Schedule

Affirmative Opening........................................ 7 minutes
Cross Examination...........................................2 minutes

Negative Opening.......................................... 7 minutes
Cross Examination..........................................2 minutes

1st Neg. Rebuttal.......................................... 4 minutes
1st Affirm Rebuttal.........................................4 minutes

2nd Neg. Rebuttal..........................................4 minutes
2nd Affirm Rebuttal........................................4 minutes

3 MINUTE BREAK

Affirmative closing........................................5 minutes
Negative closing...........................................5 minutes

General Instructions

Dress Code:

Girls - dress or skirt
Boys - shirt and tie (may wear jacket, too, but if one wears a jacket, all must wear a jacket)
Everyone - wear dress shoes or sandals and keep hair out of eyes

Demeanor:

Be cordial and polite. A rude or overly aggressive debater will not earn favor with the judges. Look and act confident. Speak loudly and with expression. Stand still, but use gestures. Smile. Look professional. Remember to seek eye contact and speak primarily to the judges.


Preparation:

First week: Team works together to come up with five points that they want to raise and defend in the debate. Work together to gather evidence to support your points, to thwart the attacks of your opponent, and to demolish your opponents' points. Decide roles in the debate and focus on your own role.

Second week: Get together or use email or phone to share all evidence. Use what the team has come up with and continue to research for your particular role. Opener should write speech.

Third week: Go over opening speech as a team. Look for holes, find any missing evidence, offer suggestions. Do that for each role. Closer, take copy of everybody's notes and use them to further fashion your speech, knowing that you will have to be flexible since you do not know the opposing team's points.

Evidence and notes:

1. Be sure to have two copies of all your evidence because the opposition may ask to have a copy and you will have to give them one. Write down all sources as you do research, even if you are not sure whether you will use the information or not. It will save you time in the end.

2. Put all information on full size sheets of paper. Title each page. Do not staple anything because you will probably need to reorganize during debate.

Opening

Preparation: Plan to fill all seven minutes. If you do not, you probably will not make your case. If you go over seven minutes, you will be cut off. This speech should be completely written and well rehearsed before the debate.

The Speech:
1. Greet and thank audience and judges. Introduce your team.
2. Introduce debate by stating the resolution and your stance on it.
3. Give definitions of any terms, citing the source.
4. Introduce and explain each of your five points. Be sure to say the number of each point, and give each point a short name. For example: Our first point is 'God's Sovereignty'. Our second point is 'Necessary Morality'. Our third point is....
5. Use as much documented evidence as possible to substantiate your points. Mere opinion and/or emotional appeals should carry no weight with the judges.
Always identify the source of your evidence. For example: "According to John Calvin on page 235 of The Institutes......" OR " the website calvin.edu states that....."
6. End speech by repeating your points briefly but clearly. The judges must know what your points are to be able to award them to you. You may bring up new evidence later in the debate but you may not bring up new points, so be sure to list, define and provide evidence for all of your points in the opening.


Team Members: Pay close attention to opposition's opening. Write down all their points, arguments and evidence. If everyone does this, between all of you, you should catch all the information. You must know and understand their points in order to rebut them.

Cross-examination

All team members should participate. Use this time to challenge the points the opposition team puts on the table in their opening. Ask for copies of their evidence if you wish. Challenge any information you believe to be false or poorly substantiated. Be sure your questions do not allow your opponents to further their case. If you do not have any questions about their opening, you may begin challenging their points. (It's like getting a little extra time for your first rebuttal.) If you can think of absolutely nothing to say, you may relinquish your time and we'll move on.

Remember that your team is in charge of the cross. Do not let the opponent steal the initiative. Do not let them give long answers that eat up your time, do not let them ask you questions, feel free to declare an argument irrelevant and then give evidence to prove that is so. If your opponent makes a point that the 1st rebuttal did not prepare for, and the point is goofy or irrelevant, 1st rebuttal should attack during cross, asking the relevance and/or asking if maybe the point actually supports your side

1st Rebuttal

When called upon, you may ask for 60 seconds to prepare.

Preparation:
1. Your job is to anticipate the other team's points and provide evidence/arguments to refute those points. You know they will put five points on the table, but the odds of guessing the exact five are small. Therefore you will have to think of 8+ points and prepare a defense for all of them.
2. The best strategy is to have a separate page of information for each point. That way you can set aside the points they do not use and arrange the papers for the points they do use in the correct order for your rebuttal. Include as much evidence as possible in your rebuttal of each point.
3. As your opponent gives the opening, take notes on the paper that is appropriate to the actual point being discussed. Label your paper with the number and name of their point. Record their exact reasoning and evidence.
4. If they bring up a point you did not anticipate, it is likely that some of the evidence you've gathered will be usable. You'll have to organize this on the spot. If your opponent makes a point that you did not prepare for, but the point is goofy or irrelevant, attack during cross, asking the relevance, and/or asking if the point doesn't actually support your side.

The Speech:
Address your opponent's points in the same order that they gave them. For example: "My opponent's first point was..." (Always mention the number of the point and its short name)Then give your best argument and evidence to refute the point. Do this for each point. Be sure to address every one of their points because if you do not rebut the point, they automatically win it; you may not rebut later.

2nd Rebuttal

When called upon, you may ask for 60 seconds to prepare.

Preparation - Ask yourself, "If I were the opposition, how would I rebut my side?" Try to think of as many rebuttal arguments as possible (8+) and gather evidence that refutes those arguments and supports your points. Put each argument on a separate piece of paper. Listen carefully to the opposition's 1st rebuttal, taking notes on the paper that is appropriate to their argument. Label your paper with the number and name of the point it defends. Organize your papers in the order of your team's five points. If the opposition brings up an argument you did not anticipate, it is likely that some of the evidence you've gathered will be usable. You'll have to organize this on the spot.

The Speech:
Defend your team's points in the order given in the opening speech. You MUST defend all five of your points because you will automatically lose any undefended points. Mention the number of the point and its short name so judges clearly understand what you are arguing. Remind judges of any points the other team failed to rebut and thank the opposition for conceding the point.

Closing

You have 3 minutes to prepare.

Preparation:
1. Before the debate, write a brief introductory paragraph restating the resolution.
2. (You will work with the opener and 2nd rebuttalist to gather evidence that supports your points and defeats their arguments ) You can pre-write at least half of the defense of your five points. List your points and include your best evidence/arguments. Leave blank space by each point to note the opposition's attack and to jot down the appropriate defense for that attack. You may not introduce new evidence in the close; you may only use the evidence already mentioned.
2. (You will have asked 1st rebuttalist for a copy of all his notes and will be acquainted with his material) As you listen to opposition's opening, write down their points and evidence. Listen to your team's 1st rebuttal and jot down the arguments against each point, adding anything you think might be helpful (But remember, you cannot add new evidence).
3. Write a powerful closing paragraph, thanking the judges and convincing them that your team has clearly made the better argument.

The Speech:
1. You MUST address and defend all five of your team's points. Show how your opponent was unable to refute your points.
2. You MUST address and refute all five of the opposition's points. Show how your opponent's arguments were weak and did not hold up against your team's rebuttal.
3. Remind judges of any points that were conceded.
4. Thank opponents for a lively debate and judges for their effort and wisdom : )