by Harrison Durland | Jan 18, 2020 | Communication/Rhetoric, Speaking, Technique
Recently, Thaddeus Tague dug up an old document that Ethos has used for coaching: a figures of speech handout. “Figure of speech” broadly refers to deliberate patterns or abnormalities in language with a goal of producing some effect in the audience; it includes...
by Harrison Durland | Dec 31, 2019 | Soapbox, Speaking, Technique
When you are trying to teach or argue for something—whether in a debate, speech, lecture, or blog article—you should present the points as uncontroversial, perhaps even intuitive (so long as you aren’t being misleading); after all, you want the audience to believe...
by Harrison Durland | Nov 24, 2019 | Soapbox, Uncategorized
‘Tis the season for turkey, family, and all the conversations that come from families getting together to eat turkey. At least for me Thanksgiving tends to be a fun holiday and I enjoy visiting with family, but I also have seen how discussions can sometimes get a bit...
by Harrison Durland | Nov 6, 2019 | Soapbox, Team Policy
When we were on the affirmative, my old high school partner and I would often live or die with The Block—that is, the negative block in team policy: If the negative delivered most of their strongest arguments in the 2NC speech (as opposed to in the 1NC), then we were...
by Harrison Durland | Nov 1, 2019 | Parli Resolutions, Parliamentary
We have previously published some articles that have various parliamentary debate resolutions (or “motions,” depending on your league) that we think can be helpful/fun for practice. This article will be an extension of that series, with 20 additional...
