LD Training Week 15 - Practice Round

Welcome to week 15 of The Great Debate's introduction to Lincoln-Douglas Value Debate. Today is your chance to put everything you've learned into practice with a practice debate roundWe won't have a video lesson today, you're the stars of today's show.

For all the preparation of the room, some basic instructions on how to speak, how to flow, and what you are going to do in the round, look back at Week 12's lesson.

As you listen to your opponent's arguments, be sure to flow them so that you can address them using 3-point refutation.  Also, look for weaknesses in their arguments you can exploit during cross-examination.  Finally, think about why your value and value criterion are preferable and why that matters to the resolution.

Now comes the fun part.  As homework, make a list of every argument you heard in your debate round.  Go back through your flow and identify which arguments you had good responses to, which refutation you should have had, and which questions in cross-examination stumped you.  For each of these things, look for supporting evidence for your position.  This week is a vital week in your training to become a great debater.  The more time you spend in the week after one round preparing for your next round, the more likely you are to win your rounds in the future.  Each of the responses you create should be in 3-point refutation format.

Have a great week and we'll see you next week for another debate round!

If you haven't already, be sure to visit The Great Debate website to request your free packet of outlines. If you are a student, you can request the student packet and coaches can request a coach packet with additional resources including a syllabus and answer keys.

By now you should have read all of Coach Marko Djuranovic's Ultimate LD Handbook. Keep the book handy as a reference if you need it throughout the rest of your debate career.  I'd suggest skimming the discussion of the debate round just to be sure you're ready for your first full debate round! 

If you are interested in learning a form of debate other than Lincoln-Douglas value debate, The Great Debate is a wonderful textbook for policy debate written by the teacher in these videos. The Great Debate provides training in the basics of debate and includes information for debaters who have already learned the fundamentals and are looking for more intermediate level training. The Great Debate has a teacher's guide (coming soon) which includes lesson plans and additional material for coaches. For more information about The Great Debate, visit our website. We also have produced a video training series for Public Forum Debate. The public forum series is another free resource from The Great Debate.

LD Training Week 14 - Cross Examination

Welcome to week 14 of The Great Debate's introduction to Lincoln-Douglas Value Debate. Today's lesson is entitled "Cross-Examination." We've talked about every other piece of the debate round and you've even had your very own debate round experience.  But the last piece of the puzzle is what goes on between the speeches you give in support of your own case and in opposition to your opponent's case.  Cross Examination is your opportunity to ask questions and make your opponent talk about what you want to talk about.  Learning the techniques of cross examination will take you a long way toward becoming a great debater.

This lecture focuses on both how to cross examine your opponent and how to answer questions during cross examination.  Cross-X is a 3-minute period after each constructive speech.  The person who just finished giving a speech is cross-examined by the other team.  For example, after the Affirmative Constructive, the negative debater will cross-examine the affirmative speaker.
Cross-examination is about asking questions.  It's not about giving your own speech, or bringing up new arguments and points of analysis.  Instead, everything that comes out of your mouth if you are the person cross-examining should be focused on asking questions either to clarify your opponent's arguments, poke holes in the arguments your opponent has made, or set yourself up for the next argument you want to make against your opponent.

When someone asks you a question in cross-examination you should remain poised, confident, and answer the question.  Try to anticipate what your opponent wants you to say and see if there's a way to give an answer that helps make your case even stronger.  Be concise when you answer the question, and if your opponent doesn't stop you, continue explaining the beneficial point you were making.  When you are being cross-examined, the most important thing to do is to answer the question you are asked.  Trying to avoid a difficult question is worse than admitting there is a hole in your case.  Remember, if you have a perfect case, you haven't thought about it closely enough.  There's always a hole in your case (but there's also holes in every case your opponents run).  Your job is to explain how the holes in your case are less gaping than the holes in your opponent's case.  

