Ask Jim about Debate
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Breaking Down Barriers: Ask Jim about Debate |
You can submit questions too, just email Jim at hansonjb@whitman.edu
First, here's some tips for affirmative cases (taken directly from Breaking Down Barriers: How to Debate (Version 2.6, 1995):
OUR POLICY CASE IS NOT DOING WELL
It can be very frustrating when your affirmative is not doing well. The key is to fix your case, improve your debating or write a new one.
To fix your case, I have three suggestions. First, what arguments are you losing in your debates? Sit down and write out responses to those arguments. Be sure your responses are good. Have your coach or someone else review your arguments to see if they use sound reasoning and if they are appealing. If they are not, fix them (see Chapter 1 and 2 on having clear, well supported and appealing arguments and this chapter on backup briefs). Second, if you hear the same arguments every debate, consider preempting them in the first affirmative case. For example, if you feel that negatives will argue that your plan will waste important resources, consider including an advantage in your affirmative case that says your plan saves resources. A third suggestion is to consider "spiking" your plan to avoid disadvantages. See page 65 for tips on spiking your plan.
If you feel that you are losing because of how you debate, it is time to improve your debating by reviewing the basics. Do you make clear arguments with concise, accurate and persuasive labels? Do you do rebuttals the right way, with good reasons for why you should win the debate? Review how to do these important debate skills and then practice them over and over. In fact, a good suggestion is to practice debating on the affirmative in front of your coach or in front of other debaters. Ask them for suggestions and then act on them. If you are not doing well, someone else has a better idea of what to do, so do it!
If these suggestions do not help because your case is fatally flawed in some way, then change your case! Pick a new case and BE SURE TO PICK A CASE FOR WHICH YOU HAVE SOLVENCY EVIDENCE.
Second, here's some tips for affirmative cases: How to write contentions in a case