Category: Debate

Coming Soon! NCFCA Lincoln Douglas Guidebook

Posted on by Heather Neumann

Whether you’re a first-year debater or a 6-year debater wanting to dig deeper, this brand new sourcebook from Lasting Impact! is about to be your best friend!

We are putting together an NCFCA LD Guidebook–It’s like a typical sourcebook, yet with LD coaching tips and arguments all in one. This is not a curriculum. Hope Rawlson, 2019 NCFCA LD Champion is part of the project, “I am so excited to be involved in this! I LOVE LD, but felt typical source books, just didn’t offer enough. I’m thrilled Lasting Impact! will be offering more to help competitors, parents, and coaches and making a resource that will be really helpful for understanding the resolution and debating rounds.”

The guide will be split into sections, it is organized by the different elements of an LD case:

  • Definitions
  • Resolution Analysis
  • Applications

Plus, inside each section there will be an explanation on how to use it in LD. You will have a plethora of resources at your fingertips– including definition briefs, application briefs, in-depth arguments, and more! In addition, the sourcebook will include analysis of different arguments, how to debate this resolution, and how to successfully debate LD in general, all written by nationally ranked debaters with years of proven experience! Lasting Impact! is beyond excited to offer this incredible resource to share with all of you. Available by ebook only. Release date September 2019.

If you are as excited as we are… be sure to sign up for Hope’s Online LD Workshop – Aug. 28. Perhaps, you will get a sneak peek into the guide!

Cultivating the Debater’s Soul by: Isaiah McPeak

Posted on by Heather Neumann

For those of you who don’t know him, Isaiah’s passion is teaching students to think deeply and something (like me) he spends a lot of time thinking about!! After somewhat of a hiatus, Isaiah is looking forward to seeing both old and new friends in Chicago this August…

I’m really excited to help a new group of students stretch themselves and think about debate like never before. If you are thinking about sending your student to camp, or if you haven’t worked with me before, here are three things you should know:

Continue reading “Cultivating the Debater’s Soul by: Isaiah McPeak” →

Stoa TP Resolutions Analysis by: Sam Wooddell

Posted on by Heather Neumann

Broad and Boring isn’t always Bad: An Analysis of Stoa’s Proposed Team Policy Resolutions…
It’s starting to feel like complaining about Stoa’s proposed resolutions every single year is a rite of passage for debaters. I’ll admit, I fell victim to the trend myself, annually condemning the new resolutions without a shred of empirical evidence to justify my hastily crafted opinions. Believe it or not, the same thing happened again this year. Now, the attacks have spread to Instagram, where accounts titled both “voteforres3” and “stop.res3” have followed me in the last two weeks. Enough is enough. Let’s take a balanced, realistic look at the resolutions we’ve been offered and see if they’re as appalling as advertised…

Continue reading “Stoa TP Resolutions Analysis by: Sam Wooddell” →

NCFCA TP Resolutions Analysis by: Eric Meinerding

Posted on by Heather Neumann


The new topic options have been presented for NCFCA team policy and there is incredible potential for an extremely engaging an competitive year of debate across all three topics. I’ll be going over the pros and cons of each option and then offering my opinion on which I believe is the best resolution. I’ll be rating each category in two topics. First will be educational and engagement potential. Here I’ll basically be judging each topic on their ability to prevent the year from going stale. Secondly, each topic will be graded on its ability to facilitate competitive debate rounds, basically which topic will generate the greatest quantity of fair, even debates. I’ll look at balance, breadth of aff and neg arguments, and the available research on the topic here. Each category will be rated on a scale of 1-3, with 1 being the best topic for that category and 3 being the worst…

Continue reading “NCFCA TP Resolutions Analysis by: Eric Meinerding” →

Regional/National Pro Tip- Declutter Your Debate Briefs by: Isabelle Clausen

Posted on by Heather Neumann


I’m sure you’ve all had one of those debate rounds where you are listening to your opponent’s case and he or she is just spreading the debate round, sharing argument after argument. This happened to me at Desert Gem in California a few years ago. My opponent was sharing countless applications and responses, it was so hard for me to keep them all straight. I was on the affirmative side about to give my last speech. During prep time, I looked down at the flow and realized that I had 3 minutes to refute 29 arguments. Yes, you read that right: 29 arguments! One of the many reasons why I was in such a dilemma by the end of that round was because I didn’t have clear responses in my debate briefs!

Continue reading “Regional/National Pro Tip- Declutter Your Debate Briefs by: Isabelle Clausen” →

Lasting Impact! Pre-NITOC LD Prep Workshop with Isabelle Clausen

Posted on by Heather Neumann

NITOC is such an exciting tournament for STOA competitors. Even before you start competition in the early fall, you are already dreaming about NITOC, aspiring to be the next champion in your favorite speech or debate event! As the tournament season rolls on, you strive to gain points, win titles, and perfect your speeches and cases. Why do you put so much work into this season? Because you want to do well at NITOC. For most competitors, doing well at NITOC is the ultimate goal of their season…

Continue reading “Lasting Impact! Pre-NITOC LD Prep Workshop with Isabelle Clausen” →

The Competent Cross-Ex by: Sam Wooddell

Posted on by Heather Neumann


It’s nearly impossible to participate in debate without hearing arguments between Team Policy and Lincoln Douglas debaters as to which of their formats constitutes better debate. Though I won’t attempt to make a final decision here, I know one area where, although it pains me to say it, the TP-ers are beat.

