by Jeremiah Mosbey | Apr 10, 2021 | Debate, From Intermediate to Advanced, Negative, Strategy, TP
You’ve just delivered the greatest 2NR of your life. Certain that you’ve just won the round, you sit back in your seat with a grin. There may be one more speech left, but the round is essentially over. You hammered in your points, and demolished the mediocre...
by Patrick McDonald | Apr 8, 2021 | Debate, Negative, TP
“I voted for your opponents because lives are important.” Staring disappointedly at that solitary sentence, I felt overwhelmingly perplexed and perhaps even a tad disappointed. It has happened to all of us: you compete in a debate, you feel sure that you...
by Ben Brown | Apr 1, 2021 | Affirmatives, Debate, From Advanced to National-Class, Technique, TP
Anybody who’s been in TP or LD debate for any considerable amount of time understands the necessity of delivering a memorable 2AR. After all, being able to give the final speech of the round poses a significant rhetorical advantage to the affirmative–an...
by Ben Brown | Mar 19, 2021 | Debate, Technique
Every region has “that one team.” That one team that, when you see their name on postings next to yours, makes your heart sink a bit. No, we’re not talking about the team that goes 6-0 and wins the tournament every time, we’re talking about the one that,...
by Kyle Lee | Mar 17, 2021 | Best Resources, Debate, From Intermediate to Advanced, Strategy, Technique, Thinking Strategically
In the last article (found here), we covered why over-practice is a real threat to competitive speech & debate success. That article wasn’t saying that practice is inherently bad. It isn’t. Practice is fundamental to improving at anything. But there...
by Patrick McDonald | Mar 13, 2021 | Communication/Rhetoric, Debate, Speaking
Earlier this season, I received a ballot from a judge who was thoroughly and absolutely confused. At the base of her puzzlement was the solitary word: inherency. My partner and I had argued that the affirmative plan had essentially already been passed, and thus...
