by Noah McKay | Nov 7, 2022 | Cross Examination, Lincoln-Douglas, Strategy, Uncategorized
Competitive debaters are trained to give good answers to difficult questions. So, we are profoundly uncomfortable when we don’t have an answer to a question. And, under most circumstances, we would never dream of refusing to try to answer a question. (Sometimes...
by Charlie Said | Oct 20, 2022 | From Intermediate to Advanced, Parliamentary, Strategy, Team Policy, Thinking Strategically, Topicality
There’s few things that make experienced debaters happier than a quality Topicality debate (Hereafter referred to by the common debate lingo of “T”). That’s probably because T is so often mishandled by both teams, to the frustration of...
by Noah McKay | Oct 10, 2022 | Lincoln-Douglas, NCFCA, Strategy, Uncategorized
The moment this season’s resolution was announced, most NCFCA LD debaters doubtless rushed to the nearest copy of Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations in search of arguments for economic liberty. That reaction was partly warranted: the most important...
by Joel Erickson | May 9, 2022 | Best Resources, From Novice to Intermediate, Impromptu, Speaking, Speech Events, Strategy
Last year, Ben wrote a superb piece on impromptu with a takeaway you should immediately incorporate into your Nationals prep regimen: strategically accumulate potential speech material related to adversity and personal relationships. I hope to expand this analysis...
by Ben Brown | Mar 30, 2022 | From Intermediate to Advanced, Negative, Strategy, Team Policy
Most people would agree that higher speaker points tend to correlate with higher win rates in debate. Of course, there will always be teams who get low speaks and still do exceptionally well, and there will be those who speak well but still are stuck going...
by Jeremiah Mosbey | Mar 18, 2022 | From Intermediate to Advanced, Strategy, Technique, Thinking Strategically
It’s fairly often that I’ll make an argument and practically be wiped across the floor by my opponent’s response. Does that mean I’m a bad debater? Not at all! As much as we would like to believe otherwise, not every argument we make in debate...
