Often times debate students, whether it be LD, TP, or Parli, often have trouble seeing past the debate round when it comes to their impacts. While there is nothing wrong per say with wanting to win, if we are not able to show the judge(s) the implications of our logic and arguments in the real world, we will have missed what debate is all about. Luke McConnel will present their case for Big Picture Argumentation in his Online Workshop this weekend (Sat. Oct. 6, 11:00am CT). Read on… or sign up HERE.
Often times in debate, students will get so caught up in the line by line argumentation, that they will be forced to speed, make meaningless arguments, confuse the judge, and last but not least, drop important arguments. Learning the elements of Big Picture Argumentation will not
only enable you to avoid these things but will also give you better time management skills. In Lincoln Douglas and Team Policy Debate, there is always a huge block of time that the negative team will have to give the judge their own argumentation. Affirmative speakers will usually do one
of two things. They will either speed through their speech and give the judge fragmented, passive arguments. Or to their ultimate demise, they will forget to respond to important and main case arguments. By understanding that the debate has far reaching implications outside of
the debate round, debaters can stop looking at the fine print and start looking at the big issues in the round and how they affect the judge directly. The Big Picture Argumentative strategy will give you the tools you need to construct a very emotionally charged and persuasive case
framework that in most cases will completely outweigh any small and insignificant impact that your opponent may bring up in the duration of round. Furthermore, this strategy will allow you properly identify what is and isn’t important in the round for both your sake and the judge’s
sake. Ultimately, when the judge understands what they need to pay attention to, they will remember it and more than likely vote for it.
Debaters that try to use fancy rhetoric or speed and spread argumentative strategy may look cool, but in reality are shooting themselves in the foot every time they open their mouths. Debate has nothing to do with being slick and everything to do with being remembered. Implementing arguments that focus on the big picture will trigger a subconscious and emotional response on behalf of the judge that will allow them to see the round as you would have them see it. Think of the round as if it were a battle in a war. When all the smoke clears, who will be left standing? You will.
More students and coaches need to learn “Big Picture Argumentation.” It is a very simple argumentative strategy that will allow students to connect better with their judges. One of the aspects of the strategy includes pre round and pre tourney prep. If students want to win debate rounds, they have to earn it. Furthermore however, if they are not able to clearly communicate to the judge why the judge should vote for them, aka how they won the round, all their hard work means nothing. This strategy gives them the ability to break the barrier that prevents judges from really capturing the meaning of their arguments.
After learning the essential principles of “Big Picture Argumentation”, you will hopefully be able to do the following- understand the real world implications of your case, allow to judge to structure the round under your framework, adequately prepare for well-known argumentation, know your opponent’s arguments before they make them, understand the impacts of your case, create a concise case thesis that thoroughly explains the message you wish to convey to the judges, properly delink and delegitimize the importance that your opponent will attribute to his or her account, be easy to understand, and so much more.
Can’t wait to see you on the 6th. Sign up HERE.
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