by Kyle Lee | Sep 2, 2020 | Concept Analysis, From Advanced to National-Class, From Intermediate to Advanced, From Novice to Intermediate, Parliamentary, Speaking, Strategy, Team Policy, Technique
“No way I should’ve lost that round; I won every argument on the flow.” “How did I lose? The judge ignored my most important argument!” “It’s not my fault I lost; my logic was perfect.” You’ve likely heard people...
by Harrison Durland | Aug 27, 2019 | Best Resources, Featured, From Intermediate to Advanced, Research Tips, Technique
We are in the brief season, and I absolutely love briefs. I don’t just like using them, I also (usually) like writing them; I like critiquing them; I like theorizing about what makes good brief structure and content; etc. At a broader level, I typically prefer debates...
by Anna Johansen | Mar 20, 2019 | Communication/Rhetoric, From Intermediate to Advanced, From Novice to Intermediate, Speaking
“Everybody here? Great. Anna, would you pray for us before we get started?” “Oh. Me? Oh. Yeah, sure! Um. Okay.” You know that moment when you’re handed something completely unexpected? When you’re strolling along a sunny lane and then a giant iguana shows up out of...
by Harrison Durland | Feb 26, 2019 | Cross Examination, From Intermediate to Advanced, Strategy
Recently, we’ve written some articles that focus on cross examination. Those articles describe a few approaches to CX questioning, but now there’s another question to be answered: (how) do you put CX questions in briefs? As simple as this may seem, from experience I...
by Toby Rivas | Dec 21, 2018 | From Advanced to National-Class, From Intermediate to Advanced, Strategy, Technique
Last time, we introduced spikes and preemption, and saw what they look like in the 1AC. Today, we move to the 2AC, and next time we’ll talk about Neg. 2AC spikes exist to mitigate the Neg block by making the 1AR easier. This article does a wonderful job of outlining...
by Toby Rivas | Dec 4, 2018 | Communication/Rhetoric, From Intermediate to Advanced, From Novice to Intermediate, Strategy
If you’ve ever played volleyball, you know the terror of a spike. A player slams the ball over the net so hard you have no hope of returning it. In debate, a spike is a little different, but still a powerful offensive tactic. Referring broadly to preemption, a spike...
