Because of problems involved in traditional impromptu contests, which require contestants to speak on topics that they know little or nothing about, administrators of the Big Sky Intercollegiate Forensic Tournament at the University of Montana modified the traditional contest structure in 1969 to permit impromptu speeches on sub-topics of general topic areas with which students were intimately familiar. The event was subsequently made a permanent offering of the tournament. This paper describes the structure and procedures for administering the "individualized impromptu" and presents results of self-report questionnaires administered to all contestants following the 1969 and 1976 competitions. Analysis of the results indicated that the majority of contestants received sub-topics appropriate to their general topic areas, that the event appears to foster better speech organization, use of support material, and delivery than does the traditional impromptu contest, and that both the 1969 and 1976 contestants preferred the individualized contest to the traditional one. (GW)