Extemporaneous Speech for Rodeo Queens: A Framework That Actually Works

Sep 4

Courtesy of Macyn McCullough, 2025 Miss Rodeo America speech winner

You pull your prompt. The clock starts. And your brain — the same brain that practiced for months, that knows a prepared speech cold, that can name every PRCA champion from last year, just... leaves the building.

That's not a talent problem. It's a preparation problem.

Extemporaneous speech is one of the most misunderstood parts of rodeo queen competition. Girls either over-prepare by memorizing a speech they try to force-fit onto any prompt, or they under-prepare by planning to wing it and hoping for the best. Both approaches fail for the same reason: they misunderstand what extemporaneous speech is actually asking you to do.

Here's the truth: the best extemporaneous speakers aren't better at thinking on their feet. They're better at preparing content they can adapt to anything. There's a big difference between those two things. Once you understand it, the whole category stops being terrifying.

The Two Camps and Why They Can Fall Flat

In my years of coaching and watching girls compete, I've learned that girls usually fall into one of two camps when approaching extemporaneous speech.

Camp One: You wing it. You get your prompt, you have a general outline, and plan to start talking and hope for the best. Maybe you fill the time with something that sounds passable. But there's no structure, no through line, and the speech feels scrambled. Filling time and delivering a speech are not the same thing.

Camp Two: You memorize a full speech ahead of time and try to force the prompt onto it. You deliver your prepared speech and hope the connection to the actual question is clear enough that nobody notices—or you pop the prompt at the beginning or end and call it a day.

I’ve worked with a girl who took the Camp Two approach at a major competition. The judges asked her to come back onstage and tell them which prompt she was responding to because they couldn't tell.

No matter how polished your delivery is, if the judges know you didn't actually respond to the prompt, it's… well, not a good look. Extemporaneous speech is specifically designed to test whether you can think, organize, and communicate under pressure. Memorizing your way around it defeats the entire point.

What Extemporaneous Speech Is Actually Asking

Here's the reframe that changes everything for the girls I coach: extemporaneous speech is not asking you to make something up on the spot. It's asking you to connect prepared content to a new prompt in real time.

The improvised part — the truly on-the-spot part — is maybe 15 to 30 seconds of your total speech.

Everything else is content you've already prepared. You're just bridging from the prompt to material you already feel solid about.

Once you understand that, the whole category becomes less scary.

The Extemporaneous Framework: Hook, bridge, story, land.

Every extemporaneous speech I coach follows the same structure. It's simple, it's repeatable, and it works at every level of competition, and allows you to move the speech along to something you’re comfortable talking about. Now, how ‘bout that for owning the room?

Step 1: Hook the Judges

This is the one part of your speech that is truly impromptu. One to two sentences that connect to the prompt and make the judges want to hear what comes next.

Step 2: Bridge

This is the skill that separates good extemporaneous speakers from great ones.

The bridge is one or two sentences that move you from the prompt to a content story you've already prepared. It connects what they asked to what you're about to say. When it's done well, it sounds seamless, like the whole speech was always going to go in this direction.

Learning to build a bridge from any prompt to any story is the thing most girls never practice, and it’s a skill that will serve you well in interviews (now and in the future), and media appearances.

Step 3: Your Content Story

This is the heart of your speech, and it is not impromptu. Before competition, you should have four to five content stories read that are true, personal stories from your life that connect to common competition themes: leadership, community, your platform, your relationship with rodeo, a challenge you've overcome.

These stories are 30 to 45 seconds each. They may be memorized word for word, but importantly, you know them because you’ve lived them and they made an impression on you. These are also the moments or stories that will have an impact on your listener, which is the goal.

When you get your prompt, your job is to figure out which story fits based on the message you’re trying to share, and build a bridge to get there. That's it. The improvised part then becomes about getting to the content.

Step 4: Land the Plane

Circle back to the prompt. Connect your story to the question they asked. Make it clear that everything you just said was in direct response to what they asked, that there’s a clear message that you’re wanting to share, that you can think on your feet and form complete, coherent thoughts. This is the difference between a speech that lands and one that trails off.

A Note on Delivery

All of this preparation means nothing if your delivery falls apart under pressure, so a few things to keep in mind:

Breathe before you start. You will have a moment after you receive your prompt to get started. If you panic, you’ll do silly things. Read the prompt twice, if needed, take a breath, choose your story, and start your outline.
Prepare in the back room. Give yourself time for a quick run-through and visualize your success.
Slow down. The impulse under pressure is to speed up and fill the silence, but resist it. Silence, especially well placed, signals confidence.
Make eye contact. You are not reciting; you are having a conversation. Look at the judges and your audience, and connect with them.

Extemporaneous speech is not a test of how quickly you can think. It's a test of how well you've prepared content you can think with and how well you can structure your thoughts, so do the work to be prepared.

Remember that the girls who look effortless at extemporaneous aren't making it up as they go. They've done more preparation than anyone else in that room to make it look easy. The good news is that you can do it, too. Preparation is completely within your control.

Want to build your extemporaneous speech framework before your next competition?

On October 3, Project Pageantry Academy is hosting an online clinic that covers extemporaneous speech in depth — including live Q&A with Alexis so you can practice your content stories and bridges in real time.