by Patrick McDonald | Jun 12, 2021 | Speaking, Technique
For most of my life, I have been an avid baseball player. The primary reason I have stuck with the sport thus far is that I find it incredibly fun to partake in, at least when my team isn’t getting pulverized. (Side-note: When you are getting pulverized, it is...
by Patrick McDonald | May 23, 2021 | Debate Blog, TP
If you know me, you know that I have an extreme dislike for wasting time. Regardless of what I am doing or what I am supposed to be doing, the mere feeling of complete unproductiveness is maddening. Perhaps it is for this reason that I believe that, if you can...
by Patrick McDonald | Apr 22, 2021 | Speaking, Technique
If you have been around forensics for any substantial length of time, you have likely, at some point, watched a truly fascinating speech, only to be left asking a single question. “Why?” Whenever this happens, the speech’s entertainment value is typically off the...
by Patrick McDonald | Apr 8, 2021 | Debate Blog, Negative, TP
“I voted for your opponents because lives are important.” Staring disappointedly at that solitary sentence, I felt overwhelmingly perplexed and perhaps even a tad disappointed. It has happened to all of us: you compete in a debate, you feel sure that you...
by Patrick McDonald | Mar 13, 2021 | Communication/Rhetoric, Debate Blog, Speaking
Earlier this season, I received a ballot from a judge who was thoroughly and absolutely confused. At the base of her puzzlement was the solitary word: inherency. My partner and I had argued that the affirmative plan had essentially already been passed, and thus...
