A tool to aid extemporaneous speakers: the file, the questions, and the practice.
Extemp Assistant keeps a digital file box of news articles current all season, and the whole file works in the prep room with the internet off. A new set of practice questions arrives every week, and practice rounds are scored on the rubric of an official extemp ballot. For extemporaneous speakers competing in NCFCA. A version for Stoa families is coming.
One price for the season, through Nationals. No subscription.
The speech takes minutes. Getting good at it takes real rounds — and real feedback.
A current file. The news changes every week, and the file has to keep up all season long.
Real rounds. A question your student has not seen, a clock that is running, and a speech given out loud.
Real feedback. A score for the speech, the reasoning behind it, and what to work on next.
Extemp Assistant puts all three in one place: a file box that stays current, a new set of practice questions every week, and practice rounds scored on the rubric.
The file is kept current for you. Your student takes it from there.
Open the file
Extemp Assistant files news articles from about 75 sources all season, so the file is current whenever your student opens it. A search finds a word anywhere in it.
Take it to the tournament
Download the file once, on the device your student will bring. It works in the prep room with the internet off, and tournament mode shows only the file and a prep clock.
Practice every week
A new set of practice questions arrives each week. Your student draws two, picks one, preps and speaks on the clock, and gets the round scored on the rubric.
The Digital File Box — the articles, kept current for you
Extemp Assistant auto-files about 75 sources across the political spectrum — wire services, national papers, think tanks, government releases — every few hours: the article's own words, plus a plain-language summary and topic tags for practice days.
Search finds a word anywhere in the file — “tariff” finds tariffs, a quoted phrase finds the phrase — with the first results on screen in under a second. Results come one line each, with a preview of the article's first lines before your student opens it. An article opens across the whole screen, and everything opened for this question stays listed at the side. The file holds the last 90 days of news, so it is never cluttered with last year's stories.
Offline, with a tournament mode
Extemp Assistant runs in the browser on a laptop, a Chromebook, or a tablet — no extension, nothing to install. Download the file once, on the device your student will bring: it runs in the background and picks up where it left off, and after that it keeps itself current whenever the app is open with internet. The articles, the search, and the reader all work with the internet off.
Then flip on tournament mode. The app shows only the file, every article carries a citation block — author, title, publication, date — ready to copy onto the notecard, and a prep clock in the top bar runs with no internet at all. Practice, the coach, the ballots, and the history stay out of sight until your student turns it off.
Open the app the night before the tournament, on the device your student will bring, and the file is ready when the draw is.
A new set of practice questions every week
Every week, Extemp Assistant drafts a new set of practice questions from the news it filed that week — preliminary-round and elimination-round questions, one sentence each, in the same shape and mix the league uses. A real person reviews every set before a student can draw it.
So practice never runs out of questions, and the questions are never stale.
Practice rounds, scored on the rubric
Your student draws two questions and picks one. The prep clock starts, and prep looks like the prep room: the notecard on one side, the file's search and reader in the middle, the articles opened for this question listed at the side. “Start with these” turns the question's key terms into ready-made searches, and a highlighted sentence or a citation lands on the notecard with one click. Then the speech clock starts, and the speech is recorded.
The recording is transcribed and scored using the rubric of an official ballot — 1 to 5 in every category, with the reasoning behind each score — plus pace, pauses, and filler words counted. Physical delivery is scored by your student, since no recording can see it. Either of the league's two extemp ballots can be used, and a student who would rather self-score can do that instead.
Personalized coaching, and a trend your student can see
After every scored round, your student can talk it through with a coach that has the transcript and the scores in front of it: why organization scored a 3, what a stronger thesis would have sounded like, which drill to run next.
Every practice round is saved. Over a season, the history shows the trend — category by category — so improvement is something your student can see, not just hope for.
Upload tournament ballots, and get feedback on what to do better
After a tournament, upload your student's official ballots. Each one shows the judge's scores — every category 1 to 5 with the league's level names, the total, the topic, the speech length, the rank — with the judge's comment underneath.
For every category scored below Proficient, the coaching says what the ballot's own descriptor asks for at the next level, with drills to run. The judge's work becomes the next practice plan.
Which official ballot depends on your student's league: NCFCA's today, and a version for Stoa families is coming.
