by Patrick McDonald | Apr 10, 2023 | Speech Events, Strategy
As I have previously noted, each speech category offers something unique—each has a defining aspect. Sometimes, it is fairly easy to determine what the defining aspect of a category is (e.g., Informative and Persuasive). Other times, it can be somewhat difficult to...
by Patrick McDonald | Mar 14, 2023 | Speaking, Technique
In every sentence, some words are more important than others. Each word is necessary to make the sentence meaningful, but particular words carry more meaning than others. Consider the sentence: “Some time ago, I went to the zoo and saw a gorilla with a spatula.” Each...
by Patrick McDonald | Feb 13, 2023 | Limited Prep, Platform, Speaking
Throughout my time in NCFCA, I would fairly consistently receive the same comment: “Slow down!” Whenever I got this comment, I would smirk and think, “Aw c’mon…you can understand what I’m saying!” Throughout my five years in speech and debate, this was my mantra. I...
by Patrick McDonald | Dec 7, 2022 | Speaking, Technique
I have said elsewhere that one of the cardinal rules of forensics is to “never assume that the judge knows everything you do about a topic.” This is an essential rule because being on the same page with your judge is a prerequisite to persuading or informing them. If...
by Patrick McDonald | Nov 3, 2022 | NCFCA, Team Policy
Note: I’ll be taking NCFCA as my subject for this article because that is where my experience lies. I assume that many of these points will also apply to Stoa, but that is for Stoa-ers (Stoics?) to decide. For the first four years of my exposure to speech and debate,...
