One of the questions I get asked is how to prep for regionals. Here are a few steps that will help you out.
1. Polish your 1AC and get it in good shape. Re-visit all of your affirmative evidence, check your citations, check the quality of your evidence, check your context. Make sure the evidence is great. Get a good critique of your 1AC and your backup evidence.
2. Memorize the 1AC. This is a good time to record yourself reading it and work on your tone. It is also good to read it in front of a mirror and work on mannerisms. Basically, script the 1AC like you would a prepared speech.
3. Make sure you have good explanations of all debate jargon. Use 3×5 cards and keep it short and simple. You shouldn’t be scrambling to explain simple debate words at this point in the year. Prep the answers so that you appear confident and prepared.
4. Prepare a caselist for the teams at regionals. Include a flow of the cases and your record against their affirmative. Write down on the list any winning arguments you ran against that case. Write down any features of the team that you want to concentrate on (e.g. talks fast, loves odd theory, likes new args in rebuttals).
Week 2 Prep steps coming next week.