Before we start today's lesson, get a piece of paper and write down the contentions you are using for both your affirmative and negative cases.  Underneath each contention, write down two questions you think expose a weakness in your contention.   Put these pages to the side and watch the lesson.

This week's lesson is available on the Great Debate's youtube page. It is also available on the Great Debate website in embedded format. Finally, you can see the videos right here (in 2 parts):

If you haven't already, be sure to visit The Great Debate website to request your free packet of outlines. If you are a student, you can request the student packet and coaches can request a coach packet with additional resources including a syllabus and answer keys.

Now it's time to practice cross-examination!  For each contention, take the questions you wrote down before the lecture and see if you can come up with some new ones.  Is there an argument you usually use that you can set up with a question?  Is there a piece of evidence you love to use you can prepare a question to direct your opponent to make a contrary point to the conclusion of that quotation?  Write down at least 10 new questions about your cases.

Now let's try these questions.  Have one debater stand up as the cross-examiner and another debater as the cross-examinee.  The questioner should ask questions for 2 minutes, and the other debater should do his best to answer the questions.  Switch to 2 new debaters.  The other debaters on the team should keep watching and try to identify whether the cross examiner is asking questions and letting her opponent answer the questions.  The team should also make sure that the cross examinee is answering the question in a concise manner and trying to expand on the answer if the opponent lets him.  Keep switching debaters and rotate to new sides so every debater gets to cross-examine and be cross-examined at least one time on both the affirmative and negative side.

Finally, make a list of the arguments you set up and ask your teammates whether your questions successfully set up the arguments you wanted to prepare.

By now you should have read all of Coach Marko Djuranovic's Ultimate LD Handbook. Keep the book handy as a reference if you need it throughout the rest of your debate career.  For a brief recitation of some common LD values, I suggest this short post by the Debate Central team at the National Center for Policy Analysis.

Finally, as homework, it's time to prepare for a couple debate rounds.  The next 2 weeks you will be debating your teammates.  Take some time this week to identify which questions you want to ask in cross examination and which arguments you want to make against your opponent.  Good luck preparing for our next couple debate rounds!

If you are interested in learning a form of debate other than Lincoln-Douglas value debate, The Great Debate is a wonderful textbook for policy debate written by the teacher in these videos. The Great Debate provides training in the basics of debate and includes information for debaters who have already learned the fundamentals and are looking for more intermediate level training. The Great Debate has a teacher's guide (coming soon) which includes lesson plans and additional material for coaches. For more information about The Great Debate, visit our website. We also have produced a video training series for Public Forum Debate. The public forum series is another free resource from The Great Debate.

Full Article: Secrets of the Great Researcher - Lazy Debater Guide to Research

Each day this week I'll be posting portions of an article written regarding how to research.  This is a useful guide which walks through the process and should be read by any debater interested in enhancing their debate skills.  I’ll re-post the entire article next week in its full form.

     Many debaters do not know how to research.  From beginners to advanced debaters, there are debaters who are deficient in research skills.  While many experienced debaters have learned to get by with their skills, the best research is still beyond their grasp.  This lesson is intended to help all debaters, beginning, intermediate, and advanced alike to become better researchers.  Whether this is your first time researching or you are a varsity debater in your eighth year of competition, these simple steps can help you to become an even better researcher.

     I have spoken with numerous debaters who complain, “I went to the internet and searched for the topic for one hour and didn’t find anything!”  As I ask some probing questions, I realize that these students are taking a wrong perspective toward research.  Some are hopeful that the research will simply pop out at them.  (Typing in “ocean policy” will NOT produce a case in five seconds.  Sorry to disappoint.)  Some students cannot find articles because they are not searching the in right places.  Some students find articles but do not utilize them to their full potential.  Still other students take their hour talking on IM, playing Yahoo games, and posting on the debate forums and are surprised when they look back over their “research time” and realize that they have not accomplished anything! (duh!)  No matter which student one is, a few techniques in the research process can help to make anyone a better researcher.

