Adjudication Guidelines

The goal of competitive debating is to persuade. The key to being persuasive is to present arguments that support a position and counter arguments that refute an opposing position. By itself, however, presenting well-reasoned arguments and counter argument will not usually be enough to guarantee success.

A debater's speech must be well organized so that the debater makes good use of his or her time. The speech should also be delivered with confidence and flair. And finally, debaters on a team should show evidence of working together.

A speech is scored on six key elements. You can use the Adjudication Score Card as a guide.

Argument

A team should present three or four separate and distinct arguments. Each argument should be supported by evidence. And each argument should be clearly related to the resolution.

Content

An argument must be backed up with evidence. This can take the form of statistics, real-life examples and factual knowledge.

Refutation & Rebuttal

After the Prime Minister's speech, the focus of the remaining speeches will be on rebuttal. Each argument presented by a speaker must be opposed by each successive speaker with a counter argument. A single dropped argument will not automatically mean the team loses the debate but a convincing refutation of most of the opponent's points will be necessary to carry the debate.

The Prime Minister is not be scored for refutation in his/her first speech. The teamscore is averaged over the two speeches. The Opposition must accept the resolution as defined by the Government and present arguments and counter arguments that relate to the resolution as defined. Failure to do so is fatal. The exception to this is when the Opposition is challenging the resolution as trivial, tautological or special knowledge.

Style and Rhetoric

The manner in which arguments are presented can, at times, be as important as the arguments themselves. A smooth, polished and confident speaking style is very persuasive. And using rhetorical techniques and flourishes to add flair to a speech can heighten the impact of the speech.

Effective use of humour can be a very powerful style element.

Teamwork

Debaters are expected to perform as a team. Earlier speakers set the stage for later speakers while those following expand on and reinforce earlier arguments. A follow-up speaker may need to clarify (and even correct) a point made by an earlier speaker. This should be done very carefully, however, because contradictions and inconsistencies between speakers can be fatal.

Overall

This is how the pieces fit together.

Definition of the resolution should be unambiguous and steer debate onto the Government's strongest ground. Arguments should be clearly and carefully mapped out with more time allotted to the key arguments and less to minor ones. Rebuttals should concisely and powerfully distill the central issue in an argument and drive to its core. Speakers should not get bogged down in unnecessary details. They should use all their time but leave sufficient time to recap their arguments/counter arguments.