MahDeo

=__**2ac Politics Drill - July 12**__= Comments by Peyton

Good argument diversity – make sure on the uniqueness evidence you’re reading cards with diverse warrants Your analytic should have the argument frontloaded that you want the judge to flow – like writing a tag (ex: “No impact – their powell evidence says warming won’t happen for decades” ) More word efficient – don’t need to say “on to”

=__Politics DA Block Extension Speech - July 15__=

Comments by Tate
--Remember to start off your speeches a bit more slowly so the judge can tune into you better. You want to make sure those first few words in every speech are understood :). --I would love, love, love to see an impact overview at the top – why does the DA outweigh or turn the case? --What great speed you have! There were a couple of clarity issues but I think it may be the acoustics of the room (the clarity was better when I moved closer). What is impressive about your speed is (a) you have a nice, pleasant-sounding rhythm and you did not have very many pauses between arguments which is often common in younger debaters.  --It may have been my typing, but I missed your signpost from the uniqueness debate to the link debate. Make sure that you have clear transitions when moving to different 2AC arguments.  ---This speech was very evidence intensive, which is always great. However, I would love to see more analytical arguments – make argument comparisons between your evidence and theirs…as well as extending cards from the 1NC. We did this a little bit but it needs to be a bit more sophisticated. --Make sure your arguments are responsive. For example, you answer the 2AC arg that “Obama not pushing/not top of the docket” with the 1NC card that says Obama is involved in international climate negotiations…I don’t necessarily think that is the same --argument. --Goal for next speech: Impact overview and make sure clarity is on point.

=__Mini-Debate #1 - Hebah/Anjay vs. Mahnvee/Ken - July 17__=

Comments by Layne Kirshon
These general comments apply to everyone. No one made any glaring errors/was unclear – in fact, all of you sounded great! That said, there are some meta-level changes you all should make to be more persuasive/effective --always look at the judge in CX. You’re convincing the judge, not each other, that you are right. Looking at the judge also means you can see their facial expressions/body-language for various arguments --speed is a MEANS not an END. Every speech in this debate ended early! Being fast is a necessary evil in debate because of timed speeches, but if you aren’t filling up your time, be slow. Tripp was one of the best debaters ever and he went barely faster than conversation speed. --Divide up cross-x correctly. This applies to the aff, not the neg, but the 2A was cross-xing the 1N and then you didn’t have questions for the 2N. You need to maximize evry cross-x as it’s a way to interact with the other team’s arguments. Also, you should give the correct cross-x because it maximizes prep time. --Arguments need warrants, not just claims! This in particular applies to the 2NC and 1AR in this debate (the 1NR was actually pretty good about this). While the 1NC/2AC just have to read cards, later speeches require argument DEVELOPMENT. WHY is the airborn laser good, WHY is war with Russia more likely. Overall, good debate. Everyone seemed to have a really good conceptual grasp of the arguments. =__Practice Debate #1 - Neg (1N) vs. Emma/Matt - July 20__=

Comments by Tate
1NC: --We still need to work a bit on clarity. The judge needs a little bit of time to get used to your voice. This, combined with the fact that T is not filled with evidence, means you should slow down a tad on Topicality violations. --In a world that you don’t have a CP, it is much more important to get a lot on both case advantages than a 3rd DA. You can’t win a debate (usually) if you win one DA and the Aff wins all of their Aff. CX of 2AC: --Good to remember your body posturing in CX. You stayed relatively focused on the judge and you were in front of the 2AC. Good command of the room. --Watch questions that you will never get the answer you want to…”Your warming = bad science…are you really going to back this?” The 2AC is not going to say “no”. 1NR: --This is a lot for a 1NR. I would either go for Politics or T, not both. It will be difficult to cover both as well as the bottom of the Resolve DA. --What 2AC answer(s) are you answering on the Resolve DA? This part of the speech sounds like “random thoughts by Mahnvee” on a DA that your partner covered. :) --I like the cards you read at the top of the Politics DA to try to filter the impact debate through. Set that up by saying “DA outweighs the case. (1) Magnitude (read the card), (2) Timeframe (read the card)  --Your discussion of “extinction will happen now” at the top of the Politics DA needs to be eliminated.  --We need to do line-by-line debating. You need to answer each 2AC argument in order. We dropped the entirety of the uniqueness debate. We also did not reference the Ice Age debate specifically. On T, you have to answer the 2AC arguments in order. We don’t answer a LOT of arguments on T – we did not answer their counter-interpretation, why your definition is over-limiting, and why the Aff meets your violation.  --REDO goals: 1 – Don’t go on Resolve…the comments you make are not going to make the difference between winning/losing the DA. 2 – Pick either T or Politics for five minutes. 3 – Do line-by-line. Make sure you have a complete flow of the 2AC and answer each 2AC argument in order.

