Wellesley Speech

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Wellesley Speech DebateWorkshops

• Parli Basics
• Forming a Case
• Guide to Speeches and Responsibilities
• Leader of Opposition
• Prime Minister
• Members of Gov Opp
• Style Tips

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Forming a Case the Prime Minister Speeches

• A Wednesday Workshop brought to you by the
  SpeechDebate Society

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The Speeches
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The Constructive

• You will be presented with links, which you will
  then use to form a case statement (you will have
  10 minutes before your round to prepare, but its
  best to come to a tournament with at least 3 case
  ideas).
• Establish the issues and direction for the debate
  and state a clear case statement (one sentence)
  that does not violate any of the rules.
• Offer any further explanation or case background
• The rules do not allow points of Information
  during your first or last minute, but the
  Opposition may ask points in the beginning to
  clarify the statement
• Present a case consisting of arguments which
  support the case statement these 3-5 points
  should support your case statement, not just be
  related to the topic
• (some credit to apdaweb.org)

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The Rebuttal

• Respond to any new MO arguments (dont spend too
  much time on this, max 2 minutes)
• Crystallize the round into clear Government
  voting issues. The speech serves to frame the
  debate from the Government's point of view. The
  PM should explain each of the reasons why the
  Government has won the round and why these
  reasons outweigh the arguments the government
• Point out holes in the flow- dropped arguments
  and explain their impact (ask the judge to count
  these dropped arguments against the Opposition)
• No new arguments, only new examples
• (some credit to apdaweb.org)

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Constructing a Case

• Creating fun and debatable cases can be
  difficult, so many debaters think of cases in
  advance. Although people think of ideas in
  advance, debaters should not research or
  over-prepare.
• A case should be linked to the resolution, but
  as there are loose links that you can connect
  to anything, its not something to worry about
• Your case should consist of the statement and 3-5
  supporting arguments
• There are three requirements for case
  construction
• Must not be status quo
• Must not be tight or tautological
• Must not use specific knowledge

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Technicalities to Avoid

• Specific Knowledge- cases which are based on very
  specialized information, generally, if you cant
  find out about it by reading the NY Times, its
  too specific
• Tight Cases- cases which the opposition does not
  feel they are able to argue the opposition side
  of fairly.
• Tautologies- a case or statement that is a
  defined truth -- while not necessarily true on
  face, the Government uses its right to define
  terms to set up the round in such a way that they
  cannot lose. Sometimes two definitions which are
  perfectly reasonable on their own can combine to
  form a tautology.
• Example if the Government defines the judge as
  a devout Catholic priest and argues that he/she
  ought to refuse a marriage proposal, they have
  created a tautology -- no Catholic priest who
  believes in his faith would ever be married.
• Truism- a self-evident truth.
• Example Racism is bad.

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The man
Damn. He is hot!
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Travel Through Time Space

• Time-space means that the Government team places
  the judge in the role of a particular person or
  decision making body at a particular time in
  history in a particular place or position. The
  judge must then decide the round based
• Example "You are Bill Clinton in 1991, do not
  seek the Presidential nomination"
• Note that the government does not have to
  specify each parameter or person, time and place.
  If these factors are not specified, assume the
  reasonable or average circumstance.
• The Opposition should always have the
  opportunity to ask the Government exactly who,
  when and where a particular case is set. To
  introduce a time-space case, the Prime Minister
  should specify that the case is time-space and
  then clearly tell the judge "You are ____. The
  time is ____.
• Time-space cases are subject to all of the rules
  for regular cases, including tightness and
  specific knowledge. Two extra rules must be
  considered in a time-space situation. First,
  events that have not happened yet or facts that
  are not yet true in the specified time period may
  not be used in a historical case. The second
  extra rule deals with the nature of making the
  judge a particular person or group. People are
  not the same and do not view arguments the same
  way. Adolf Hitler and Ghandi have very different
  views on arguments about war, race and religion.
  The psychology of the judges persona should be
  considered when judging the round or making
  effective arguments.

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Opp-Choice? Wtf?

• In an Opp-Choice round, the Government will
  present a case and then allow the Opposition to
  choose which side they will argue
• Example Wellesley should or should not have an
  Alcohol Policy that ruins everyones social life
  the Opposition will choose if they wish to argue
  should or should not
• Why would anyone do this?
• It makes everyone look good wow, so smart, she
  can debate both sides of this case!
• You may not really care about which side you want
  to argue, presenting your case as Opp-Choice is a
  way to get someone else to make the decision for
  you
• Its fun!

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Tips and Helpful Hints

• Using buzzwords to refer to your case arguments
  is useful, but make sure you clearly explain your
  arguments
• Case ideas can come from anywhere-- a paper from
  a class, a news article, a piece of legislation,
  even a TV show-- try not to make the case too
  specific, focus more on ethical or moral
  decisions
• Check out the case ideas sub-conference in the
  Speech and Debate FirstClass conference
• End with We beg/are proud to propose

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Thats all folks!

• For more details, check out the Parli Guide at
  www.apdaweb.org

I killed the President of Paraguay with a
forkhow have you been?