54th Marshall Univ John Marshall High School

2026 — Huntington, WV/US

Impromptu Sales

Abbreviation IMP-S
Format Speech
Entry Fee $9.00 (Plus $5.00 / individual)
Entry 1 competitors per entry

Event Description:

Impromptu Sales – Impromptu sales speeches are characterized by articulate argument, clear response to the object/service/investment, creativity, strong structure, convincing claims, individuality, and delivery choices that reflect the speech’s purpose while respecting the audience. A standard notecard may be consulted, but all other notebooks and sources of information are prohibited. Maximum time to prepare and present: 8 minutes with 30 second grace period.

· Round 1: Sell a tangible object. Students will be given an object, and their goal is to sell that object to an audience. Students should take the object as it stands. The student may choose to elaborate upon the object but may not take the object on the metaphorical level. Students may endow the object with qualities but may not transform the object into something else. (Thus, a pen can have special qualities, like using disappearing ink or being the pen that President Trump used to sign the Big Beautiful Bill, but a pen may not turn into a ball).

· Round 2: Sell a service. Students will be given a description of a service, including a short “fact sheet” about the service (e.g.,you are the proprietor of a dog walking service). Their goal is to sell that service to the audience.

· Round 3. Sell an intangible object. Students will be given an object to sell that they cannot physically hold in their hands (e.g., a car). They will be given a picture and/or some information about the object. Their goal is to sell that object to the audience.

· Finals: Sell a portion of your business. This is the “Shark Tank” round. Students will be given either a product or service, and the goal is to convince the judges to invest in that product or service. The impromptu sales speech would be the initial presentation to the panel. Unlike the show, the judges will not negotiate with the contestants. Students, however, may decide what investment they would like the judges to make. In this round only, judges may ask one clarifying question of each contestant at the conclusion of her/his speech. Students may take approximately 30 seconds to respond to a judge's question.