From Intermediate to Advanced
Isaiah on Winning Outrounds
Learn from Isaiah McPeak how to improve your outround performance.
Lindsay See on Rebuttals
Rebuttals have two basic points: 1. Why you’re winning the arguments you’re winning, and 2. Why those ones are the most important.
Three Common TP Questions
Isaiah answers 3 top questions Team Policy debaters have.
Pugh/Bozarth vs. Kintzing/Kintzing
Flow this round write down 3 things you should improve in your presentation style as a result.
Building Trusses: Why Your Arguments Need a Thesis
(Image Credit: Pixabay) I had finally done it. I had concocted the perfect case, the unstoppable juggernaut that will surely strike fear into the hearts of all who face it. The applications were poignant. The rhetoric was nigh-on legendary. The framework was...
The 2NR
2Ns, listen up. This blog post is for you. Most TP debaters see the 1AR as the most difficult speech to give in a TP round. You only have 5 minutes to respond to 13 consecutive minutes of Negative argumentation, and if you miss something or aren’t very...
Fact Check: New Responses to Constructive Arguments in the Rebuttals Are Invalid. “You Only Get One Chance.”
Have you ever been annoyed before by a 1AR who brought up an entirely new response to the link of a disadvantage you presented back in the first negative constructive? Don't worry, your annoyance is justified. The 1AR's brand new argument labeled as a "response" is...
Mimicking the Musician’s Power
Over the years, music theory fans have analyzed what makes music good. Eventually, they were able to develop a list of the qualities good music by Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Brahms, and Bach contained. Bear with me for a moment while we examine this, I promise it will...
The Case For Unconventional Case Structures
As I was writing my TP case this year, I hit a bit of a speed bump. Even though I had identified a way to provide a benefit over the status quo, my plan text was extremely unusual. Because the action was so odd, it didn’t work well with any case structure that I...
I Spent 20-30 Hours A Week Researching for Team Policy, Here’s How.
A few months ago, a student of Ethos Legends, our competitive online debate club, asked me a fascinating question. @Justin you’re definitely the best person to ask this lol, because I’ve known you to research the absolute most while also having an even more packed...
Who Is Jesus?
Whenever we address the topic of theology or apologetics, we must ask ourselves who Jesus is. If this question tends you a little bit that's fine, it confuses most theologians too. This question really has two tenets, how Jesus was Revealed (and what we learn), and...
Consistency Is Key
Have you ever crammed for a test before? While some of us are worse about it than others, essentially everyone has had an experience where they’ve waited until the absolute last minute to complete a school assignment, and rushed to complete it before the deadline. In...
You’re Researching All Wrong. These 4 Steps Will Improve Your Method.
You’re Researching All Wrong. These 4 Steps Will Improve Your Method. When I play chess, I watch my opponent's eyes. As they peer across the board, I can glean massive amounts of information. I can sense fear. I can sense excitement. I can sense when and why my...
A Guide to the 1AR Part I: Preparation
The 1AR presents a unique challenge: responding to two speeches in one. It’s probably the most difficult speech to give in a debate round, but it can also be the most fun. I’ve been the 1AR for most of my time in debate, and it’s my favorite speech by far. Sure, I...
Why Worse Plans Make for Better Cases
What makes a good affirmative case? Aside from one that wins, most debaters look for policies that they believe should be implemented in the real world, and more specifically, ones that create the most benefits. For instance, if one course of action would...
Voting Issues Part II: How to Run Voting Issues Well
In Voting Issues Part I, we discussed three common problems surrounding voters and how to avoid them by not running voters at all. But this doesn’t mean you should never run voters! It’s important to understand how to debate without voters, but at the same time many...
Stop Losing Rounds to Abuse
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...
Voting Issues Part I: The Case Against Voting Issues
Carefully read a list of numbers, wait a minute or two, and then try to recall as many of those numbers as you can. It’ll probably be easiest to remember the first and last few numbers. That’s because your brain is wired to recall things in order of primacy and...
The “Problem” With Judging, Examined
A couple of years ago, Harrison wrote a couple of excellent articles (here and here) delving into the different types of debate judges, and the pros and cons of each style. While we all understand the fact that there are different kinds of judges, it’s still very...