General Definition: A motion given at a tournament before a designated round. After providing the motion, teams are moved to preparation areas and are given time to create cases before the debate. Public Forum: Not used in PF, where all topics are prepped and announced prior to a tournament. World …
General Definition: The beginning of a speech, often including a hook to get the audience’s attention, a statement of the motion, and a roadmap of what content will be discussed in the speech. Public Forum: In PF, debaters typically aren’t expected to deliver a formal introduction, although they may consider …
General Definition: In debate, the logical justification for why a claim is true, including examples, logic, studies, data, or expert opinion. See also “Evidence“. Public Forum: see general definition. World Schools Debate: see general definition. British Parliamentary: see general definition. Canadian National Debate Format: see general definition.
General Definition: Providing argumentation that contradicts or directly refutes a previous partner or front half argument. Debaters should never knife their own side. Public Forum: Not a common phrase in PF, although debaters should be careful not to contradict their partners. World Schools Debate: See general definition. British Parliamentary: In …
General Definition: A form of impact weighing that analyzes the probability of an impact to occur. See also “Probability“. Public Forum: In PF, likelihood is developed through both the specificity of examples or analysis, as well as statistical analysis drawn from expert research. World Schools Debate: In WSD, likelihood is …
General Definition: Flawed, deceptive, or false arguments that can be proven wrong with effective reasoning. Public Forum: see general definition. World Schools Debate: see general definition. British Parliamentary: see general definition. Canadian National Debate Format: see general definition.
General Definition: Appeals to logic; rhetoric designed to persuade an audience with logic or reason. Public Forum: see general definition. World Schools Debate: see general definition. British Parliamentary: see general definition. Canadian National Debate Format: see general definition.
General Definition: The process or tool used to make something happen. See also “Link“. Public Forum: Not a common phrase in PF, where “Link” is used instead. World Schools Debate: In WSD, a mechanism is a proposition of policy made by side Proposition to make clearer the implementation strategy for …
General Definition: A practice technique that includes fewer or shortened speeches to focus on improving specific aspects of one’s performance. Public Forum: see general definition. World Schools Debate: see general definition. British Parliamentary: see general definition. Canadian National Debate Format: see general definition.
General Definition: Arguments decreasing the impact of an opponent’s argument, preventing them from scoring points or adding weight to their side. Also known as “Defense“, mitigation is often framed as reasons the judge shouldn’t vote for an opponent. Mitigatory arguments are generally weaker than “Offensive Arguments“, although they can play …
General Definition: The proposition’s ability to determine the agency or actor that enacts the motion, as well as define terms and burdens for the motion. Public Forum: Not used in PF, where actors and resolutional mechanisms are explicitly stated in the “Resolution“. World Schools Debate: In WSD, a model is …
General Definition: The topic or subject offered to debate. Motions are written as statements that create clear affirmative and negative ground, or positions. See also “Resolution“. Public Forum: see general definition. World Schools Debate: see general definition. British Parliamentary: see general definition. Canadian National Debate Format: see general definition.