Speaker Duties Affirmative/Negative Burden 1st Affirmative Construction 1st Negative Construction 2nd Affirmative Construction 2nd Negative Construction 1st Negative Rebuttal 1st Affirmative Rebuttal 2nd Negative Rebuttal 2nd Affirmative Rebuttal Speaker Etiquette

Affirmative/Negative Burden:

• The affirmative has the burden to prove the validity (well grounded or justified) of the resolution beyond a reasonable doubt. In theory, absent clear and compelling affirmative proof, the negative will automatically win. The affirmative can fulfill this burden by establishing a clear, logical case during their first speech; this is called a prima facia case.
• Negative Duties: The negative has the duty to clash with the affirmative's case; in other words, they must systematically demonstrate how the affirmative fails to met the burden of one or more of the stock issues.
• The affirmative establishes what will be debated during a round, and the negative will show how the affirmative has failed to prove their case.

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1ST Affirmative Construction:

• Groundwork: As the first speech, the 1AC establishes the groundwork for what will be debated in the round. This is done by: providing field context and legal definitions for key terms, demonstrating the need for a change through significance and inherency, present an outline of the affirmative's plan, and discussing why the plan should be adopted by outlining solvency and advantages.
• Delivery: Since this speech is prepared long before the debate tournament begins, the first speaker is expected to have most of the speech memorized and to deliver the speech using superior communication skills. The biggest problem with the 1AC is being able to read, clearly, all of the information within the eight-minute time limit. The more accomplished in the 1AC the more time debaters will have to cover other issues later in the debate.
• Cross-Examination: Another concern for the first speaker is the cross-examination period. First speakers sometimes think they have the easiest job and tend to relax a little too much. This weakness shows up when they are unable to answer questions during the C-X period. The 1AC must know everything there is to know about what they are reading.
• Duties of Other Debaters During 1AC: 2AC - The 2nd Affirmative speaker will not have much to do during this speech - just quietly make any last minute preparations. 1NC - The 1st Negative speaker will be quietly listening to the speech, pulling evidence and arguments, and preparing for his first speech. 2NC - The 2nd Negative speaker will be attentively taking notes, called a flow, and preparing C-X questions needed to clarify the affirmative's position.

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1ST Negative Construction:

• Groundwork: The negative team must wait until the 1AC before they can begin preparing their 1NC; what they say will depend entirely upon the affirmative's case. At first glance this may seem to be the most difficult speech, but it is not for a team that has done their homework. The 1NC will simply gather what evidence and arguments he has for that particular affirmative and then attack each issue one-by-one. The purpose of the 1NC is to show that things are not the way the affirmative portrays them: that the affirmative's plan does not address the topic, that things aren't that bad, that the status quo is moving to solve any minor problems, and that their plan will not begin to solve the problem.
• Extra Duties: If the 1NC has time, he will present disadvantages to implementing the affirmative's plan. As a general rule the 1NC will present between 8 and 12 complete arguments against the affirmative's case.
• Duties of Other Debaters During 1NC: 2NC - The 2nd Negative speaker will be flowing the 1NC and preparing additional arguments and extensions against the affirmative case. 2AC - The 2nd Affirmative speaker will be quietly listening to the speech, pulling evidence and arguments, and preparing for his first speech. 1AC - The 1st Affirmative speaker will be flowing and preparing C-X questions needed to clarify the negative's position.

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2ND Affirmative Construction:

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2ND Negative Construction:

• Groundwork: The 2nd Negative speaker's duties are very similar to the 1NC except that 2NC arguments: focus primarily on the issues the negative thinks will actually win the debate, are better developed and in greater depth, and focus primarily on solvency and disadvantage issues.
• Extensions: The 2NC will only extend arguments from the 1NC that are likely to win the debate and require one or two minutes to develop.
• New Issues: One of the primary purposes of the 2NC is to present as many well-developed attacks as possible. This strategy will hopefully force the Affirmative to (1) drop an issue or (2) be unable to adequately address all of the issues. As a general rule the 2NC will present an additional 5 arguments against the affirmative's case bringing the grand total to 13 to 17. Few affirmatives can handle this many issues in a rebuttal.
• Dropped Issues? The 2NC will not be concerned with dropped issues - this potential problem will be dealt with during the 1NR.
• Duties of Other Debaters During 2NC: 1NC - The 1st Negative speaker will be flowing the 2NC and preparing an outline of issues to present in the 1NR. 1AC - The 1st Affirmative speaker will be preparing an outline of issues and rebuttal evidence to be used in the 1AR. 1NC - The 2nd Affirmative speaker will be flowing the 2NC and preparing responses that will be needed during the rebuttals.

