r/Debate

Hi guys, I’m a sophomore who has been in debate since freshman year. Despite the amount of time, I feel like I haven’t been able to do as much as I wanted to do in debate. In freshman year, I only saw debate as something to get my speech credit and I wasn’t really interested until the end of the year. In sophomore year, I went to more tournaments but only broke once, and overall I feel that I won’t be able to place well or go to state/nats because of me being late. Do you guys know of any experiences that can disprove my doubts? Thank you!

Hey all!! Specifically my (program oral interp) POI boys if you’re here 😉

Are yall pumped for last chance?!?! We will make it to nationals we will make it to nationals!!!! Manifest and practice I believe in yall ❤️

Just had my state debate tournament yesterday where I competed in Congressional Debate. The person who got 1st place used ChatGPT to write ALL their speeches and just copy and pasted the responses into a Google Doc. They didn’t even bother to edit their speeches, they just read straight off of their computer. I’m feeling really disheartened because what’s the point of even doing debate and working hard to research and write speeches when you can just use AI and win? And what’s the point of the extemp factor of Congress when reading straight off a computer places you higher?

Recently I just competed at my nat quals tournament for ix. I failed to qualify in it. I already qualified in house, but I know that I perform better in ix rather than in house. The last chance nat quals would require me to vacate my house spot for a chance in ix. Would it be worth it to at least attempt to qualify in ix?

TLDR: Looking for good raw literature about violence/oppression against queer women

Hey all!! I just finished my first year doing POI as a sophomore and for my junior year I really want to do my POI on queer violence. (Violence against queer, not queer people being violent). As a queer person, this is something I’m really passionate about that I’m not seeing being done enough. So I figured it’s niche enough to stand out, as well as being something I really care about!

I’ve been trying to find good pieces of literature, but nothing is really what I’m looking for. Also I’m primarily looking for literature surrounding queer women, just because I don’t think it’s right for me to portray the struggles of a trans or gay man. I do want to include some of those perspectives through articles, but I don’t think it’s my place to act out those struggles.

But yeah if anyone knows anything help is greatly appreciated!

I'm planning on running an aff based on virtue ethics, and I'm thinking of arguments that can be made against it. One argument I thought of is an argument against a specific warrant, universalism, that just because something is universally valued does not mean it is good. I'm struggling to find a response to this. Why is something good just because people say it is good?

Hey guys,

I've been debating for a couple of years now and though I can fill up my time, I'm trying to be able to take better notes. My current system has a lot of bottlenecks, mainly that I won't have enough time to get everything down (I mainly do thirds), leading to, for instance, Another arguement is XYZ and its true because uhhhhhhhhhh nvm next point (a bit dumbed down). Just generally I'm trying to speak more coherently, and have more time for writing about higher level reasoning (such as even if........ scenarios)

Also, just generally trying to speak with more gusto like they do in the actual WSDC, faster, more coherent, and not like I'm losing the pace.

Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks!

it's been 6 years. I used to love debate, I think I still do, I'm just stuck in my own head. I lost 3 partners, my heart broke every time. I've been cursed out, I've been abandoned, I've worked hard to have my dreams crushed. now my current coach told me I expected too much, that I just didn't work hard enough. my first coaches had me do 7 hours of classes every week, I did debate upwards of 20 hours a week for over a month when I was 12. my parents paid thousands of dollars, they told me I would win. they promised me results but I didn't get them and then my coaches took my partner away from me because I just wasn't good enough. I felt like a failure. I found a new coach, he pushed me to the brinks, he guilt-tripped me into working every day. I did debate not for myself, but because I was told that if I didn't I was lazy. I was fixated with winning because every time I didn't my family would cry, my partners would cry, people would treat me differently. I counseled my partner, I did her prep for her, I thought it would be worth it. I finally won.

I went to another tournament and I lost to the tournament champions in doubles. my partner cursed me out the day before, we broke up our partnership, I was devastated. they told me my win was a fluke, that I should've been happy with doubles. I was exhausted from overwork, I knew I could've done better, I saw exactly how I could win each debate. I left my coach, I had to, I went to a prestigious organization. I felt like an outsider, the team accused me of going there just to steal prep. the head coach told me my lay skills needed work, the one thing I genuinely thought I was good at. I went to my last tournament, I made doubles. my old coach told me to be happy with that result, told me that I didn't prep enough, I was prepping more than my teammates, hours every day. I go to an incredibly rigorous school, I have upwards of 25-30 hours of homework a week. I was burnt out beyond belief and they told me it wasn't enough. I still believed what my coaches first told me, that I would deserve to win one day, as long as I gave up my life for debate.

