Rules: Ebate Uide

DEBATE GUIDE
Debaters work together in teams of 3 and must research both sides of the issue. Each team is given
the opportunity to offer arguments and direct questions to the opposing team.
Rules
1. When someone is making a speech, no one should interrupt (not even team members).
2. Team members should not assist their team-mates by offering suggestions or by answering
questions on their behalf.
3. No outside assistance is permitted during the debate.
4. Debaters should be able to provide sources for direct citations.
5. Debaters should practice intellectual honesty, i.e. students should cite arguments and statistics
truthfully, and never fabricate sources or data.
6. Debate should be approached as a team activity.
General speaking guidelines

1. Speeches should be 5 minute long but should never be substantially less than this. Speakers
exceeding this may be penalized. The timekeeper will record your times.
2. Speakers may address the audience as Ladies and Gentlemen. Speakers must use formal
language; informal/bad language (i.e. profanity, slang) is not permitted.
3. You must speak clearly and loudly enough so that everyone can hear your voice.
4. Try to avoid monotone. If you are making an important point use your voice to stress it and
make it stand out.
5. Maintain eye contact with the audience, which debaters are expected to face (not each other).
6. Use your body language to back up your speech.
7. It is better to stand while you speak but you do not have to stand strictly behind the
podium/desk.
8. If you can use humour, it can be extremely effective in a debate.
9. Be careful not leaving statements hanging in mid-air. If you say something important back it
up.
10. Remember you do not necessarily have to believe the side of the argument you are on. You just
have to make it appear as though you strongly believe in it for 5 minutes.
Debate structure
Speaker 1A – affirmative constructive (6 mins)
Questions – negative team asks, affirmative team answers (2 mins)
Speaker 1N – negative constructive (6 mins)
Questions – affirmative team asks, negative team answers (2 mins)
Speaker 2A – affirmative cross-examination and rebuttal (5 mins)
Questions (2 mins)
Speaker 2N – negative cross-examination and rebuttal (5 mins)
Questions (2 mins)
Speaker 3A – affirmative rebuttal and closing arguments (5 mins)
Speaker 3N – negative rebuttal and closing arguments (5 mins)
Speakers’ roles
Speaker 1A – introduce your team’s position. Define key terms. Give a complete argument in favour
of the resolution and present the entirety of your team’s case, including whatever criteria or
definitions the team views as instrumental.
Speaker 1N – introduce your team’s position. Offer a complete argument against the affirmative’s
position. The affirmative’s definition, if not challenged at this point, should stand. Challenge the
affirmative's arguments; otherwise, it will be assumed that these arguments are acceptable.
Speaker 2A – outline and respond to your opponents’ arguments and continue building your
argument. If you don’t refute a given point or an objection in the negative case, then the
point/objection stands/is conceded.
Speaker 2N – outline and respond to your opponents’ arguments and continue building your
argument. At this point in the debate, the negative speaker may start to draw attention to points that
have been dropped, i.e. indicate items to which affirmative have not responded.
Speaker 3A&N – respond to your opponent’s arguments. Renew refutations that have not been
addressed adequately. Usually, this means pointing out flaws in the negative rebuttal. New evidence
for existing arguments may be presented but **no new argument should be introduced**.
Summarize and conclude.
Organisation
1st minute
 Don’t rebut another speaker’s speech.
 Define your speech, i.e. say what you will address and how.
 Ideally be able to state your argument in a single, short sentence.
 Define your team approach, i.e. say roughly what your partner will say (or has said).
2nd minute
 Layout your argument.
 Usually best to propose/oppose on 3 points (e.g. political, social, economical).
 Begin you first point.
3rd-4th minutes
 Outline (e.g.) political, social and economical aspects and deal with them.
 Use these 2 minutes to make all your points. Effectively this is your speech.
 Refer back to the single, short core sentence one or two times.
5th minute
 Finish the point you were on as quickly as possible.
 Don’t introduce new points or arguments.
 Sum up. Reiterate your main points and arguments (and those of your partners)
 Ideally, if possible, restate the single core sentence as the last thing you say.
Rebuttal – responding to your opponents

Rebuttal basically involves ripping the opposing side’s argument apart and exposing its weak points.
However don’t forget to make your own argument and ideally use that to rebut.
Affirmative case Negative response
Problem There is a problem The problem doesn’t exist (redefine the problem)
Cause this is the cause That’s not the right cause (propose a different cause)
Solution here is our solution The solution isn’t workable (give your solution)
Effect and its effect It won’t have those effects (show the real effects)
Preparation
Research is vital and cannot be avoided if you want to make a winning speech. If you have
information, don’t keep it to yourself, USE IT.
Look for facts and examples more than statistics. While statistics can be very handy for filling up a
few minutes, they are also boring. Your information should back up your arguments and be
memorable. If you find a little know fact that will surprise the audience and catch their attention use
it strategically. Place it in a crucial stage of you speech in a way that everything falls in together and
the audience becomes convinces of the truth of what you are saying.
Remember that your argument is the most important part of your speech and your research should
back it up, not the other way round!

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DEBATE GUIDE

General speaking guidelines

Rebuttal – responding to your opponents

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