public forum

Google Classroom Code: 

About Public Forum

• Public Forum is a partner debate event (2v2) where you debate a resolution (topic) that changes every 1-2 months. These topics range from geopolitics to the economy to technology, and frequent topic changes allow debaters to analyze different issues throughout the year without feeling bored. For more information on past topics and topic areas for the upcoming year, click here. 

• Public Forum, unlike the other debate events, places heavy emphasis on the traditional aspects of debate. Anyone, regardless of their knowledge of the topic or debate event, can judge you, and it is your job to appeal to them. In Public Forum, you gain the invaluable skill of understanding how to adjust your rhetoric and argumentation style to best persuade your audience.

• Public Forum is an incredibly useful event for real-world application. We discuss current global events such as the war in Ukraine and climate change, domestic issues such as the federal debt ceiling and labor laws, and technology such as biometric recognition technology and high-speed rail. All the skills you pick up from Public Forum, whether they be public speaking skills or worldly knowledge, will benefit you through the rest of your life.

• The objective of this event is to convince your judge whether or not an action should be taken. For example, one of this year's topics is: Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially reduce its military presence in Taiwan. You will defend this act and oppose it throughout your debates. There is no focus on moral or ethical issues as in Lincoln-Douglas, and you do not have to discuss how policies should be implemented as they do in Policy. Rather, Public Forum simply examines if an action would have a positive or negative effect.

About Our Team

• Hamilton's Public Forum team consistently places at and wins local tournaments in both the Varsity and Novice divisions. In the past couple of years, we have had not only a successful novice team, with nine places throughout the year, but our varsity team also dominated the national circuit -- 15 cumulative TOC bids, wins in the Stanford and Season Opener tournaments, and 4 teams attending the TOC (the most in Hamilton history). 

• Public Forum has a huge community, both within our team and within the broader Speech and Debate world. Our PF team here at Hamilton is one big family and we like to throw parties, go out for fro-yo and food, and have endless conversations over text.

• The captains are Lynn and Lucas; please reach out if you have any questions!

Participation & Competition

• We meet twice every week on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 2:30 to 4:00 PM in room E115.

• At meetings, we will usually go over the technicalities of debate, the specific structure of the speeches, and in-round strategy; run a topic analysis; or go through practice rounds or drills before a tournament. Meetings are tailored to the needs of the team, so if you need to work on a specific skill, let us know!

  • We also do fun stuff at meetings -- we've played jeopardy, mafia, and did a Secret Santa last year 

• On your own, you have the responsibility of writing cases and responses, finding evidence, and learning more about the topic, but we're here to support you as much as you need! It really is a team effort, and this work honestly becomes most people's favorite part of being in debate.

• Don't be stressed by the workload - we are all here to share our resources and research. We will make sure that success will be enjoyed by the team as a whole. 

Format

• Before every round, both teams flip a coin to determine their side (Pro or Con) and speaking order (1st or 2nd). If you win the coin toss, you get to choose either the side you prefer or if you want to speak first or second. 

• Each team has a pre-determined first and second speaker that give different speeches. Both teams alternate giving speeches. Here is the format of every round: 

  • • Constructive (4min) - First Speaker 

    • 1st Crossfire (3min) - First Speakers only 

    • Rebuttal (4min) - Second Speaker

    • 2nd Crossfire (3min) - Second Speakers only

    • Summary (3min) - First Speaker

    • Grand Crossfire (3min) - Everyone

    • Final Focus (2min) - Second Speaker

Why should you join Pf

• Since our topics change the most frequently out of every event, you get to learn more about a wide variety of relevant topics.

  • Just debating one topic for the year is pretty boring :)

• Public Forum has a lot of competitors, so you have a wide variety of opponents.

  • Public Forum rounds are also pretty short so you get to debate a lot more at each tournament.

• Public Forum teaches you how to persuade people that have zero knowledge about the topic or debate in general, making it much more applicable to real life.

  • You have to adapt the way you speak and argue depending on the judge you have.

• Public Forum also has judge training sessions that all new judges are required to takes so that they understand what they should be analyzing in their decision.

• Public Forum is easy to follow along and understand.

  • The arguments are not extremely complex and the pace of the debate is relatively slow.

  • In general, Public Forum is a great approach to debate and will prepare you for the real world.