I came back to debate for Freshman year with a different partner. we started prep, but then I got diagnosed with a rare health condition. I went into the hospital, I had surgery, I stayed in bed rest for over a month. my body didn't cope like they said it would. I lost my partner, he wanted to only compete with me on the side, then he didn't want to compete at all. I was overworked, I was pressured. I was pushed to compete again, I trained, I pushed myself once more even though I was exhausted all the time. I did a smaller event, I worked hard. in finals I genuinely felt like myself again, I thought maybe I could actually win. I thought that tournament was my new beginning. I lost. I was just done, no more tears, no more anger, in my mind I simply gave up. I know I shouldn't have rested all my hopes on one tournament, I just desperately needed hope. I am exhausted.

now my coach is frustrated, everyone is. they say I need to snap out of it and stop seeing everything so negatively, stop giving up. you know back when I used to love debate, they said I was a darling. I tried so hard to be sweet, to be a version of myself judges would like. now I'm 14, I spend all day studying and then go to practice and just give up. I can't find the motivation to keep going, I'm trying to learn a new event but I don't even know if I want to. people are constantly trying to make me work harder. I'm a human too. I'm sorry

thank you to everyone who read this <3

As the title says, i am new to debating, i don't get any of the jargons you guys use, english isn't my native language. I want to learn how to debate just for personal development as I suck at interviews and interactions and presenting my thoughts.

How many people here can actively follow a policy debate round, not just bits and pieces? And, please, someone explain the wide-spread interest. Also, I can't imagine any actual prestigious debate outside of the NSDA being dependent on who can speak fastest. I can see how Public Forum and Lincoln Douglas translate the real world. But, how does policy debate?

Also, out of curiosity, if you know any policy debaters, does it seem to have affected their physical appearance since when they first began? I think there are legitimate concerns about the the breathing habits necessary to succeed in policy debate.

Hi Reddit people, it's my first time here writing on a platform like this, apologies for being unclear or lengthy. I started my debating journey when in grade 7. I joined WSC back then. It was my first time debating and I got only one week of training because I didn't know and register quite late. It went well, fortunately, and I got into Global Round with medals. Then Covid got complicated again, so I went to the Global Round in Sep 2022, got into TOC and won some medals in TOC. Not much, but I feel proud and it was quite a haul tho. Now I'm a senior in high school, I am finished with my exams and got into a good college...but I still want to debate again. I did join some smaller competitions in my city but the majority of them were for marketing purposes for the host school and teams from sponsors are guaranteed to get the prizes.

I love debating. I still love it. I was a co-coach for around more than a year, still a coach now but I really miss the feeling of going on stages and say what's on my mind. I find it quite thrilling.

In my university there are debate clubs, and I'm afraid they will not admit me because I haven't formally debated for quite a long time and there are better people to welcome them in...so why me?

Is there any way that I can improve my skills alone? Or is there any debate groups/forums where people practice that I should know about? Thank you very much.

I'm not writing this sober (I'm over 18 and eligible to drink) so i'm sorry for lengthy ahh languages. But yeah I just miss doing it so much. Also, my focus is mainly WSC and other different formats depending on the competitions, so I'm open to learn more about other debating competitions/formats too.

A new brief has been released for the new topic. It is linked here. Enjoy.

Hi! I'm going in info at lcnq and was wondering if anyone could help me with my works cited page. If willing, lmk and I'll dm you! I'm a bit confused on the format esp cuz my main event is impromptu lmao

Hey all,

I have debate students who are looking to mock the TOC PF April topic this Tuesday at 8PM. Please let me know if anyone is interested!

hi everyone, im 13 this year i want to get into political debates and need some guidance!

the title is one of the motions i have been trying to do drills with, i do know about ice and do not support its violent nature and im aware that its inherently bad and harmful but i do not know how it is in the intrest of the republicans to make it weaker...

any help would be much appreciated (:

If I wanted to get an opponents source to review for myself, how would I go about that?

Also, if an opponent asked for my source, how would that go? Do I give it to them or the PO? How do I send the link? When do I give it to them?

Sorry just a lot of confusion as I can’t find a clear breakdown online.

hey guys, i’ve been doing lincoln douglas debate for two years now (NSDA, hs level) and i impulsively signed up for a big questions tournament this weekend. it seems a bit like LD, but im very confused on what im supposed to be arguing; like not whether the resolution is valid or not, but why it is. i know it’s very philosophical but i don’t really know how to incorporate that. i’m also not sure how much i can carry over from LD

i’d appreciate any advice!!