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 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 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 Harrison Durland | Oct 18, 2018 | Ethics Bowl, Strategy, Technique
In my previous article, I described our usual presentation structure, while also partially discussing Case 1. In this article, I will be focusing on case preparation and research, as well as some communication and teamwork practices. How we prepare The right research...
by Toby Rivas | Oct 6, 2018 | Inherency, Negative, Strategy, Technique
This is the first post from one of our new team members, sixth-year debater Toby Rivas. Keep an eye out for more practical strategy tips from him coming soon! Debaters have lots of silly quirks–“debaterisms,” if you will. Things like always quoting Ronald...