     The research process begins by taking a broad look at the topic.  First, examine the resolution for key words.  For example, when researching the resolution: “Resolved: That the United States federal government should significantly change its policy toward one of more of its protectorates.” you can circle or highlight the words that seem important.  Also, if you do not know the meaning of any word in the resolution, now is the prime time to solve that problem.  Go to dictionary.com and search for any word you need defined.  Any one of numerous sources can provide you with the basic definition, but dictionary.com provides numerous definitions that will settle the meaning of the term in your mind before you progress any further along in the research process.  After you understand the terms in the resolution examine each “key word” from your initial reading of the resolution.  It might look something like this: 

“Resolved: That the United States federal government should significantly change its policy toward one of more of its protectorates.”

Now that the key words are highlighted (these are also the words you will probably want to define in your case) you can begin your research.

     Typically, I start my research on the internet and quickly move to other sources (we’ll come to those later).  The internet is so expansive that I can get my feet just wet enough that I know what I’m looking for when I start using the other resources.  Warning:  The internet is a time-suck!  If you do not have hours to waste, you may be better off looking for your research in other places.

     Go to google.com and begin looking up these key words.  Look them up individually, collectively, and in different groupings.  For example, search for:

"united states", policy toward protectorate,

Don’t look at just the first page.  If you only look at the first link you will miss many valuable resources which come up down the page or on later pages.  I went to page 2.  A bit down the page, there is a link for “Time for a Korean Divorce” [http://www.cato.org/dailys/01-08-03.html] which is an article mentioning the words in the search query.  Now the research has just begun.  From this point you can read that article.  While you read that article you need to highlight/underline/circle any and all key words you can find in the article.  These terms will be useful in digging deeper into the topic.

     After you read this article, you can look up the new key words you have found in google.  For example: “military,” “defense,” “South Korea,” “peninsula,” and “dependent” are all some key words which can be recycled in additional searches.

     Now you are ready to begin addressing that issue specifically.  Search for the new keywords, add them into your old searches, and try them in unique orders.  All of these methods will produce numerous articles relating to one area of the topic.  After you have repeated this process a few times (for some of us, it is hundreds of times), you will begin to have a strong idea related to that area of the resolution.

     This search also turned up something unique to this topic.  Policy regarding locations is different from policies for such things as trade policy, immigration policy, or mental health policy.  Because this resolution is unique, there are some additional strategies which can be employed in researching. 

Here are some additional tips specific to the protectorate resolution:

1. Search ‘“protectorate”, “United states”’ and see if you can develop a list of protectorates.  Also, look for synonyms to protectorate (territory, commonwealth, insular area, dependency, etc.) and search for these terms.  This will allow you to hone your search to specific topics within these locations.
2. Once you have found a list of protectorates, you can look for a problem which needs to be solved.  Again, search google and look for ‘ “protectorate name”, “policy analysis” ‘ or ‘ “protectorate name”, “policy change” ‘ or other such variations which can give you areas for case development.
3. Look at think tank and policy research groups.  Once you are on their website, search for the protectorate name you are researching and read some of their articles.  Often you can find policy recommendations from the experts using this strategy.
4. Keep abreast of the news on protectorates.  While some topics are not volatile, this topic assures major changes all the time.  Even if you are not running a case in danger of being implemented by the government, you need to know what is going on in the current system so that you will not be caught off guard in a round.

     After you feel that you have a basic understanding of the topic it is time to step research up a few notches.  The next step is to print this article if you are reading it on a computer screen.  No, seriously, print it now.  Once it prints, get up from the computer…yup, I know, it’s tough to leave it all alone in the cold world, but trust me, it will be there when you get back – and so will your IM buddies ;).

Take this article with you as you head off to the library!!

