Member Login
Select Page

Expository

Declamation

Expository

EXP • High School Supplemental Event

Expository Speaking (EXP) is a five-minute informative speaking event (with a 30-second grace period) in which students explain to an audience a topic of their choosing. The goal is to provide new insights, highlight interesting implications, or offer a fresh perspective on a subject, whether it’s completely unfamiliar or commonly known. At its core, Expository is about teaching the audience something valuable and thought-provoking. Visual aids are not permitted at the National Tournament, though some local tournaments may allow them.

Declamation

Students who choose Expository are often curious, articulate, and passionate about research and writing. This event is ideal for students who enjoy digging into topics, discovering unexpected angles, and translating what they’ve learned into a clear, engaging presentation. A strong Expository speech reflects both the speaker’s interest in the topic and their awareness of the audience’s needs. Students should think carefully about why the topic matters to listeners: What can the audience take away? Why is it relevant or timely? How might it change the way they think?

To succeed in Expository, students should have strong writing and organizational skills, an inquisitive mindset, and the ability to deliver information in an engaging, personable way. Creative thinking, purposeful structure, and confident delivery are key.

I enjoyed Expository because it didn’t require the speaker to convince the audience of anything other than how exciting their topic was. Any speech that explores implications usually involves some level of individualized analysis, which keeps topics that are otherwise redundant fresh.
Josh Planos

NSDA Alum

Is your program new to the NSDA?

Welcome!

Instructions

Welcome Back!

Instructions
  • Program advisors can visit www.speechanddebate.org and click Member Login in the top right corner of the page. Use your username and password to log in to your account. Once you’ve logged in, click “Account” in the upper right corner, which will take you to your profile page. Please click “Renew School”, in red, from the left menu and follow the prompts at the top of the page to renew your school.
    • High school membership is $149, with an option to upgrade to the all-school team Resource Package for an additional $199. Each individual high school student membership is a one-time $20 fee.
    • Middle school membership is $75, with an option to upgrade to the all-school team Resource Package for an additional $199. Each individual middle school student membership is a one-time $10 fee.
  • To finalize the renewal, follow the prompts on the page to review the following:
    Step 1. Confirm information on the school profile page. Once confirmed/updated, click the “Next Step” button.
    Step 2. Confirm the coaches listed. Once confirmed/updated, click the “Next Step” button.
    Step 3. Create the invoice. The annual dues are automatically selected. You can use the toggle to select other options such as coach memberships, student memberships, insurance, and the Resource Package. The prices for each item are listed on the right side of your screen, and a running total is at the bottom in blue. When done, “Create Invoice and Proceed to Checkout”.
    The system allows you to “Pay Now”, with a credit card or you can email the invoice to yourself or print out the pdf.

Need a Visual? Click here to watch our brief tutorial!

(The GIF will loop continuously; there is no audio.)