by Kyle Lee | Oct 6, 2020 | From Advanced to National-Class, From Intermediate to Advanced, From Novice to Intermediate, Strategy, Technique, Thinking Strategically, Uncategorized
In my second year of speech and debate, I had a favorite phrase: “My opponent dropped my argument.” Whenever my opponent ignored the slightest bit of my analysis, I harped on it and even made it a voting issue. I wrote an elaborate script that I’d...
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 | Jan 18, 2020 | Communication/Rhetoric, Speaking, Technique
Recently, Thaddeus Tague dug up an old document that Ethos has used for coaching: a figures of speech handout. “Figure of speech” broadly refers to deliberate patterns or abnormalities in language with a goal of producing some effect in the audience; it includes...
by Harrison Durland | Dec 31, 2019 | Soapbox, Speaking, Technique
When you are trying to teach or argue for something—whether in a debate, speech, lecture, or blog article—you should present the points as uncontroversial, perhaps even intuitive (so long as you aren’t being misleading); after all, you want the audience to believe...
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 Thaddeus Tague | Jun 24, 2019 | Best Resources, Communication/Rhetoric, Featured, For Alumni, From Advanced to National-Class, Question and Answer, Stoa, Team Policy, Technique, Uncategorized
Last year, Ethos brought on Jadon Buzzard as a coach and sourcebook writer. From the beginning, Jadon showed a real knack for grasping Ethos’ core mission and teaching it to his students. Today – we sit down with Jadon and talk about his debate career, and...
