Debating Guide

In recent years I posted a series of "preparing for worlds" articles that were taken from a guide to Worlds style debating. I'm not going to repost them all again but in case anyone is interested here are the links to each post.

Firstly here is a link to my training and tips posts on the style at Worlds.
- http://worlddebating.blogspot.com/search/label/Training

Training Presentation


Here is a guide I wrote a few years ago:
- General Info
- Speaking in Public
- Researching your Debate
- Points of Information
- One Page Summary





Here are some posts I uploaded in advance of Worlds in 2006 and they are based on a training guide by Dan Neidle.
- http://worlddebating.blogspot.com/2005/12/preparing-for-worlds-3-first.html
- http://worlddebating.blogspot.com/2005/12/preparing-for-worlds-4-poi.html
- http://worlddebating.blogspot.com/2005/12/preparing-for-worlds-5-roles.html
- http://worlddebating.blogspot.com/2005/12/preparing-for-worlds-6-arguments.html
- http://worlddebating.blogspot.com/2005/12/preparing-for-worlds-7-rebuttal.html
- http://worlddebating.blogspot.com/2005/12/preparing-for-worlds-8-extensions.html
- http://worlddebating.blogspot.com/2005/12/preparing-for-worlds-9-good-bad.html

Adjudicating a debate
- How to Adjudicate

Hosting a Tournament
- Tabbing your tournament
- Guide to bidding for Worlds


Finally here are some official guides to worlds for both debaters and judges:

Motions & Research

I'm also regularly asked for potential motions. Well now it's too late to do much research if you are starting from scratch. If you are then I suggest you buy all versions of Time, Newsweek and the Economist you can get at the airport and read them on the flight to Ireland. The Economist World in 2009 special edition is a useful

If you have a little more time and access to the internet and a printer then some years ago I posted a list of potential topics. Many still hold true although some are out of date. I could update them but I am doing this in between changing, feeding and winding a new baby so I'm afraid you will just have to make do with the old list.
- http://worlddebating.blogspot.com/2005/12/preparing-for-worlds-2-topics


In terms of researching these subject areas a quick way to get a good overview is to search for that topic in the BBC website. They often have good topic outlines. Enough to get you into the debate if you wish to do some last minute research. Also www.debatabase.org is a good resource with printable talking points on many topics.

If you are looking to do some last minute padding of (or creation of) a case file then remember that the key is that you have to know the information is there. You won't have time to read every thing between now and the start of the tournament. Create an index of the topics you have in the file. And it has to be paper based. Worlds rules prohibit the use of electronic equipment.



Finally it is important to understand that no matter how much research you do you will have to debate several topics which you have not prepared for. You can't have covered everything. In a case like this don't panic but go back to the "first principles" post in the training section.