Despite popular opinion, I think you should be rooted in the topic no matter what your politics, performance, or method of engagement is. Having a conversation about military force, animal rights, or economic sanctions provides unique moments for conversation that leads us to unearth scholarship buried in libraries and catalogues that inspire us each and every year. A lot of arguments on the January/February topic seem to be about avoiding or being able to initiate topicality debates to preserve the value in these conversations. What is seldom done in this search for the perfectly balanced conversation at the Tournament of Champions, unfortunately, is to question what do T debates mean outside of wins and losses? Even if a given topic is great, what does it mean for the individual competitors that might not share your subject position?  What does a conversation mean and who is it for if it’s not accessible for the most disadvantaged students who find the time to compete?

Despite popular opinion, I think you should be rooted in the topic no matter what your politics, performance, or method of engagement is. Having a conversation about military force, animal rights, or economic sanctions provides unique moments for conversation that leads us to unearth scholarship buried in libraries and catalogues that inspire us each and every year. A lot of arguments on the January/February topic seem to be about avoiding or being able to initiate topicality debates to preserve the value in these conversations. What is seldom done in this search for the perfectly balanced conversation at the Tournament of Champions, unfortunately, is to question what do T debates mean outside of wins and losses? Even if a given topic is great, what does it mean for the individual competitors that might not share your subject position?  What does a conversation mean and who is it for if it’s not accessible for the most disadvantaged students who find the time to compete?

I have trouble describing high school debate to those people who are unfamiliar with our bubble of esoteric argumentation. How should I describe an activity too focused on making arguments instead of resolving them? Strategy dominates most debate rounds, and the conventional debate stratagem is to run up the score with voting issues. I will not stand on my soapbox and claim that when I was a debater I avoided this tendency; I am just as vulnerable to my criticisms as every other debater. Yet, I do not see this as an issue with my argument, rather evidence that bolsters my claims. While debate’s impact on me, both in and out of the classroom, is immeasurable—I feel that I could have learned so much more.

And so today, I am offering up a plea to those who are still involved in the activity. Lincoln-Douglas debate’s esotericism is not insurmountable. With the addition of a simple piece of advice to the debate playbook, the activity can be a more positive educational resource and even a better competitive outlet for its participants. And so, I will offer up my ideas for reform (albeit potentially controversial) after a year removed from the activity in hopes to throw caution to the wind for all my successors. 

At every tournament you attend this year look around the cafeteria and take note of which students are not sitting amongst you and your peers. Despite being some of the best and the brightest in the nation, many students are alienated from and choose to not participate in an activity I like to think of as homeplace. In addition to the heavy financial burden associated with national competition, the exclusionary atmosphere of a debate tournament discourages black students from participating...

Fast-talking is tough to sell to people who believe that debate should be primarily about communication skills. A lot of us are willing to concede much of what speed critics fear; we say something like “Well, fast debate won’t make you eloquent, but boy will it improve your critical thinking skills.” I think that answer is right, but I also think it concedes too much.

Whether speed in fact diminishes one’s ability to speak eloquently when the occasion calls for it is an empirical question which a diligent researcher could no doubt answer. I don’t have information to definitively answer the question, but I do suspect that in fact speed can, at least sometimes, improve students public speaking abilities. There are a few reasons why.