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Debate · Intermediate · 10 lessons

Intermediate debate

Defend your reasoning, examine evidence, and make deliberate choices under questioning.

Intermediate · About 5 minTest a source or statistic
Start lesson
People listening and discussing competing ideas

What you will practice

You will sustain a case through substantive challenges and explain a defensible comparison.

Before you begin

Choose this course if you can already develop a basic case and follow a debate. Explanations remain available throughout.

The case you will explore

Develop competing cases using fictional evidence for three actual SuperDebate resolutions.

Cross-examination

Use the question-and-answer part of a debate to examine a case and defend your own.

  1. Cross-examinationIntermediate

    Test a source or statistic

    Question the population, method, or inference behind a figure.

    About 5 minNew
  2. Cross-examinationIntermediate

    Defend your case in cross-ex

    Choose what to concede, qualify, or challenge, then handle the follow-up.

    About 5 minNew

Rebuttal

Answer the other side’s reasoning and explain why your case still holds.

  1. RebuttalIntermediate

    Concede and respond

    Accept a supported point while defending what remains of your case.

    About 5 minNew
  2. RebuttalIntermediate

    Defend your reasoning

    Repair a challenged link with a reason that actually answers the objection.

    About 5 minNew

Evidence

Find support, test its strength, and use it persuasively.

  1. EvidenceIntermediate

    Separate facts from predictions

    Distinguish an observation, forecast, and value judgment.

    About 4 minNew
  2. EvidenceIntermediate

    Interpret statistics

    Keep denominators, units, and comparison periods intact.

    About 6 minNew

Delivery

Speak clearly when the pressure is on.

  1. DeliveryIntermediate

    Speak at a clear pace

    Fit your argument to the time while preserving its reasoning.

    About 5 minNew
  2. DeliveryIntermediate

    Use pauses and emphasis

    Use your voice to make the important contrast easy to hear.

    About 4 minNew

Strategy & closing

Compare the cases and make your final rebuttal count.

  1. Strategy & closingIntermediate

    Allocate speaking time

    Give the central challenge enough explanation and leave space for a close.

    About 5 minNew
  2. Strategy & closingIntermediate

    Explain why your argument matters more

    Defend a priority for comparing consequences within the published rules.

    About 5 minNew

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