From Advanced to National-Class
Value Debate Theory – Destination vs. Journey #1 – A Change in Perspective
It is an age-old (cliche) question: Is the journey more important than the destination? This question plays out in many different areas of debate. For example, one of the largest arguments in ethics is the divide between deontology (focus on means, rights, and duties)...
A Brave New Word
The crowd roared. The phrase whips up images of excited football fans. Of theater-goers as the curtain falls. Of Wrigley Field during Game 7. Or, perhaps, of a supportive audience at a campaign rally. The crowd roared. During the 1996 presidential race, it wasn’t just...
The Tale of Two Cases: Why You Should Debate Thematically
The season wasn’t going so well. We had been almost undefeated debating neg, but our affs had been losing rounds we felt like we should have been winning. Something was not working. We had changed cases, changed speaker positions, rewritten cases, expanded our...
10 Debate National Champions Offer Their Single Best Debate Insight – Isaac Kim
Awesome guest post by Isaac Kim, ethos debater, alumni, and brand strategist. 10 debate national champions offer their single best debate insight As a high school debater without a debate coach, I immediately learned that the most effective way to become better was to...
Isaiah on Winning Outrounds
In this post, Isaiah addresses winning outrounds. He takes a look at a couple techniques to utilize to increase your chances of winning those tough rounds. This post is especially beneficial for debaters who consistently break, but can't manage to get past that first...
The Ideal National Champion
Someone sent me an email asking: “What are the qualities found in national champions?” I was unable to write a direct reply. It’s the wrong question. Why? Because it assumes that being a national champion is the goal. So if you’re not, what? Chopped liver? The best...
Five Areas to Improve in Your Debating
Traditional Japanese schoolmasters have an incredibly hands-off method of instruction. Students often find it frustrating. Penmanship class involves the student painstakingly copying their characters, presenting them to their schoolmaster, and receiving cryptic grunts...
7 Habits I’ve Noticed of Highly Effective Debaters
"Effective debaters" are these elusive creatures, hunted by students year-round, at constant risk of being consumed by the masses. The hunt for debate-senpais is real. Everybody wants to be, or at least know, an effective debater. I won't judge if you admit to wanting...
Case Study – Prepping for Nationals Quarterfinals
The Ethos team makes appearances at both Stoa and NCFCA National Championships. NCFCA debaters, here's a case study worth your attention before nationals: Ethos staff members Drew Chambers and Isaac Kim, who this year have debated in NFL, Parli, Policy, and Mock Trial...
Which Is Best: The Battle Between Organization and Persuasion
Heading into nationals, I find myself in another quandary of speaking style and the absolute best strategy for persuasive speaking. At nationals nearly everyone is expected to be fairly proficient at getting things across and doing it a persuasive way. And the way I...
Video: How to Explain Debate Theory to Community Judges
In quarterfinals at NCFCA Nationals 2010, Josiah McPeak and Patrick Shipsey were negative against a team that had lost their AFF case once the entire year. Obviously, this team couldn't be beat on their own ground. Through some in-depth analysis, Patrick and Josiah...
How Isaiah Really Wins a Debate Round
I talk about burdens and create metadebate to weigh competing arguments. When you are in a debate round, especially one where facts are in dispute (policy) or unverifiable (parli), or you just happen to be at the short end of the argument stick, it is time to debate...
Crash Course: The Case for Shell and Extend
We have a problem in the debate community. It's not bad evidence that I'm referring to. It's not shallow argumentation. It's not a lack of thinking. It's not poor judging. Those are all problems, of course, but they're not the problem. The problem, as is so often the...
Taking Risks Example: Semifinals Prep at Nationals
We often advocate taking risks in our blogging and coaching. You have no chance as an intermediate team against an experienced team through "straight refutation" that they are ready for and has failed dozens of times. Sometimes you need to try the hail mary and it...
Ten Steps to Nationals
Every year students ask us how to prep for nationals. Here is our answer which will also be included in the upcoming strategy guide. Reread all your evidence. You already have a mountain of evidence. I know this because you are Ethos users. That generally means you...