Debate

I for one love debate. Although I can classify myself as a "newb," I still love it. My partner is JJ, and we have only won 1 debate so far.. out of 4. But all of that is okay, because we have actually gotten a lot better and have put a lot of effort into it. The main problem is merely our speaking. We do well to convey our plan to the negative team, but then they refute it with rather invidious claims. One comment that the judges and the negative often argue against our plan are the "what ifs." Due to this, sometimes I go off on a tangent during my rebuttal, deriding the negative team's listening. Clearly they mustn't have listened or they would have heard me state how the "what ifs" are taken care of. Nine out of ten times, my rebuttal allays all of the negative team's suspicions of our plans effectiveness and solidity, so I am confident that we are okay on that part.

But affirmative is not where our main problem lies. It's the speaking in the negative debates that are treacherous. Without any recourses except a few books, it is difficult to improvise and argument in five minutes. A lot of the time my arguments are plain improv. It's almost like tawdry jewelry. It's appealing at first, but is all just for initial show. At times, my arguments lack substantial evidence, but they spark an attitude from the other team, much of the time flustering them. My partner gets very riled up and almost hectors the other team, which is good... too an extent. We don't want to be the bullying team, because that will most certainly not help up to victory. But he and I definitely need to practice a lot more because we have the potential to be great. More speaking clinics Mrs. O! We can do it. :D