Howan argument is presented should be less important than the quality of theargument. Nevertheless, perceptually dominating the round can pay dividends.Looking like you know what you’re doing is one of the big steps between noviceand varsity level debate. Perceptual dominance is one reason some students getconsistently higher speaker scores. Finally, even in very high level roundsjudges will ultimately be left to evaluate the quality of arguments. Thisevaluation is inevitably influenced by how the argument is presented,especially for judges who don’t feel especially secure in their decisions. It’seasy to use perceptual dominance as a heuristic for who is right on a givenissue or in the round as a whole.

So,a few tips to help you improve your perceptual dominance:

1. Project acalm and confident demeanor.

Thebest debaters look calm and confident. There are many intangibles that go intoprojecting this demeanor, but it’s good to conceptualize it as a balancebetween extremes.

Calmis somewhere in between a) the foaming at the mouth, hectic, angry debater andb) the lackadaisical, doesn’t fill his time,I’m-here-because-my-parents-made-me debater.

Confidentis somewhere in between a) the cocky, condescending, thinks he won every rounddebater and b) the shy, soft-spoken, nervous about all his arguments debater.

Confidenceis notoriously elusive; the time-honored “fake it ‘till you make it” advicewill get you a long way toward cultivating self-belief. Another good techniqueis to do drills in front of a mirror to observe your own mannerisms anddemeanor. You may be surprised by what your non-verbals are saying about you.While demeanor is a multi-faceted thing, there are three touchstones that mightbe helpful to think about.

First,if you can’t help getting angry, you probably need to examine your demeanor.Overt expressions of anger are rarely situationally appropriate in a debateround. Reasonableness is built into the ethos of the activity. Some argumentsseem to have an innately more emotional tone, e.g. positions that passionatelycondemn a particular injustice. That type of emotion is justified and sometimeshelpful, but it should always be directed at passionate advocacy rather thanhostility toward an opponent.

Second,be cognizant of the volume at which you speak. You would be amazed how quicklyyour deportment can change simply by virtue of speaking louder or softer. Ifyou feel like you don’t have a great deal of confidence, try to increase yourvolume by 20%, and do drills even louder than that. Most often people have aproblem with speaking to softly rather than too loudly, but if you are gettinga look of surprise from judges when you start speaking you might considerlowering the volume a tad.

Finally,avoid asking rhetorical questions. They are almost always more confidentlyexpressed as statements. Instead of asking “Do you really think that a studentsurvey is as rigorous as a study published in a peer-reviewed journal?” you canargue “A study published in a peer-reviewed journal is much more rigorous thana student survey.” The problem with inviting a judge to answer a question inher own mind is that she might not think the answer is quite so self-evident asyou do. Better to express the same idea as an argument.

2. Give status updates.

Animportant technique for perceptual dominance is to frequently update the judgeon what is happening in the round. More specifically, as you go along tell thejudge about the significance of your arguments not just in argumentative termsbut also in terms of constructing a reason for her decision on the ballot. Forexample, after defending and extending your standard you might say “That meansthat all I have to do to win is to show that valuing rehabilitation overretribution minimizes suffering.” After extending a contention you might say“That’s the first place you can pull the trigger on the AC,” or “That’s thefirst place you can exclude the NC.”

Thisis perceptually dominant for several reasons. First, status updates make itlook like you are in command of your strategy and executing it purposively.Instead of wandering around the flow without a plan you appear to be telling acohesive story about what is happening in the round. Second, it is easy to highlightthe fact that you are layering. “This is the first place you reject the NC,this is the second place, this is the third place.” Finally, status updates area framing device. They allow you to tell the judge which arguments are the mostimportant so as to cast your opponent’s strongest argument as a secondaryconsideration.

3. Pressweakness in CX

Cross-examinationis critical for establishing perceptual dominance. The best way to do this isto press your opponent to explain weak or missing links in their casepositions. If your opponent’s argument doesn’t make sense to you, you shouldstart with the assumption that the argument is non-sense rather than theassumption that you just don’t understand it. Don’t let them obfuscate orotherwise wriggle out of your question. Keep asking them about the link untileither they give you a real answer or you are satisfied that the judgeunderstands that there is no link.

Notonly will this kind of press set up the refutation strategy for your rebuttals(and sometimes produce some useful admissions), but it will let you takecommand of the round on a perceptual basis. Some of the best cross-examinationsI have seen have dealt with only one or two issues. But, they were criticalissues, and pressing on them both served strategic interests and helped theinterlocutor to establish the tone for the round.

Goforth with confidence!