by Nathanael Morgan | Mar 7, 2023 | Concept Analysis, NCFCA, Negative, Speaking, Stoa, Strategy, Team Policy, Technique, Thinking Strategically
When I was just getting a good grip on how to debate well, I struggled with winning the judges over. Oftentimes the ballots blamed this on my aggressiveness, but looking back on it now, I realize that that was only one facet of the problem. Counterintuitively, the...
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by Nathanael Yellis | Apr 12, 2011 | Soapbox
I judged a debate tournament on Saturday. I enjoy debate because of the creativity bred by its constraints. While talking with other judges, I tried to explain what motivated my decisions. What kind of arguments typically won? What debaters tended to make those...
by Isaiah McPeak | Mar 19, 2011 | Featured, Tournaments
On April 8-9 I will be hosting the first annual Fun Tournament, here in Virginia. We have over 30 students registered from four states in attendance and are running TP, LD, and Parli (open to anyone). We are using the flexibility provided by Stoa qualifying rules to...
by Bronson Bast | Jan 11, 2011 | Coaching
Nothing is more amusing or humiliating in a debate round. The first negative speaker has made an epic attack on the case, the round seems to be going decidedly negative even before the dreaded Block. Then suddenly, It happens. No one meant for it to happen, but I...
by Anthony Severin | Nov 4, 2010 | Coaching, From Novice to Intermediate, Strategy
It will happen to the best of debaters. The idea that once so intrigued judges, wowed parents, and left negative teams with their jaws hanging open* sometimes loses it’s effectiveness. Or, maybe that effectiveness was never there in the first place, and despite...
