by Ben Brown | Sep 1, 2022 | Negative, Soapbox, Team Policy, Topicality
Resolved: You should get ice cream Mandate 1: Acquire chocolate ice cream at the local Walmart Mandate 2: Purchase sprinkles Mandate 3: Purchase chocolate fudge Mandate 4: Get some root beer in case anyone wants to make floats Mandate 5: Throw an ice cream party We’ve...
by Patrick McDonald | May 20, 2022 | From Intermediate to Advanced, Soapbox, Speaking, Technique
Now I’ve done it. If I was “rough around the edges” before, I’m practically Ebeneezer Scrooge now—and that’s before the ghosts paid him a visit. But hear me out on this one. My Problem With The Question™ “How are you doing...
by Joel Erickson | Apr 12, 2022 | Soapbox
You’ve all imbibed the “burden of communication rests on the communicator” and “the judge is always right” narratives from your coaches and parents. Contrary to the (intentionally provocative) title, these sentiments aren’t inaccurate per se. Homeschool debate is a...
by Ben Brown | Oct 27, 2021 | Concept Analysis, Soapbox
As zealous a proponent of high school speech and debate I may be, I’m forced to admit that its practical applications have their limits. Specifically, many might argue that those who succeed in speech and debate are able to do so because they develop skills which...
by Harrison Durland | Feb 12, 2021 | Soapbox
This post is part of a series:See part 1 hereSee part 2 hereSee part 3 here Throughout this series, I’ve been setting the stage for and summarizing Pragmatism as an expansive paradigm/weighing mechanism for a judge to make decisions in debate (among other things, such...
by Harrison Durland | Jan 8, 2021 | Soapbox
In the previous article in this series, I discussed some of the flaws with paradigms that rigidly rely on things such as traditions/norms and rules as the foundational metric for good theory arguments, judging philosophies, or other choices in debate (e.g., which...
