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37 debate lessons · Showing 1–12
How a debate works
The resolution, the two sides, the speech order, and why clash is the point.
Understand the resolution
Read the wording and work out what each side has to prove.
Make a clear claim
Turn a topic into a point the audience can accept or reject.
Explain your reasoning
Explain why your evidence actually proves your point.
Build your constructive speech
Set out a case you can defend through cross-ex, rebuttal and closing.
Listen and take useful notes
Flow the debate so you know what each speech still has to answer.
Run your first SuperDebate
Argue both sides through constructives, cross-ex, rebuttals and closings.
Ask one clear question
Ask a question whose answer you can use in your next speech.
Follow up on an answer
Adjust your questions to the answer they actually gave.
Test a source or statistic
Question the population, method, or inference behind a figure.
Defend your case in cross-ex
Decide what to concede, qualify or push back on when you are being questioned.
Plan a question sequence
Prepare follow-ups for different answers to your first question.
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