The Preparation Matrix

What kind of debate is this? The answer shapes everything. Formal competitive debate has structured time, expert judges, and values technical arguments. Business meetings have informal structure, stakeholder judges, and practical concerns dominate. Public forums make the audience the judge, where emotional appeals matter more and simplicity is key. Personal discussions have no external judge—relationship matters, and face-saving is critical.

The strategy that wins in competitive debate will fail at a dinner table. The approach that works in a boardroom may backfire at a town hall. Know your venue before you prepare your arguments.

Identify who determines the outcome. In formal debates, it's a judge or panel with specific paradigms and preferences you can research. In public forums, it's an audience voting or reacting. Sometimes you're trying to persuade your opponent themselves. Often there's a decision-maker watching the exchange—a boss, moderator, or mediator. And sometimes there's no explicit judge; you're building long-term positioning for future exchanges.

Tailor your arguments to your actual audience. Arguments that impress a philosophy professor will not impress a busy executive. Arguments that move a general audience may seem simplistic to experts. (See Chapter 1: What Winning Means for more on matching your approach to the victory type you're seeking.)

Understand both the explicit and implicit rules. Explicit rules include time limits, speaking order, evidence standards, and topic constraints. Implicit rules include etiquette expectations—can you interrupt? What tone is appropriate? How formal should you be? Most importantly, understand the win conditions: what does the judge or audience actually value? Some prioritize logic; others prioritize passion. Some want nuance; others want decisiveness.

List your strongest arguments, ranked by strength. For each argument, identify the precise claim you're making, the evidence that supports it, the warrant explaining why the evidence supports the claim, and the impact showing why it matters. (This is the CEWEI structure from Chapter 3: Argument Architecture.)

Most people stop here. Don't. Box 1 is the easiest part of preparation—everyone knows their own arguments. The magic happens in the next three boxes.

Now argue the other side. What would you say if you were them? This is perhaps the most important box. Think through the strongest versions of their arguments. What evidence would they cite? What values or concerns motivate their position? What would make their case most compelling?

If you can't articulate their position better than they can, you don't understand it well enough to defeat it. This is where steelmanning (covered below) becomes essential.

For each argument in Box 2, prepare a response. You have five options: deny it outright if you have counter-evidence; mitigate it by reducing the magnitude; turn it to show it actually supports your side; outweigh it by showing your arguments matter more; or indict it by attacking the evidence or reasoning. (See Chapter 8: Attack Patterns for detailed attack strategies.)

For each of your arguments in Box 1, predict how they will attack it. What will they say is wrong with it? How will you defend against that attack? Do you need to preempt the attack in your initial presentation? And critically—is the argument worth making if it invites a devastating response? Some arguments look strong until you think through Box 4.

Steelmanning serves three purposes. First, it's intellectually honest—you're engaging with what they actually believe, not a caricature. Second, it builds credibility—judges and audiences respect debaters who take opposing views seriously. Third, it ensures thoroughness—if you can defeat the best version of their argument, you've truly won. There's nowhere for them to retreat.

For any opposing argument, follow this process. First, state their position in neutral or favorable language—no loaded terms, no dismissive framing. Second, add the strongest evidence they might cite. Third, articulate the best warrant for their claim. Fourth, present the most compelling impact. Only then—when you've built the strongest possible version—begin your attack.

For each piece of evidence you plan to use, verify five things. First, source credibility—is this source respected and unbiased? Second, recency—is this still current, or has newer evidence emerged? Third, specificity—does this directly support your point, or is it tangential? Fourth, memorability—is this striking enough for the audience to remember? Fifth, vulnerability—what attacks might this evidence face? (Apply the RAVEN test from Chapter 3 to evaluate source quality.)

For every piece of evidence, have a ready answer to “So what?” Evidence alone doesn't win debates. You need to connect each piece of evidence to your claim (the warrant) and explain why it matters (the impact). Practice saying “This matters because...” after every statistic or example. If you can't complete that sentence compellingly, the evidence isn't ready.

Abstract arguments are forgettable. Concrete examples stick. For every abstract principle, have at least one specific, vivid example ready. Name specific people, places, and dates when possible. Use sensory details that create mental images. Tell stories with narrative arc—problem, struggle, resolution. Connect abstract policies to real human experiences. (See Chapter 14: Pathos & Emotion for how to make examples land emotionally.)

You should be able to state your three best arguments, with evidence and impact, without notes. Practice until they're automatic. This frees your mind to listen, adapt, and respond in the moment. If you're thinking about what to say next, you're not listening to what your opponent is saying now—and you'll miss opportunities.

Before the debate, mentally walk through it. See yourself making your opening statement confidently. Imagine your opponent's attacks and your composed responses. Visualize the moment of making your key point land. Picture the audience nodding, the judge writing notes.

This isn't magical thinking—visualization activates the same neural pathways as actual performance, building familiarity and reducing anxiety. Athletes, musicians, and speakers all use this technique. It works.

