Institute for Speech and Debate Extemporaneous Speaking Summer Camp

It's built for both. Middle and high school students can enroll, and ISD says the camp aims to turn novices into confident competitors while helping experienced extempers win at the highest levels. If you've never done speech and debate at all, though, ISD's own guide to choosing a program points you to its Foundations program first, after which you can specialize in an event such as Extemp.

ISD publishes no audition or selection criteria. You fill in an enrollment form with your school, the grade you'll enter in fall 2027 and your speech coach's details if you have one, and then ISD administration approves the enrollment.

On a typical day, classes run from 9am to 8pm, with breaks for lunch and dinner. Mornings start with two hours of content lectures on current events, followed by 90 minutes of topic research and filing. After lunch you get two hours of strategy and technique labs and 90 minutes of practice speeches, and after dinner there are practice rounds from 6:30 to 8pm.

Breakfast starts at 8am, and commuters leave campus once the evening rounds finish at 8pm. Residents have until 10pm, when they must be back in their residence hall.

Extemp at ISD is led by Curriculum Director Yatesh Singh. ISD also names Al Zaidi as an Extemporaneous Speaking instructor for Session 1, although that listing is for 2026 and ISD is still confirming its 2027 faculty, so the names could change. ISD says its senior faculty are all accomplished debate coaches with a college degree, and an adult senior instructor teaches every lab. Junior instructors are top former competitors who rotate between groups so that every student works with them.

ISD describes its teaching as small-group but doesn't publish a class size or staff ratio.

Two weeks cost $3,999 if you live on campus, which covers your room and all meals, or $2,799 as a commuter, which includes lunch and dinner. One week costs $2,999 residential or $2,199 commuter. Flights are extra, and so is ISD's optional shuttle from Raleigh-Durham International Airport at $160 round trip or $110 one way, which you buy when you enroll. Registering after 31 May 2027 adds a $200 late fee.

Financial aid is available for students who would gain a lot from camp but couldn't otherwise afford it. You request it with three letters, which can be emails: one from you on why the camp matters to you, one from a parent giving your level of need and what the family can budget, and one from your coach on your work ethic, leadership and skill. Aid goes out first come, first served until the money runs out. Requests completed by 1 March 2027 get primary consideration, and all awards are made by 15 April 2027.

A full-time nurse lives on campus and is available around the clock, and in 2026 the camp nurse was Amy Lattimore, a registered nurse. Resident life staff supervise afternoon and evening activities, and residents must be in their rooms for an 11pm room check, with quiet hours until 7am. Every ISD employee is interviewed by the directors and background-checked before each summer, and staff are trained in student safety and harassment prevention at the start of each session. ISD has a zero-tolerance policy on substance use, discrimination and harassment.

If you're flying in, note that ISD offers no unaccompanied minor service, so a student too young to fly alone needs a parent to fly with them or other arrangements. Flights should use Raleigh-Durham International Airport, arriving between 9am and 2pm on the first day of the session, and residents should book return flights that leave before noon on departure day.