The prep room has rules. So does Extemp Assistant.
Here are ours: the file goes to the tournament, and the coach and the ballot feedback stay home. The file is published articles, synced ahead of time and searched with the internet off. Tournament mode makes the line easy to keep: one switch on the device, and the app shows nothing but the file and a prep clock.
Your student still draws the question, reads the articles, decides on a thesis, and writes the speech. Extemp Assistant keeps the file current and scores the practice.
What goes where
- To the tournament: the file on the device — the articles, the search, the reader, and a citation for every article
- To the tournament: tournament mode on, so the app shows only the file, with a citation ready for the notecard and a prep clock in the top bar
- To the tournament: the notecard your student writes in the prep room, from the file
- Stays home: the coach, the practice ballots, the tournament-ballot coaching, the history
Read the league's current rules on ncfca.org before every season — they are the authority, and your student is responsible for following them.
Everything in Extemp Assistant, through Nationals.
Extemp Assistant
- The Digital File Box — auto-filed all season, with a search that finds a word anywhere and a full-screen reader
- The whole file on your student's device, so it works in the prep room with the internet off
- Tournament mode — one switch shows only the file, with a citation ready for the notecard and a prep clock
- A new set of practice questions every week, reviewed before your student sees them
- 100 practice draws for the season — every recorded round scored using the rubric of an official ballot, with the reasoning
- 25 coaching chats with a coach that has the transcript and scores in hand
- Practice history with score trends, category by category
- Tournament ballot upload, with feedback on what to do better in each category below Proficient
New to League Logic Pro, or adding it to an account that already has Aff or Neg Assistant? Both paths are on the next page.
Built on NCFCA's Extemporaneous format. Competing in Stoa? A version for Stoa families is coming.
Questions first? Email us — a real person reads every note. · Debating too? See Aff and Neg Assistant.
Before you buy.
Does it write the speech?
No. Your student draws the question, reads the articles, decides what to argue, writes the notecard, and gives the speech. Extemp Assistant keeps the articles current, keeps the clock, writes the practice questions, and scores the practice round on the rubric. The thinking stays theirs.
Is this allowed at tournaments?
The file is built to go to the tournament: published news articles, saved on your student's own device ahead of time, and searchable with the internet off. The coach and the ballot feedback are practice tools, and they stay home. Tournament mode makes that simple on the day: one switch on the device, and the app shows only the file until your student turns it off. The league's current rules on ncfca.org are always the final word.
My student does extemp but not debate. Is League Logic Pro for us?
Yes. Extemp Assistant stands on its own: you do not need Aff Assistant or Neg Assistant to use it, and nothing in it assumes your student debates. If your student does both, one account holds all three tools.
Which ballot does it score on?
The rubric of the league's Extemporaneous ballot by default: Content, Organization & Citations, Vocal Delivery, Physical Delivery, and Impact, each scored 1 to 5. Students who practice on the league's Limited Prep ballot can choose that one instead. Physical delivery is always scored by the student, because a recording cannot see it.
What does the feedback actually look like?
A score in every category with the reasoning written out, a transcript of the speech, and the numbers a judge notices without saying so: pace, pauses, filler words. Then a coaching chat about that specific speech — what worked, what a stronger version would have sounded like, and a drill to run next.
Can it read our tournament ballots?
Yes. Upload the Extemporaneous ballots the league's ballot system exports, and each one comes back with the judge's scores and feedback on what to do better in every category below Proficient. Team Policy ballots have their own page and never mix in.
What device does my student need?
Extemp Assistant runs in the browser on a laptop, a Chromebook, or a tablet — nothing to install and no browser extension. Download the file on the device your student will bring to the tournament. It runs in the background, takes about half a gigabyte of space, and picks up where it left off; after that it works there without a connection and keeps itself current in between.
How long does access last?
All season, through Nationals. One payment, no subscription, no renewal surprise. The practice draws and coaching chats are for the season you buy in.
Does it work for Stoa?
Not yet. Today's version is built on NCFCA's Extemporaneous format, so it isn't set up for Stoa competitors. A version for Stoa families is coming — tell us you're waiting and we'll let you know the day it opens.
Ready before the draw.
The file is current. The questions are new. The speech is still your student's.