=__Practice Debate #5 - Neg (1N) vs. Anjay/Anjali - July 27__=

Comments by Helen Gomez
1NC: Your emphasis on words is perfect and your speech was very clear. However, it seems that you are running out of breath. Your transition from tag to card seems unnatural – you should not slow down on tags and speed through the cards. Rather, there should be a gradual transition in speed. Make sure that you are not sacrificing clarity to get through the card faster. Strategically, you should read more off case in the 1NC. You should construct your 1NC with the 2NR options in mind. As of now, you only have 2 options for the 2NR – T and DA/Case. Try to put more pressure on the 2AC. 1NR: The 1NR was good. You should relax and start a bit slower. You will find that taking your time and relaxing makes you go faster. You should go more line by line. Structure is important for a successful speech. Begin by identifying the weaknesses in the 2AC, extend the 1NC, and read more cards. You need to make sure to impact every arg. For example, if you are going for the arg “winning the heart and minds is key,” you need to give a reason why that’s an alt cause to the case (in other ways, why they don’t solve for heg).

=__Back to Basics Drill - Negotiate with the CP Block extension - July 28__=

Comments by Tate
--I am really disappointed that we were not raring to go. The "computer" is not an excuse. --The key answer to the permutation is that the perm links to the DA. --You could have grouped the first two perms - they were functionally the same. --I know this is a super frustrating exercise, but you are doing what I want you to do - going line-by-line. --If this were a true block extension, you would want to talk about your 1NC cards and, obviously, read evidence. --Thanks for struggling through with this.

=__Back to Basics Drill: START DA - Block Extension - July 29__=

Comments by Tate
--We really need to make sure that we understand the 2AC arguments. This is especially problematic since you have a copy of the 2AC cards and you have had them for hours and hours. --Make sure to group like 2AC arguments - 2ac 1 and 2 were both "not top of the docket" args and 2ac 3 and 4 were both "no pass" cards. --The signposting was okay but I am not really sure what we prepped during the 6 minutes. You needed evidence!! --Again, I really think you can do better on this. It should have been prepped before the drill that they would have read link turns. You should have had some of this prepped before the drill. --Where, oh where, is your Winner's Win block?

=__Back to Back Basics Drill: START DA Redo - July 29__=

Comments by Tate
--This was better but we still need to work on this. --For example, we need a better answer to "not at top of docket". You have to know your evidence or spin some of your uniqueness evidence that START debate is happening now. --Remember, we have to read evidence....no longer can you go along on the theory that "if we ignore it, it will go away". --We needed a lot more on the "will pass" debate. Remember, one card you read is a link (Kyl hates the plan). --Good to read the wall of link cards. --Remember to restart your 2NC/1NR numbering when you go to a new 2AC argument. You "reset" as you go on to each new 2AC argument.

=__Practice Debate #9 - Neg (1N) vs. Nick/Konstantine - August 01__=


 * Comments by Jeffrey Xu**

You have a lot of prep for the 1NR - you should choose what to take with that in mind. You would have been better off taking the consult NATO CP. You definitely have time to prep for each permutation the aff made, and you should have blocks for those anyway. Make sure you're well acquainted with your files so you aren't stuck making an impromptu decision to kick the CP during your speech. You did a good job of sign-posting and extending 1NC evidence on the case flows, but you should organize your speech better so you don't go back and forth between the flows.