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1ST Negative Rebuttal:

• Groundwork: The 1st Negative speaker will present a basic summary of all issues brought up during the debate. He will emphasize the weaknesses of the affirmative's arguments and illustrate why the negative team should win the debate. This speech will not generally win a round but it can loose a round. No new issues may be brought up in a rebuttal. The debater may only discuss arguments brought up during one of the four constructions. He may use new evidence but not new issues. The 1NR must address all issues. If he fails to discuss each issue, that issue may not be brought up again and is lost to the negative. In order to avoid this problem, the speaker should carry the negative flow sheet to the podium and check off each issue as he addresses it.
• Duties of Other Debaters During the Rebuttals: Negative: The Negative speakers will be flowing and outlining the rebuttals, deciding which issues he will emphasize in the next speech, and gather additional evidence that supports their position. Affirmative: The Affirmative speakers will be outlining the rebuttals and gather additional evidence that supports their position.

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1ST Affirmative Rebuttal:

• Groundwork: The 1st Affirmative rebuttal is perhaps the most dangerous speech in the debate round. The 1st Affirmative speaker only has five minutes to:
       - address all 2NC attacks in depth,
       - point out all issues dropped by the negative in 1NR, and
       - briefly summarize all issues brought up in the debate round.
• Collapse: Just like the 1NR, no new issues may be brought up and no issues must be dropped. The primary purpose of this speech is to keep all issues alive and to weaken the negative as much as possible.

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2ND Negative Rebuttal:

• Groundwork: The 2nd Negative rebuttal will ultimately decide if the negative will win the round. The major duties of the 2nd Negative speaker include:
       - deciding which affirmative issues are still alive and dangerous,
       - deciding which negative arguments are weak and unlikely to help win the round,
       - deciding which negative arguments are strong and will help win the round, and
       - deciding what additional evidence and explanation is needed to strengthen winning issues.
• Collapse: Negative issues that are weak and unlikely to help win the debate should only be briefly mentioned during the 2NR - this is known as collapsing. Collapsing is important because there is not enough time to adequately address all of the issues in five minutes. Please remember that the negative need only win a few good issues to win the round. The 2NR should follow the format below:
       - Point out all issues dropped by the affirmative and ask the judge to flow them to the negative side (If the affirmative dropped any issues, the negative must point them out. This alone is often enough to win the round),
       - Briefly mention weak negative attacks (You still should mention weak negative issues for two reasons, (1) it looks bad if you drop any issues and (2) the affirmative could use these dropped issues to strengthen their position.),
       - Provide a strong rebuttal on any affirmative issues that are still alive and dangerous (If the negative has failed to knock out affirmative issues before this time, this may prove to be a difficult task. Be sure to do as much work as possible in earlier speeches.), and
       - Spend the remainder of the time emphasizing, explaining, and adding depth to those negative issues that you feel will win the round.

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2ND Affirmative Rebuttal:

• Groundwork: The 2AR is the most powerful speech of the round - it is the last speech - this speaker has the last word. The major duties of the 2nd Affirmative speaker include:
       - deciding which negative issues are still alive and potentially dangerous,
       - deciding what additional evidence is required to eliminate any negative attacks, and
       - deciding which affirmative issues are strongest and should be emphasized.
• Collapse: Unlike the negative, the affirmative does not collapse. It is still important that all stock issues be addressed. But the affirmative may selectively emphasize his strongest arguments. The 2AR should follow the format below: point out all negative drops and ask the judge to add them to the mounting affirmative evidence in support of the resolution, provide any rebuttal evidence needed to weaken strong negative attacks, discuss each stock issue pointing out how the affirmative's position outweighs the negative's arguments and how the affirmative has met its burden, and emphasize the advantages of implementing the affirmative plan. The 2AR is an excellent time to add the emotional, persuasive elements to this speech.
• Special Note for Other Debaters During 2AR: The only job the other debaters have during the 2AR is to sit quietly and listen to the final speech. Although anxious to pack your material and move to the next round, you must be aware that many judges, including myself, frown on debaters who shuffle papers and move around during the final speech. If you must pack your stuff, be sure that you are sitting behind the judge where he cannot see you and that you do not make any noise.

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Speaker Etiquette During A Round:

Most judges will be high school teachers and coaches. They expect debaters who are not speaking to be quiet and attentive. They will not tolerate rude, crude, unruly, or disrespectful behavior. DO NOT make off-the-cuff comments, roll your eyes, sigh, or make other noises and movements that can be taken as rude or in poor taste Even if the other team participates in such behavior, such behavior from Shelbyville students is not acceptable. Yes, I realize that many of your opponents are idiots, morons, and crude - but we're above that sort of behavior.

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