Once you receive your resolution you will research and write a 6 to 7 minute speech in affirmation and negation of the resolution. In a typical debate tournament you are assigned whether you are negating or affirming the resolution on the first round of the debate. If you affirm the resolution in the first round you will negate it in the second round and affirm it again  in the the third round and vice versa. After the initial 3 morning rounds the debaters that performed the best in their debates and earned the most speaker points (points the judge awards you based on how well you present your case) will advance to the afternoon rounds which take place after lunch. The afternoon rounds are basically the Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Finals. For these rounds you will toss a coin with your opponent to see who will negate and affirm the resolution. 

The typical LD match will last 45 minutes and go as following

• Affirmative Constructive - 6 min - The purpose of this speech is to lay down the main points of your argument as affirmative. You should use this time to its fullest extent and elaborate more on your case in the 2 aff rebuttals if needed.

• Cross Examination (AFF) - 3 min - After the Aff speech Neg will ask questions and basically interrogate Aff on their speech for 3 minutes. They will try to ask questions to deconstruct the framework of the Aff speech, make sure to ask and answer cross examination questions tactfully.

• Negation Constructive - 7 min - The purpose of this speech is to lay down the main points of your argument as the negation. You should use this time to its fullest extent and try to negate some Aff points in your speech. 

• Cross Examination (NEG) - 3 min - After the Neg speech Aff will ask questions and basically interrogate Neg on their speech for 3 minutes. They will try to ask questions to deconstruct the framework of the Neg speech, make sure to ask and answer cross examination questions tactfully.

• First Affirmative Rebuttal - 4 min - The purpose of this rebuttal is to attack the neg case and build up your own case. You will likely come up with this on the spot during your prep time.

• Negation Rebuttal - 6 min - The purpose of this rebuttal is to attack the Aff case and build up your own case. You will likely come up with this on the spot during your prep time. Make sure to wrap up your case and urge the judge to vote neg.

• Second Affirmative Rebuttal - 3 min- This is your closing argument. Make sure to wrap up your argument and urge the judge to vote aff.

  Writing a speech is one of the most important parts of LD. You want to make sure the speech clearly and concisely gets you thoughts. Many people write their speeches  differently but a few things stay the same throughout. The first thing you want to think of when writing a speech is the Value. The value is the main idea you will center your speech around. Popular values are morality and justice. A value is usually a broad idea that your speech should be based upon., so make sure you don't make it too specific.The criterion is means to which you will achieve the value. So if your value was equality you would achieve this by something like humanitarianism. This works because humanitarianism; can be defined by 'promoting human welfare'  and you will achieve equality by first mainly equalizing the economic status of many people. For example, reducing poverty, increasing standards of living, etc. One other thing that most speeches have in their intro, is definitions. You want to define words the way you are going to use them in your speech. This doesn't mean taking a definition from a dictionary, but instead means using the word the way it supports your speech. If you are going to use the word justice for example, you will want to define that the way it applies to your specific speech.

Most speeches have 2 to 3 contentions. The contention is kind of like the body of the speech. This is where you will present all of you main points. It's a bit like when you are writing an essay. There is an introduction, which in a debate speech would be your value, criterion, and definitions. The main body of the essay/speech is usually 2-3 paragraphs, or in the case of a speech, contentions.  In the contentions you will present your argument and evidence explaining  why you think your side of the resolution is right. While supporting your case in the criterion you will uphold your value, you will do this by connecting all your contentions back to the main idea of your speech. Finally you will wrap up your speech. This is much like the conclusion of your essay. You will summarize all your points again and urge the judge to vote for you.

Keep in mind, that this is just a vague structure. You have a lot of freedom as to how you want to write your speech and the process you use to get there. What matters in the end is that your speech has valid points, and you feel like you could debate it.

  "Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe. " -Albert Einstein

  While it may seem stressful at first, if you are motivated and prepare, the debate will fly by. Don't worry.