     At the library there are three resources you can take advantage of.  First, go to the library catalog and search for the keywords you have found.  Find some books on the topic and skim them.  If the book seems to be good, look at the bibliography.  This allows you to benefit from the research the author already did for you!  Second, find one of the computers in the library which has databases on it.  These research databases contain hundreds of thousands of articles from magazines, journals, and newspapers and are fully searchable.  Again, look at the references and bibliography in these sources.  You never know what great article you might overlook if you neglect to read the research someone else already found.  Finally, go and talk with the reference librarian.  Yes, you have to put your communication skills into practice outside of tournaments, I’m sorry, it’s true.  Ask the librarian to help you find sources which make specific arguments.  Often the reference librarians will do research for you!!  I suggest approaching them last at the library because they can help you expand the research you already have.  While they could be helpful from the beginning, they will probably only get the really easy stuff at first.  If you already have that, they will help you dig deeper!

     Now you are in for the best part of this whole process.  After reading hundreds of articles, skimming bunches of books, and spending a short eternity staring at computer screens and printouts you will have knowledge about your topic that puts you head and shoulders above your peers.  This knowledge forms the basis for your debate season.  Are you finished?  Not really.  But now you know where the holes in your information are and you know where to look to find them.

     Now you’re asking yourself, “What about later in the year when I need to find something specific?”  Well, I’m guessing that if you follow this process for any length of time you already know what to do, but let me tell you just in case you’re a lazy debater who didn’t follow the previous instructions.  First, decide what you need it to say.  Then, use the key words from that argument and place them in your search query.  Third, play around with the statement and look at think tanks that hold a paradigm friendly to the argument you are trying to make.  Finally, if you still can’t find it, or if you want even stronger arguments, go and talk with the reference librarian.

     Research can be a difficult part of any activity.  While students in debate should know how to research, many for whatever reason, do not have research abilities to match their debating abilities.  Following these simple steps is one way I have found to develop a good foundation and then to build upon that foundation.  If debaters will take the time to learn the skills of research, they will not dread research but will be able to utilize their limited time to produce the research they need and win the argument.

For basic research instruction see our youtube channel, specifically the lecture on research/evidence basics. For links to studies and articles on the current NCFCA/STOA policy resolution and NFL/NCFL/UDL LD resolution follow us on twitter.  If you'd like to learn to debate, you should watch our LD videos or buy The Great Debate

Secrets of Great Researchers - Lazy Debater's Guide to Research (part 5)

Some notes to parents and coaches about research:

     Parents are often discouraged that their students express frustration and an inability to produce good results in the research process.  Parents and coaches are tempted to pitch in and help with the research burden their students have.  While this might seem meritorious, the effect of stepping in during the learning process can be harmful.  Students need to learn this process through the struggle.  If you step in and do their work for them they will have no incentive to learn the process and to become proficient researchers.  While they may find that one article today, in three years when they need that one quotation for an essay in college they will not know where to turn.  While it can be difficult to watch the hours go by with seemingly few results, the process of becoming a researcher is taking its sweet time and developing your student into a great researcher.

      Another concern many parents and coaches express is the amount of time taken versus the amount of research produced.  Many debaters will sit in front of the computer for hours and find next to nothing.  While this can be frustrating for the debater, it is only through trial and error and looking down the many trails of research that young researchers become proficient.

If you would like to receive coach's and student outlines for a basic research lecture like the one featured here, visit us at the Great Debate website and request a copy of the free LD training materials!.  For links to studies and articles on the current NCFCA/STOA policy resolution and NFL/NCFL/UDL LD resolution follow us on twitter  

Secrets of Great Researchers - The Lazy Debater's Guide to Research (Part 4)

     Now you’re asking yourself, “What about later in the year when I need to find something specific?”  Well, I’m guessing that if you follow this process for any length of time you already know what to do, but let me tell you just in case you’re a lazy debater who didn’t follow the previous instructions.  First, decide what you need it to say.  Then, use the key words from that argument and place them in your search query.  Third, play around with the statement and look at think tanks that hold a paradigm friendly to the argument you are trying to make.  Finally, if you still can’t find it, or if you want even stronger arguments, go and talk with the reference librarian.

