Debate – Page 5 – Lasting Impact!

Top Tips on How to Prep Debate Before a National Championship

Posted on May 4, 2021May 4, 2021 by Heather Neumann

The NCFCA Regional Tournaments are ending, and Stoa Tournaments wrapped up in April. That still leaves a good four to six weeks between people’s last tournament option and A National Championship. How are you going to prepare for the next level of competition? We, at Lasting Impact! and Ziggy Debate have a FANTASTIC idea! But also be sure to check out the tips from our awesome coaches…

Sure, you have your own clubs to practice with, but as we know, the incentive to practice can be a bit lower if you’re not attending Nationals yourself. And given how important Nationals is to so many, it would be a shame for students to miss out on the opportunity to keep honing their debate skills in the 4/6-week gap.

That’s why the Ziggy + Lasting Impact! National Championship is such a great option: it provides a spaced out period of prelim and outround debates with prizes and national competition for students to keep their skills sharp and earn prizes, and it’s open to everyone, regardless of whether you’ve qualified for Nationals or not.

Ready to sign up? Head over to https://ziggyonlinedebate.us/sign-up/tournaments.html

What do coaches have to say… here is their insight for prepping for a National Championship…

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More Information for Debaters/Families to Think About for 2021 TP Resolutions from Economic Thinking

Posted on April 25, 2021April 25, 2021 by Heather Neumann

Our friends over at EconomicThinking.org wanted to share some of their research on the proposed policy topics for 2021. These would be excellent for students to dig deeper, check out for themselves, and maybe even sneak in a debate. Economic principles and history will help students identify meaningful reforms…

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2021 LD Analysis from Coach Joe for NCFCA and Stoa

Posted on April 24, 2021April 24, 2021 by Heather Neumann

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! National tournaments are just around the corner, Spring is in the air, and resolutions are out for next season! There’s a lot to be unpackaged in the new resolutions. Voting is open right now for both leagues and there is plenty to be discussed! Let’s cover some key observations for all 6 of the resolutions and provide a bit of analysis in order to supplement your vote…

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NCFCA 2022 TP Resolution Analysis by: Logan Hickman and Anna Macklem

Posted on April 21, 2021April 21, 2021 by Heather Neumann

Since the year of EU immigration policy is sadly coming to a close, NCFCA has released its three resolution options for next year’s season! Voting is already open, NCFCA has released papers, videos and webinars, and sometimes amidst all the discussion of who likes which resolution more, it can get overwhelming. This is especially true of this year, where all three resolutions are intriguing, educational, and exciting in different ways. Because of this, we’ve boiled down the resolutions to a quick list of pros and cons to help you come to a decision without too much headache. That said, please feel free to take a look at NCFCA’s resources before voting!

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Introducing – Ziggy+Lasting Impact! 2021 National Debate Championship!!! Sign Up NOW

Posted on April 20, 2021April 21, 2021 by Heather Neumann

Lasting Impact! and Ziggy are joining forces to create an epic Debate Championship to close out the 2021 season! I know you will have questions… so let’s get them started!

1. Why are Ziggy and Lasting Impact! teaming up? It’s always awesome to collaborate with like-minded organizations and friends. We love coming together and collaborating and giving families opportunities to engage in speech and debate opportunities.

2. What are your goals? We want to see students growing, and continuing to hone their debate skills whether they are attending NCFCA Nationals or not. This also continues to give judges the opportunity to fill out ballots and give more feedback. Essentially, it’s that feedback that can help students to think critically, analyze their thought process, and make decisions on what needs to be said, or what does not. And let’s not under estimate the power of practice!

3. Who is the Ziggy + Lasting Impact! National Championship for? You did not need to make it to Nationals to compete in this unique debate event. Not all of the top competitors will make it to Nationals. Iron sharpens iron. Use this for the opportunity to grow for next season, or use this as your last hoorah, or use this event to test out your cases!

4. Will there be a case list? Students will have the option to disclose the TP case they are running during signup, but do not have to do so. We encourage teams to share what case(s) they are running, though, as we believe this enhances the quality of rounds! Per Ziggy Rule 2(a)(ii), Aff TP teams will need to send a copy of their case to the Negative team upon request during the round.

5. Will there be prizes? Yes, of course! More details soon!

6. Why the weekly/5 day format? Easy. Flexibility!! We wanted something easy and flexible for you to commit to.

7. What is the cost? Early bird is only $30 per person. Sign up now!

8. How do you sign up?

https://www.ziggyonlinedebate.us/sign-up/tournaments.htmli

Be sure to check out all the rules at www.ziggyonlinedebate.us On behalf of Ziggy and Lasting Impact! we hope you will join us!

Need a MidSeason Boost?

