Thinking Strategically
Make your Playbook
(Shutterstock, cvm) When preparing for a big game, there is one thing all football players are required to know. The game plan. Various plays prepared beforehand to use during the game. What is your debate game plan? What will you say if the Negative team...
Here’s How You Place At Nats Without High Speaks: Argument Construction
It’s halftime. You just got past the NEG block and the 1AR is about to start. You’re feeling pretty confident about your arguments and believe that there’s no way the other team can recover from your heavy onslaught. The rebuttals come around and you just solidify...
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Practice Makes Perfect, Planning Makes it Happen
I know that we are finally to finals and the Christmas season with many students across the nation thrilled to take a break. However, as a forensics kid, you’re reaching one of the busiest times of the year. If I had to guess, you are registered for around four speech...
Debate Is A Game. It’s Time To Adapt Accordingly
When it’s my opponent’s turn in chess, I don’t just look at the board. I look at my opponent’s eyes. His eyes betray him; through his eyes I can see everything. I can see which pieces he’s worried about, which pieces he might move next, and which pieces are going to...
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...
Yes, And
(Image Credit: Pixabay) “Yes, and…” is one of the most crucial debate phrases you can ever learn. The phrase, “Yes, and…” is one that is highly encouraged in improvisational skits. The principle is one of cooperation and team-building. The idea is that one person...
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...
Purposeful Practice: The Solution
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 are helpful...
Applications to Illustrate Principles
One of the first logical fallacies I ever learned about was the “Part to Whole” fallacy, arguing that one part of a larger category represents the whole category. For instance: “This tire is made of rubber. Therefore the vehicle of which the tire is a part is also...
Why Debate Resolutions Are Getting Too Big… And What to Do about It
Each year, my debate club requires every student to go through the NCFCA’s “Comprehensive Guide to Policy Debate” curriculum in the fall, regardless of experience level. Having read it multiple times before, I was skimming the week’s assigned chapter twenty or...
Why You Need to Rethink the Judging Philosophy
A critical aspect of marketing is understanding the consumer. While it may not seem like it at first glance, debate has everything to do with marketing. You present the judge with a case, and you must prove that your case, or “product,” is better than your opponent’s....
Guidelines to Dropped Arguments – Part 2
In the previous article, we discussed how you should "Give Your Opponent the Benefit of the Doubt" when it comes to dropped arguments and treat your point being unrefuted as "Additional Support, Not Standalone Proof". In this article, we'll be discussing three more...
Guidelines to Dropped Arguments – Part 1
In my second year of speech and debate, I had a favorite phrase: "My opponent dropped my argument." Whenever my opponent ignored the slightest bit of my analysis, I harped on it and even made it a voting issue. I wrote an elaborate script that I'd give every time my...
Why You Should Be Friends With Your Rivals
Endless searching and continuing education are a part of any good debater’s appetite. Learning new things, for data is a really healthy mental diet to exercise. One way to do this is through podcasts. Podcasts are unique because you can Listen - and do other things!...
Why You Should Share Your 1AC – With Everyone
This is an adapted version of a lecture Isaiah McPeak gave in 2012 at debate camps nationwide. As Team Policy debaters prepare for the new debate season this coming fall, the time and thrill of researching new cases will also come full swing. With this time,...