     Research can be a difficult part of any activity.  While students in debate should know how to research, many for whatever reason, do not have research abilities to match their debating abilities.  Following these simple steps is one way I have found to develop a good foundation and then to build upon that foundation.  If debaters will take the time to learn the skills of research, they will not dread research but will be able to utilize their limited time to produce the research they need and win the argument.

For basic research instruction see our youtube channel, specifically the lecture on research/evidence basics. For links to studies and articles on the current NCFCA/STOA policy resolution and NFL/NCFL/UDL LD resolution follow us on twitter  

Secrets of Great Researchers - Lazy Debater's Guide to Research (part 3)

     At the library there are three resources you can take advantage of.  First, go to the library catalog and search for the keywords you have found.  Find some books on the topic and skim them.  If the book seems to be good, look at the bibliography.  This allows you to benefit from the research the author already did for you!  Second, find one of the computers in the library which has databases on it.  These research databases contain hundreds of thousands of articles from magazines, journals, and newspapers and are fully searchable.  Again, look at the references and bibliography in these sources.  You never know what great article you might overlook if you neglect to read the research someone else already found.  Finally, go and talk with the reference librarian.  Yes, you have to put your communication skills into practice outside of tournaments, I’m sorry, it’s true.  Ask the librarian to help you find sources which make specific arguments.  Often the reference librarians will do research for you!!  I suggest approaching them last at the library because they can help you expand the research you already have.  While they could be helpful from the beginning, they will probably only get the really easy stuff at first.  If you already have that, they will help you dig deeper!

     Now you are in for the best part of this whole process.  After reading hundreds of articles, skimming bunches of books, and spending a short eternity staring at computer screens and printouts you will have knowledge about your topic that puts you head and shoulders above your peers.  This knowledge forms the basis for your debate season.  Are you finished?  Not really.  But now you know where the holes in your information are and you know where to look to find them.

For basic research instruction see our youtube channel, specifically the lecture on research/evidence basics. For links to studies and articles on the current NCFCA/STOA policy resolution and NFL/NCFL/UDL LD resolution follow us on twitter 

Secrets of Great Researchers - The Lazy Debater's Guide to Research (Part 2)

     After you read this article, you can look up the new key words you have found in google.  For example: “military,” “defense,” “South Korea,” “peninsula,” and “dependent” are all some key words which can be recycled in additional searches.

     Now you are ready to begin addressing that issue specifically.  Search for the new keywords, add them into your old searches, and try them in unique orders.  All of these methods will produce numerous articles relating to one area of the topic.  After you have repeated this process a few times (for some of us, it is hundreds of times), you will begin to have a strong idea related to that area of the resolution.

     This search also turned up something unique to this topic.  Policy regarding locations is different from policies for such things as trade policy, immigration policy, or mental health policy.  Because this resolution is unique, there are some additional strategies which can be employed in researching. 

Here are some additional tips specific to the protectorate resolution:

1. Search ‘“protectorate”, “United states”’ and see if you can develop a list of protectorates.  Also, look for synonyms to protectorate (territory, commonwealth, insular area, dependency, etc.) and search for these terms.  This will allow you to hone your search to specific topics within these locations.
2. Once you have found a list of protectorates, you can look for a problem which needs to be solved.  Again, search google and look for ‘ “protectorate name”, “policy analysis” ‘ or ‘ “protectorate name”, “policy change” ‘ or other such variations which can give you areas for case development.
3. Look at think tank and policy research groups.  Once you are on their website, search for the protectorate name you are researching and read some of their articles.  Often you can find policy recommendations from the experts using this strategy.
4. Keep abreast of the news on protectorates.  While some topics are not volatile, this topic assures major changes all the time.  Even if you are not running a case in danger of being implemented by the government, you need to know what is going on in the current system so that you will not be caught off guard in a round.

