We combine the teaching of advanced debating skills with quick, fun, and creative games, activities, and debate sparring to learn the relevant skills to succeed in any competitive format of debate.
In the main debate learning, we emphasize structuring a case, referred to as the “Constructive,” developing a “Framework” (how the judge should decide the winner), understanding your opponents’ case through “Cross-Examination,” effective techniques for “Rebuttal”, and how to summarize and convey your win to the judge.
While members learn to conduct full competitive debates, we frequently mix in debate sparring sessions which are short, fun, and easy, one-, two-, or three-person debates on topics that don’t require deep research, e.g., “School uniforms should be required,” “The rise of selfies is a troubling cultural problem,” “Whataburger vs. In-N-Out,” etc.
Useful skills like speaking clearly, note-taking (referred to as flowing), thinking on your feet, organizing your thoughts, being creative and adapting, and determining what is relevant in material are also developed.
Light to moderate homework is assigned to help reinforce what’s been learned and prep for debates.