Debate Events

Lincoln Douglas Debate - Parliamentary Debate - Public Forum Debate - Policy Debate

Public Form Debate

Public Forum Debate (PF, POFO, PuFo) is a team event that affirms or rejects a resolution presented every month. This form of debate requires doing research and is primarily focused on evidence, but not driven by it. There are two speakers on each team. First speakers present and develop arguments, while the second speaker has no written out speech, but works on refuting the opponents case, and strengthening your own. Doing Public Forum helps you develop communication skills, including clarity, enunciation, and tonality which help to effectively persuade the judges to agree with your side of the resolution using well-written arguments, clear explanations, and proper delivery.

Policy Debate (Khan Lab School)

A two-on-two debate that focuses on a policy question for the duration of the academic year, this format tests a student’s research, analytical, and delivery skills. Policy Debate involves the proposal of a plan by the affirmative team to enact a policy, while the negative team offers reasons to reject that proposal. Throughout the debate, students have the opportunity to cross-examine one another. A judge or panel of judges determines the winner based on the arguments presented. Students who do Policy Debate must be able to work well with a partner. Balanced teams, both in terms of preparation before debates and contributions within a debate, helps provide a competitive advantage during tournaments. Policy debaters are interested in examining specific policies in an intricate and detailed manner. Depth of research is a common trait of successful Policy debaters. Policy Debate is commonly viewed as the most technical debate event within the Association.

 Parliamentary Debate (N/A)

 Parliamentary debate (or parli) is one of the more extemporaneous Speech & Debate events. Unlike other forms of debate, such as Public Forum and Lincoln-Douglas, you are only given 20 minutes to prep out a case. Parliamentary debate is a partner-based event that requires a mix of the ability to think quickly and a good amount of speaking prowess. Topics are assigned at random and are left to the debaters to come up with a fair and acceptable interpretation.  It is the perfect event for students who might not necessarily have a lot of time to work on a debate case and want to gain content knowledge on a wide variety of subjects that effect our world today.

Lincoln Douglas Debate

Lincoln-Douglas debate (LD debate) is a one-on-one debate event that focuses on ethical issues. The resolutions are moral statements whose truth values are debated by the affirmative, who argues that the resolution is true, and the negative, who argues that the resolution is false . Examples of recent resolutions include: "A government has the obligation to lessen the economic gap between its rich and poor citizens", "Individuals have a moral obligation to assist people in need", and "States ought not possess nuclear weapons". Unlike other forms of debate, LD relies heavily on philosophy (especially moral and political philosophy), good empirical data, and logical analysis. Debates will often involve a clash between two competing philosophical or political positions.
LD debate helps provide students with a deeper understanding of both sides of important issues, such as animal rights and universal health care, knowledge of crucial philosophical questions, greater analytical and refutation abilities, greater public speaking skills, and ultimately the critical thinking skills needed to succeed in the 21st century.