Continue reading “The Competent Cross-Ex by: Sam Wooddell” →

Debate- Catching the Squirrel: The importance of sticking to your guns By: Eric Meinerding

Posted on by Heather Neumann

Eric is hosting a Second Semester Online TP Club. To hear all of his great teaching, like the article below, sign up to be a part of the group. Sessions are recorded, and he’s giving away a free personalized coaching session- so what do you have to lose?!?!

…. You’re in out rounds and your opponent has just pulled out a new case and is expertly explaining the details of an organization you have never even heard of and why it needs to change to a panel of judges who probably know more about it than you do at this point. You’re panicking. You’re tournament life is on the line and you don’t have a single piece of evidence that even mentions the AFF case. Even still, throwing in the towel isn’t an option so you start thinking creatively…

Continue reading “Debate- Catching the Squirrel: The importance of sticking to your guns By: Eric Meinerding” →

Debate Opportunities and How to Become an Expert in Debate… Each Round by: Eric Meinerding

Posted on by Heather Neumann

There are two opportunities this week for digging deeper in the debate realm of Speech and Debate… specifically for our NCFCA friends (don’t worry Stoa friends… we are working on it)! If you want a little more guidance and direction come join one of the Debate Workshops or Second Semester Clubs start in February. Until then, here is how you can become an expert in Debate (video recordings HERE- https://lastingimpact.info/product-category/recorded-workshops/).

Continue reading “Debate Opportunities and How to Become an Expert in Debate… Each Round by: Eric Meinerding” →

A Guide to Self-Timing by: Eric Meinerding

Posted on by Heather Neumann

Now that self-timing has been introduced Speech and Debate there are new etiquette rules and techniques to learn so that this logistical task is carried out smoothly to facilitate good, competitive debates. Self-timing is commonplace in the collegiate policy leagues, poses no major issues, and will definitely benefit the high school leagues as well. Similar to attire, greetings, debate organization and overall presentation, self-timing doesn’t implicitly affect the outcome of a round. It can, however, be another small factor with which to get quickly comfortable in order to avoid any unnecessary technical speedbumps. Here are a couple simple “do’s and don’ts” to consider when it comes to managing your own speech time in debate.​..

You need to be a member to view this content.  Please sign up or login.

Lasting Impact! Team Policy Opportunities

Posted on by Heather Neumann

Team Policy Mid-Season Workshop (NCFCA)

When: Wednesday Jan. 30 7:30pm-9:00pm CT

Instructor: Eric Meinerding

Cost: $5 members/$20 non-members

Competition season is upon us! That crazy time of year where you forget what day of the week it is, whether or not pizza is an acceptable breakfast, and any sense of a routine. You may have weeks where you are gone for an entire weekend, get back Monday, and start another tournament Thursday or Friday. It’s busy, but it’s some of the most fun you’ll ever have. However, you are investing a considerable amount of time and money into these tournaments so making the most of your time is crucial!!

Join Eric on Jan. 30 where he will hold a mid-season workshop on how to survive and thrive during your tournament season as a team policy debater. Wondering if you should write an extra brief, change your aff case between tournaments, memorize your 1AC, or just do practice debates until you’re blue in the face? Well, as someone who once did four tournaments in two weeks, traveling over 2,000 miles in the process, Eric Meinerding knows or a thing or two about making the most of this hectic time, and will help navigate these questions during the workshop. Hope to see you all there!

Second Semester Team Policy Debate Club (NCFCA)

Dates: Starting Wed. Feb. 13 (all calls will be recorded)

Time: Approx. 1 hour/ 8:00-9:00pm CT

Instructor: Eric Meinerding

Cost: $50 per member/ $75 per non-member

Looking for additional Team Policy support for the competition season? Well you’re in luck! Eric Meinerding is hosting a second semester TP debate club exclusively through Lasting Impact. He’ll be meeting with students weekly for 8 weeks, all across the NCFCA nation to work through strategies against the popular cases, find the best arguments in the current climate, go over ballots, discuss debate theory, advanced impacting, and a host of other topics. Included with your enrollment is a free coaching session with Eric at any point during the season to get direct, personalized feedback tailored directly to your team’s needs. So whether you are without a club for the season, looking to go above and beyond, or are looking for innovative strategies, this club will provide what you’re looking for.

Click HERE for more information.

Eric is studying Policy and Law at Liberty University. He competed in the NCFCA for six years focusing mostly on limited preparation events and both styles of debate, qualifying to nationals in both TP and LD his senior year, along with multiple speech events. Eric competed on Liberty’s Policy Debate Team for three semesters at both the junior varsity and varsity levels. Eric sees competitive forensics as way to develop one’s communication and argumentation skills to use in all facets life. Eric loves looking at debate from the perspective of a game, meaning he wants to help debaters process and execute the most strategic arguments and preparation methods for all styles of debate, along with effective rhetorical skills to present those arguments in debate rounds as well as forensics categories.