     After you feel that you have a basic understanding of the topic it is time to step research up a few notches.  The next step is to print this article if you are reading it on a computer screen.  No, seriously, print it now.  Once it prints, get up from the computer…yup, I know, it’s tough to leave it all alone in the cold world, but trust me, it will be there when you get back – and so will your IM buddies ;).

Take this article with you as you head off to the library!!

For basic research instruction see our youtube channel, specifically the lecture on research/evidence basics. For links to studies and articles on the current NCFCA/STOA policy resolution and NFL/NCFL/UDL LD resolution follow us on twitter 

Secrets of the Great Researchers - Lazy Debater's Guide to Research (part 1)

     I have spoken with numerous debaters who complain, “I went to the internet and searched for the topic for one hour and didn’t find anything!”  As I ask some probing questions, I realize that these students are taking a wrong perspective toward research.  Some are hopeful that the research will simply pop out at them.  (Typing in “ocean policy” will NOT produce a case in five seconds.  Sorry to disappoint.)  Some students cannot find articles because they are not searching the in right places.  Some students find articles but do not utilize them to their full potential.  Still other students take their hour talking on IM, playing Yahoo games, and posting on the debate forums and are surprised when they look back over their “research time” and realize that they have not accomplished anything! (duh!)  No matter which student one is, a few techniques in the research process can help to make anyone a better researcher.

     The research process begins by taking a broad look at the topic.  First, examine the resolution for key words.  For example, when researching the resolution: “Resolved: That the United States federal government should significantly change its policy toward one of more of its protectorates.” you can circle or highlight the words that seem important.  Also, if you do not know the meaning of any word in the resolution, now is the prime time to solve that problem.  Go to dictionary.com and search for any word you need defined.  Any one of numerous sources can provide you with the basic definition, but dictionary.com provides numerous definitions that will settle the meaning of the term in your mind before you progress any further along in the research process.  After you understand the terms in the resolution examine each “key word” from your initial reading of the resolution.  It might look something like this: 

“Resolved: That the United States federal government should significantly change its policy toward one of more of its protectorates.”

Now that the key words are highlighted (these are also the words you will probably want to define in your case) you can begin your research.

     Typically, I start my research on the internet and quickly move to other sources (we’ll come to those later).  The internet is so expansive that I can get my feet just wet enough that I know what I’m looking for when I start using the other resources.  Warning:  The internet is a time-suck!  If you do not have hours to waste, you may be better off looking for your research in other places.

     Go to google.com and begin looking up these key words.  Look them up individually, collectively, and in different groupings.  For example, search for:

"united states", policy toward protectorate,

Don’t look at just the first page.  If you only look at the first link you will miss many valuable resources which come up down the page or on later pages.  I went to page 2.  A bit down the page, there is a link for “Time for a Korean Divorce” [http://www.cato.org/dailys/01-08-03.html] which is an article mentioning the words in the search query.  Now the research has just begun.  From this point you can read that article.  While you read that article you need to highlight/underline/circle any and all key words you can find in the article.  These terms will be useful in digging deeper into the topic.

For basic research instruction see our youtube channel, specifically the lecture on research/evidence basics. For links to studies and articles on the current NCFCA/STOA policy resolution and NFL/NCFL/UDL LD resolution follow us on twitter 

Preview: Next week's Research Article

     Each day next week I'll be posting portions of an article written regarding how to research.  This is a useful guide which walks through the process and should be read by any debater interested in enhancing their debate skills.  I’ll re-post the entire article next week in its full form.

     Many debaters do not know how to research.  From beginners to advanced debaters, there are debaters who are deficient in research skills.  While many experienced debaters have learned to get by with their skills, the best research is still beyond their grasp.  This lesson is intended to help all debaters, beginning, intermediate, and advanced alike to become better researchers.  Whether this is your first time researching or you are a varsity debater in your eighth year of competition, these simple steps can help you to become an even better researcher.

For basic research instruction see our youtube channel, specifically the lecture on research/evidence basics.