by Thaddeus Tague | Dec 7, 2018 | Speaking, Technique
Have you ever listened to a presentation or speech, where the speaker is clearly not confident in themselves? It’s very awkward. Listeners and audience members can sense confidence almost better than sharks can smell blood. Confidence, or a lack thereof, bleeds out...
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...
by Josh Arnold | Nov 29, 2018 | Communication/Rhetoric, Negative, Speaking, Technique
“I don’t understand. I had superior arguments, evidence, and refutation, but the judge voted for the other team.” I imagine every debater has felt this way at some point. Yet, even when we think we should win “on paper,” the judge is always right. Inevitably, you will...
by Toby Rivas | Nov 5, 2018 | Negative, Technique
Last week, I introduced the Bad Precedent DA. It’s a great way to take a principle-based argument and turn it into a practical impact. We’ve already seen the big picture and one way to structure this kind of DA. Now, we’ll take a look at another type of...
by Toby Rivas | Oct 30, 2018 | Disadvantages, Negative, Strategy, Team Policy
There’s a common misconception that, in TP, moral arguments and pragmatic arguments don’t mix. That’s false. This article is about the Bad Precedent DA—one of the main ways you can couple your principle-based arguments with a pragmatic dimension. We’ll discuss it in...
by Joshua Hu | Oct 23, 2018 | Announcements, NSDA, Research Tips
Four years ago, I stumbled upon Ethos Debate’s website. The articles I read helped me look at debate in a new way and grow tremendously in debating and speaking. I sent in my case to be critiqued by Isaiah McPeak. Needless to say, I received excellent advice. Ethos...