Your physical state affects your mental state. Sleep well the night before—cognitive function declines sharply with sleep deprivation. Eat well but not too heavily to avoid food coma. Arrive early to reduce rushing stress. Use power poses before you begin—expansive posture increases confidence (the research on this is contested, but many find it helpful). And when you feel anxiety rising, breathe slowly and deeply. Physiological calm creates psychological calm.

In competitive formats, you often know who you'll face. Use this advantage. Review their past debates if available—on SuperDebate, you can see their debate history and voting patterns. What arguments do they favor? What rhetorical style do they use? Do they tend to attack early or build slowly? What topics do they gravitate toward?

Build an opponent profile. Note their strengths—don't underestimate them. Note their patterns—these become predictable. Note their weaknesses—arguments they struggle to answer, styles that throw them off. Then prepare specifically for this opponent, not just the topic.

Tournaments test endurance. You might face four or five debates in a single day, each on different topics or against different opponents. Preparation must account for this. Don't over-prepare for round one and burn out by round three.

Build a “topic briefcase”—modular argument blocks you can deploy across multiple topics. Arguments about economic impact, individual rights, institutional trust, or democratic process apply to many debates. Prepare these building blocks in advance, then assemble them on the fly for specific motions.

Plan your energy expenditure. Know which rounds are elimination versus preliminary. Some rounds require your A-game; others just need a solid performance. Strategic energy management isn't sandbagging—it's sustainability. (See Chapter 19: Under Pressure for more on tournament endurance.)

Different platforms have different mechanics that affect strategy. On SuperDebate, understand the timing structure, the audience voting mechanics, and the feedback systems. Know how much time you have for each speech. Understand whether you're being judged by a panel, the audience, or both—and what each values.

Technical preparation matters too. Test your equipment beforehand. Know how to use the platform's features—evidence sharing, timer displays, reaction tools. Fumbling with technology mid-debate destroys your credibility and rhythm.

Every response block follows the same structure. A one-or-two-word descriptive identifier (No Link, We Meet, Non-Unique, Turn). A concise tag line — one sentence stating your argument. Supporting evidence with source, date, and qualifications. And an impact line explaining why this response matters in the context of the debate.

Build blocks for both sides. When you're preparing your case, prepare blocks defending it against every attack you can imagine. When you're preparing to oppose, build blocks for the cases you're most likely to face. The goal is that nothing your opponent says triggers the sinking feeling of “I have nothing for this.”

This is the cardinal rule of competitive preparation. If an argument beats you once, you research it that night and build a block so it can never beat you again. The best debaters treat every loss as a research assignment. Over the course of a season, their block files grow into a comprehensive library of responses that makes them nearly impossible to surprise.

1. 1Research what cases others are running. Read published case lists, watch recorded debates, talk to other debaters.
2. 2Focus depth over breadth. Three well-developed strategies you understand deeply beat twenty shallow ones you can barely explain.
3. 3Do your own research. Reading primary sources gives you nuances that pre-packaged arguments miss — and you'll be able to defend your evidence in cross-examination.
4. 4Practice speaking your blocks aloud. A block that reads well on paper but trips you up verbally is a liability, not an asset.
5. 5Update continuously. Evidence gets stale. Counterarguments evolve. The block you built in September may need revision by December.

This is the single most important competitive habit. The first time an argument beats you, it's a learning experience. The second time is negligence. After every debate, identify the strongest argument your opponent made. That night, research it and build a response block. Over a season, your library of responses grows until you become nearly impossible to surprise.

Half of debate is responding to what the other side says. You cannot respond to what you did not hear. The best debaters are invariably the best listeners — not because listening is glamorous, but because it's the precondition for everything else. When your opponent speaks, your primary job is to hear and understand their argument. Preparing your own speech is secondary. Organizing your files is tertiary. If you sacrifice listening for anything, you will miss something, and missing something loses debates.

A debater who sounds organized earns credibility before they've made a single substantive point. Compartmentalize your thoughts into individually labeled arguments. Keep your flows labeled and accessible — you should be able to find any argument within three seconds while speaking. Sound organized when you deliver speeches: road-map, signpost, label. The judge who can follow your structure is the judge who votes for you.

There is nothing wrong with reading other people's arguments and pre-packaged case outlines. But the debater who researches their own positions — who reads the primary sources, understands the nuances behind the excerpts, and can explain why their evidence matters — will consistently outperform the one running borrowed arguments they don't fully understand. When you research your own case, you know the evidence inside out. When someone cross-examines you about a source, you can defend it with depth and confidence instead of stumbling.

In team debate, two people must debate better than two other people. That means communicating before and during the debate — agreeing on strategy, dividing argument coverage, signaling when something gets dropped. Make your partner better. Discuss strategy before the round starts so you're not making decisions under time pressure. The teams that communicate win more than the teams with individually talented debaters who don't coordinate.

Tired debaters make mistakes. Unprepared debaters panic. There are no shortcuts and no coaches who can do the work for you. Get enough sleep before competition. Get your other responsibilities handled so debate preparation has your full attention. Practice speaking your arguments out loud — to a partner, a mirror, or an empty room. A block that reads well on paper but trips you up verbally is a liability. The more you practice, the less you sweat, and debaters who don't sweat make better decisions under pressure.