scisco: Minnesota has acquired a reputation as a strong extemporaneous speaking state with a lot of national champions and major winners over the last twenty years. Why do you think that is?
Veluvali: I’ve wondered this a fair amount myself. Ultimately, I think it has to do with the fact that speech is imbued within the culture of so many high schools in Minnesota. Plastered on the walls of schools like Apple Valley and Eastview are quite literally dozens (if not hundreds) of plaques with pictures of speech alum & their accomplishments. It almost serves as a constant reminder to current high school students that they can be like that too, and it contributes to a culture of collaboration and success. Beyond that, there are tons of great coaches in MN, which definitely helps as well. The result is that there’s almost always high-quality competition available at Minnesota local-circuit tournaments; your tournament’s final round could have several national semi-finalists and finalists in it.
Scisco: What is the best piece of advice you ever received about extemporaneous speaking? Who gave it to you?
Veluvali: The best piece of extemp advice I ever received came from Tanner Jones who told me to think about speeches holistically. Ask yourself: do your points complement each other to form one coherent narrative that successfully answers the question? Oftentimes, yes, you can create three points that all maybe answer the question—but is there a way that those three points can come together to almost create a story? That’s what the best extemp speeches do. They not only successfully answer the question, but create a full-on story in the process, elevated by compelling on-tops, crystal-clear impacts, and a solid conclusion.
Scisco: Did you ever have a favorite source? If so, what was it?
Veluvali: I’ll give a shoutout to Roll Call. It’s an underrated magazine that covers American political affairs, and it’s a great way to understand the latest machinations being schemed up on Capitol Hall.
Scisco: During your career, what was your favorite tournament to compete at, whether it was a local or a national circuit event?
Veluvali: I really enjoyed MBA during my senior year of extemp. It was my first in-person, national-circuit tournament in almost 2.5 years, and it was exceptionally well-run. I got to meet some really cool people there, while receiving some very useful feedback from my judges. Oh, and the Nashville food was amazing!
Scisco: Walk us through last season’s NCFL National Tournament. It was online, but what preparations did you make for the tournament that you thought made you successful?
Veluvali: I really started to think about the idea I discussed earlier of creating holistic speeches. I wanted to make sure that each speech I gave told a clear story, from introduction to conclusion, and I wanted each impact in my points to elevate the story I was telling. Beyond that, I tried to think about the areas of extemp speeches that most competitors (in my opinion) underutilize. Those areas included on-tops, humor, sources, and conclusions. I focused on adding unique sources to my speeches and appropriately-placed humor, and I also thought about how my on-tops and conclusion could make my speech feel more holistic.
Scisco: Coming into this season as the defending NCFL national champion, did you feel the weight of any expectations or increased pressure versus last year? If so, how did you deal with it?
Veluvali: It definitely increased the pressure. From a purely results-focused standpoint, anything less than first place would’ve been technically worse than what I did last year. But obviously, that’s an unhealthy way of thinking. I tried to focus less on the result and more on how I personally felt I did; I thought I gave my final round speech my all, so I was happy. Being a senior in high school definitely helped too. In general, I feel like it reduced my stress at all these big tournaments because, knowing that this was my last extemp season, I didn’t want to leave this activity on a sour note, so I just tried to enjoy my time at these tournaments, irrespective of the result.
Scisco: Although you did not win a major tournament this season, you came very close on a number of occasions. What do you think made you competitive across all of these tournaments, each of which demands different skills of extempers?
Veluvali: Beyond some of the things I already discussed earlier, on the delivery side, I would say it’s important to have vocal variation and well-placed pauses, so your judges feel consistently engaged in the speech. On the content side, I think it’s most important to teach your judges something, so they walk away from your speech thinking, “wow, I have something new to talk about with my friends and family!” That teaching happens through contextualization; in each of my impacts, I tried to make a conscious effort to explain what each statistic meant. People may comprehend what 8 million people looks like, but when you tell them that’s the size of New York City, the number takes on a whole new (and more profound) meaning.
Scisco: In keeping with the question above, is there anything you would have done differently at any of the major tournaments this season that may have helped you win that particular competition?
Veluvali: Question selection would probably be the biggest one. For NCFLs and the UKTOC, I wish I spent just a bit more time reading through the question choices and thinking about what the best option would be. This is something obviously out of my control, but it also would’ve been nice to have had some of these tournaments in person. I think there’s just a better atmosphere when you have a physical crowd watching you instead of some blank faces on your computer screen.
Scisco: You end your career as a two-time NSDA finalist in United States Extemp. What advice would you give to extempers for the preparations they can make to succeed at that tournament?
Veluvali: It’s a marathon, not a sprint, so don’t overextend yourself by giving too many practice speeches or not sleeping enough. You also don’t need to hit home-runs, particularly in the earlier rounds of the tournament; just make sure you don’t strike-out, either. In other words, don’t be bummed if a speech you gave wasn’t your best one ever. It doesn’t need to be.
Scisco: As someone who competed in virtual and in-person settings this season, which did you prefer? Do you think the circuit should continue some virtual offerings in the upcoming years?
Veluvali: Definitely in-person tournaments. As I discussed earlier, there’s a better atmosphere at in-persoon settings. Plus, it’s a great way to make new friends. Having impromptu conversations in the prep room or getting lost with a fellow competitor in some unfamiliar high school are special experiences, and you can’t have them online. That said, while I hope most tournaments move off the digital world & into the real world, I don’t see the harm in offering a few virtual tournaments. It could help with accessibility if even a few were provided online.
Scisco: As you look back at your extemp career, what are you most proud of?
Veluvali: Probably picketing the final round of NCFLs my junior year. It was a special experience.
Scisco: Do you think extemporaneous speaking needs to make any rule changes? If so, what?
Veluvali: I think that tournaments should start offering 3 minute periods of cross-examination from quarterfinals and beyond. Not only would this make the average extemp speech take the same amount of time as the other speech events (which typically last 10 minutes per piece), it would provide judges with another tool to evaluate rounds.
Scisco: What are your future academic and career plans?
Veluvali: I plan on studying at Stanford University, where I hope to major in computer science or economics (and maybe minor in philosophy). I love entrepreneurship, so my dream would be to start my own successful company or join an early-stage startup.
Scisco: Thank you again for speaking to us Ananth, and congratulations on your success this season!
Veluvali: Thank you, and I appreciate you having me!