Category: Debate

Making the Most of Your Ballots by Noah McKay

Posted on by Heather Neumann

Mid-season tournament preparation can be perplexing business, Coach Noah McKay will be starting his 2nd Semester LD Club in just a couple weeks. He will help you break down your cases, help analyze the best values, and come up with a strategy! Did you know you could also learn a ton from your ballots?

You have probably experienced the sinking feeling of going 1-5 after months of pre-season research and writing, along with attendant confusion about what, exactly, you are supposed to do to bring those numbers up the next go-round. After all, if you couldn’t find a winning argument anywhere in the thousands of pages you read between July and December, where can you find one?

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NCFCA LD Resolution – Defending Transhumanism? By: Noah McKay

Posted on by Heather Neumann

The Problem – You Don’t Have to Defend Transhumanism This Year
It has come to my attention that this year’s Lincoln Douglas resolution is breeding uneasiness among rank-and-file debaters and parents in the NCFCA. Of course, almost everyone is uneasy about new resolutions, because, well, they’re new. But the present distress goes beyond standard concerns about definitional vagueness or bias: some have questioned whether it is even morally permissible to defend the Affirmative position…

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Strategies for a More Effective Cross-Examination by Peter Montgomery

Posted on by Heather Neumann

“…It is for all these reasons I strongly but respectfully urge an affirmative ballot. Thank you, and I now stand open for cross-examination.”

In the silence that follows your opponent’s final words, you finish shuffling your papers around on your canary yellow legal pad, take one final swig from your trusty water bottle, and then with a deep breath, stand up and approach your adversary at the podium, being careful to avoid making eye contact.

You set your timepiece for three minutes, take one final glance around to check if your opponent and judges are ready, then with an earsplitting beep, you activate your timepiece and start the countdown, a wide smile appearing on your face.

“Hi, that was a great speech, but of course as always I’ve got a couple questions for you today, starting with…”

If you’ve ever participated in any form of debate that has cross-examination, this situation, or one very similar to it, should be familiar to you. Starting off cross-examination this way seems natural. After all, you want to appear friendly to the judge, and you’ve seen other experienced debaters follow this same pattern. What could possibly be wrong with this approach? Quite a bit, it turns out.

In this article, we will be examining some common cross-ex tactics and pressure-testing them with alternative options to see if they really deserve the spot they have secured in the hearts and minds of debaters.

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Topicality in the 2022 NCFCA Resolution by Logan Hickman

Posted on by Heather Neumann

Love it or hate it, this year’s resolution is one of the narrowest resolutions we’ve seen in a long time. Narrow resolutions make way to more topicality issues and more topicality arguments. Regardless of your position on when it is or isn’t appropriate to run topicality, it’ll likely happen a lot throughout the year, so let’s examine the topicality scene as it regards cases…

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Why Should Debate Be Part of Your Homeschool Curriculum by: Amy Eichholz

Posted on by Heather Neumann

Amy Eichholz is part of the Lasting Impact! Teaching Team. She has graduated two sons and is teaching two daughters, still at home. Her journey in Speech and Debate started over a decade ago. She began as a novice parent, and is now preparing for her sixth year teaching Novice/Beginning Debate for the largest Homeschool Speech and Debate Club in Wisconsin. She is eager to see the transformation of another group of young students, both in person and online! Prior to homeschooling Amy taught fifth through twelfth grade. She will be teaching Debate Readiness for Lasting Impact! in the fall for ages 10-14. Sign up NOW or read her thoughts on why debate should be a part of your curriculum…

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LD Prep Success Tip by Meg Aerni

Posted on by Heather Neumann

As we enter this next school year, it’s time to begin preparing for debate. I remember preparing for my first year of LD debate not too long ago. I found evidence, googled definitions, and printed many briefs. In fact, pretty much all of my preparation time went into writing cases and finding evidence. Generally, this is what we think of when we want to prepare. In the debate round, we need cases and evidence, so that’s what we should gather before competition starts. Right? Well, in my opinion, that’s only partially right. It’s certainly important to be prepared with these materials before your first tournament, but I don’t think cases and evidence represent the most important aspect of a debate round…

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Last Call – Ziggy + Lasting Impact! Online Debate National Championship

Posted on by Heather Neumann

Why haven’t you signed up yet? No more excuses- Do It TODAY! Perhaps you still have questions… perhaps you have excuses… let’s look them over…

How do sign up? Here’s the link. https://www.ziggyonlinedebate.us/sign-up/judge-signup.html

How much does it cost? Only $35!

I don’t have the money. Talk to us about a scholarship!

I don’t have the time. This is your typical Ziggy Tournament. You schedule your rounds, except for the Finals Round on June 18.

Isn’t registration closed? Nope! We extended registration until TODAY – May 16!

I didn’t qualify to Nationals. That’s ok! This is about GROWTH! Not all the best competitors make it through to the National Championship. Iron sharpens iron.

What are the prizes? We have scholarships to colleges, camps, including CASH!

Are the prizes just for winners? Nope! We will have drawings, as well!

Who is judging? We have excellent judges signing up to help you guys! This feedback is going to be the feedback you will want to propel you into next year or into The National Championship.

How do I sign up to judge? Alumni and parents can sign up HERE.

Still have more questions!? We would love to hear from you! We are excited to offer this opportunity and continue to see you dig deeper, grow, explore this 2021 debate season.

Top Tips on How to Prep Debate Before a National Championship

Posted on 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 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 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 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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