<p>I'm a sophomore. I really want to be spectacular when competing in the district debate competition on March 27, 2007. Just so you know, the competition is within the realms of Texas U.I.L., so the highest you can advance to is the state level, which is where I'd like to go. </p>
<p>Problem is, my school doesn't have a fulltime debate team, and we stay afterschool to do the work. I'm in track and pretty much do everything on an individual routine. You can say I'm not bad, though. Today I came in 3rd place out of around 30 people and I actually got some nice accolades from a judge and a supervisor of the rounds. They told me I could really be somebody if I worked hard at it, and considering that I'd like to go to Stanford and later become a prolific lawyer, I really do need to achieve something. </p>
<p>So, any help? Any good sites I can go to? I just want to expand my knowledge and hone my craft. And just so you know, the spring topic for my debate competitions is this:</p>
<p>RESOLVED: The individual's obligation to society outwieghs society's obligation to the individual. </p>
<p>One thing about the lawyer career path: debate really turned me off law. In debate, judges are supposed to be objective, but half of them still don't know what they're doing and make crappy decisions. It's really frustrating when that happens. In a court of law, not only does the jury not know the law, they are supposed to rule on how they feel about the case.</p>
<p>Regardless, debate is one of the best activities you can do in High School. It improved my analysis and communication skills so much, and it's a lot of fun.</p>
<p>I loved L-D for a while - I mean we all sucked horribly but it was a blast. Just picking on prepschool kiddos whose rich lawyer daddys wrote their cases for em, making them sweat during CrossEx cuz we were so bloody intimidating.</p>
<p>That looks like a fun resolution. lddebate.org is indeed a great website for help</p>
<p>I agree with None... it's definately boosted my analysis and communication skills, I don't like debate as much now but I'm still as opinionated and vocal. It's gonna carry over well into journalism in college. Good springboard for lots of careers/skills. Keep it up, you won't regret it! </p>
<p>Well since my school debate team meets like twice a week for 45 minutes at a time and they don'tg et much done I can't give much advice in terms of prep. I'd just say to be ready to block everything. I'm sure you make notecards and stuff already - if I cared enough I would have. heh, you don't need to listen to other people... just be confident! *Oh. MAIN thing about LD from what I've learned is if you're confident and commanding in voice and presentation - doesn't mean a suit and tie or nice dress - then you have a huge upper hand.</p>
<p>What you could always do is
(1) Create your own moral/political philosophy with no or negligible logical flaws.
(2) Base all your arguments off that philosophy.</p>
<p>Give 'em something they haven't seen before.</p>
<p>Then again, I'm speaking as someone who dropped out of debate class after two weeks to take an extra science :)</p>
<p>I don't know what debating is like over there, but here, cases should be policy based. Running a case like that leaves everyone dealing in complete abstracts, and you really don't want that. It's also unfair to the opposition, they should have something to work with.</p>
<p>What you're resolving is more of a caseline rather than an actual case.</p>
<p>In my state, LD debate does deal in abstract concepts...it's supposed to be a more "theoretical" kind of debate, as opposed to Policy Debate's, well, "policy-oriented" style. I'm an extemper, so I can't really give much advice. I second the victorybriefsdaily comment, though, lol...great site!</p>
<p>I'm really surprised that you guys can get away with running abstract/policy-based cases in your districts. Here, it's really empirical warrants that really make the judges giddy, regardless of whether or not they solve. heh.</p>
<p>I'm no help with this topic, but personally I think as you start debating in Varsity national-level circuit tournament, LD debate becomes a lot less about public speaking and becomes a game with its own rules that don't apply to the real world. I think games are a waste of time, but do what you will...</p>