Resolutions and Procedures

This is an impromptu tournament: there is no prepared topic. Each round will have three resolutions: a choice of a straight or squirrelable resolution for the advanced category, and a single straight resolution for the novice category. New resolutions will be offered each round. To give you an idea of the kind of resolutions used, the complete set from 2012 (the 100th Anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic) are attached below. (The Titanic theme was only used that year; you should anticipate great topics this year, but not Titanic topics).

ADVANCED CATEGORY

The moderator will ask one team to call the coin toss, and then flip the coin. The moderator will then announce which team has won the coin toss. The winner can choose topic, or side. They do not need to decide (whether they want to choose topic or side) until they have heard the topics.

The moderator will open the envelope and read the topics for this round, and then ask the winner of the coin toss to choose whether they wish side or topic.

Once the team has decided whether they want side or topic, whichever team has the choice of topic chooses the topic, before the team choosing side is called upon to choose side.

The moderator will then announce the topic as chosen and announce the sides as chosen. Debaters then have 15 minutes to prepare for the debate.

NOVICES

Novices are offered a straight topic; the coin toss winner gets to choose side

In a previous year, these were the three resolutions offered in round one:

Straight Resolution (Advanced category):

This house would use classical music to disperse teenagers

Squirrelable Resolution (Advanced category):

You didn’t exactly miss, said Pooh. But you missed the balloon.

For those who are not familiar with squirreling, if you choose the squirrelable resolution, you are free to run a resolution of your own choosing, but you must make a link to the topic given. So it might become, “When I think of people who miss their target, I immediately think of the Conservatives’ new tough-on-crime legislation. On the government, we believe that this House should not support the tough on crime legislation”. The debate then becomes a debate about whether the tough on crime legislation is desirable.

Novice Resolution:

This house would lengthen the school day

POINTS OF INFORMATION

Both novice and advanced debaters have points of information, but they are not mandatory. The first and last minute of the main speeches (and all of the Prime Minister’s rebuttal) are “protected” time — points of information are out of Order.

To indicate when protected time ends and begins, the timer will bang the table, or a book.

To raise a point of information the debater rises and either stands silently (waiting to see if he is called on to ask his question) or says something like, “On that point”, “Point of Information” or the like.

TIME LIMITS

No debater is required to use all of his or her allotted time, and judges will decide the debate based on the quality of the arguments, not their length.

Every round is bracketed after round one, based on win-loss results. Judges are asked to assign individual speaker points in the range of 60-85 points per round, but typically debaters average between 70-82 points a round.

The top 8 teams in each category break to quarter-finals. (Novices after four preliminary rounds, advanced debaters after five).

COACHING

No coaching is permitted once the topics are announced. Debaters are permitted to use their phone to time their speech, but are not allowed to use the devices to research the topic.