by Thad Burson | Oct 30, 2019 | Basics, Negative
We’ve all been there before: It’s the start of a fresh season of speech and debate, you’ve begun building your affirmative case, and you’re itching to begin prepping negative briefs against your biggest opponents. The only problem is, you don’t know what they’re... 
by Josh Arnold | Dec 29, 2018 | Negative, Strategy, TP
You listen as the Aff speaker presents their case. They drone through their introduction and into their first point, and a sinking feeling begins to slide its icy fingers around your heart. You’ve never prepared a negative strategy against this case; you don’t know... 
by Josh Arnold | Nov 29, 2018 | Affirmatives, 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, Theory, TP
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 Thaddeus Tague | Oct 23, 2018 | Debate, From Intermediate to Advanced, From Novice to Intermediate, LD, Negative, NSDA, NSDA LD Resolutions, Research, Strategy
Resolved: In a democracy, the public’s right to know ought to be valued above the right to privacy of candidates for public office. This topic prep is meant to stimulate ideas (and give resources) rather than hand feed you contentions to run. Check the additional...