Posted on February 5, 2021February 5, 2021 by Heather Neumann

Have you been to a tournament or two and are feeling like you aren’t quite prepared? Don’t fret, you aren’t alone! Most teams have an aff case they are comfortable with by this point, but often going neg can feel daunting. Luckily, the interconnectedness of this year’s resolution means that with a collection of general briefs, you can feel prepared to debate against cases you haven’t even heard of before!

To supplement and spur on your research, the Lasting Impact team has released a Booster – collection of three general briefs and one neg brief covering key issues affecting many if not most of this year’s cases…

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Impact Tip! Don’t Forget Philosophy in Lincoln Douglas Debate By: Caleb Sampson

Posted on January 5, 2021January 5, 2021 by Heather Neumann

Lasting Impact! is going to run a new series in 2021 called Impact Tips! Today’s tip comes from Caleb Sampson. He’s running an LD Workshop next week to help you bring your A-game to your Lincoln Douglas Debate. The workshop will discuss the relevance of this year’s NCFCA resolution and the proper use of philosophy, legislation, case law, historic examples, logic, and analogies. This is a Workshop LDers don’t want to miss! In fact, if you sign up now, we will throw in the Lasting Impact! LD Guide FREE. Sign up HERE or keep reading to see his Impact Tip!

What is the most essential yet underappreciated application in Lincoln Douglas Debate?

In 1858, Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas faced off in a series of 7 debates about the issue of slavery in the United States. While both men were esteemed politicians and policy makers, these Lincoln Douglas debates didn’t focus on the intricate details of legislation or the ins and outs of constitutional law. Fundamentally, these debates focused on the values of Americans and the underlying philosophies that led the American People to those value systems.

The most essential yet underappreciated application in Lincoln-Douglas Debate is philosophy…

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Essential Tournament Prep: Judging Debate by: Brenda Storz

Posted on December 11, 2020December 11, 2020 by Heather Neumann

Our friends, at New England Debate, posed a great question… it’s geared toward judges…

Are you ready? We’ve all spent months helping equip our debaters for competition. We’ve asked: Do they have fitting tournament attire, a way to organize their evidence, a timepiece and flowpad? Have they written their case well, developed enough negative research, and practiced enough debate rounds? We’ve focused on making sure they are prepared — or at least as prepared as they can be. As parents, we usually worry about ourselves last, but are we prepared?

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The TPers Horror Story Turned Utopia by Sarah Fox

Posted on November 20, 2020November 20, 2020 by Heather Neumann

It was the moment every policy debater fears. My partner and I had just asked our opponents what case they were running, and to our horror they gave us the name of one of the only cases we didn’t prep for at that national mixer. Not to mention it was the last prelim round – a breaking round. I less than confidently pulled out our one piece of evidence on the bill printed late the night before while my partner ran through the rain to retrieve a few pages of evidence from a fellow team. Needless to say, it was chaotic… Till we remembered there were such things as sourcebooks.

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Cross Examination – Balancing Firmness vs Respect by: Jackson Zomer

Posted on October 26, 2020October 26, 2020 by Heather Neumann

How many times have you seen it happen? A debater loses significant likability with a judge because they are far too rude in cross examination. Or someone loses a round because they don’t bring up a point for the fear of sounding too harsh. In my five years of competing in Speech and Debate, I often experienced being on both ends of the spectrum (more so the former than the latter). This can be categorized as a lack of balance- the balance between firmness and respect. Being out of balance on either side can devastate your chances of winning debate rounds and having genuine communication with your audience. By the end of my senior year, I feel I had greatly improved with this balance and transformed it from a massive weakness into one of my strengths. Part of that is because my TP partner for my last two years, Thomas Walter, is an absolute master at balance and I learned a ton just from observing his habits. I’ve boiled down what I’ve learned about the balance of firmness and respect in debate into a few very practical suggestions that I feel can significantly improve your skills, likability, and success as both a speaker and a cross examiner.

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The Value Behind Lincoln Douglas Debate by: Olivia Bottorff

Posted on October 9, 2020October 9, 2020 by Heather Neumann

I’ll never forget the moment when I told my best friend in Speech and Debate (a regionally ranked Team Policy debater) that I was going to compete in Lincoln Douglas debate my junior year of high school. “Olivia, that’s not real debate” she smiled as she spoke as if explaining simple addition to a kindergartner. “All you’re talking about is concepts that you can’t change, do TP, you can change policy.”

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Guidebooks, Sourcebooks, and Casebooks, Oh My!

Posted on October 6, 2020October 6, 2020 by Kristi Eskelund

It’s that time of year, when the resolution research begins to get collected into books and distributed for all those conscientious coaches and students out there who are ready to start working on their debate material. There are plenty of sources out there to help you get started, here are some things to keep in mind as you start to consult those resources…

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