First Speaker
The first proposition speaker explains what the key terms in the motion mean. This part of the opening speech is called this.
What are definitions?
A second speaker directly answers an opposing argument and explains why it fails. This is called this.
What is rebuttal?
A third speaker groups the debate around its main points of disagreement. These points are called this.
What are clashes?
The team supporting the motion is commonly called the proposition or this.
What is the government?
POI stands for this three-word term.
What is a Point of Information?
An opening speaker tells the judge which arguments each teammate will present. This division of the case is called this.
What is a team split? (Accept: case split.)
After an opponent attacks a teammate’s argument, the second speaker explains why it still stands. This task is called this.
What is rebuilding? (Accept: reconstruction.)
Instead of simply repeating both sides’ claims, a third speaker compares which impacts matter more. This technique is called this.
What is weighing?
A motion beginning “This House Would” usually asks the government to propose this kind of change.
What is a policy or action?
This person decides whether to accept an offered POI during a speech.
Who is the speaker holding the floor?
On a policy motion, the opening speaker explains who will act, what they will do, and how the proposal will work. This plan is called this.
What is a model? (Accept: mechanism.)
“This policy causes fear, fear reduces reporting, and reduced reporting increases harm.” These linked steps form this part of an argument.
What is a causal chain? (Accept: causal mechanism.)
“Their harm affects more people, but ours is much more likely to occur.” The second half weighs impacts using this factor.
What is probability? (Accept: likelihood.)
To judge a policy fairly, debaters compare the world with the policy against the likely world without it. What is the technical term for that alternative world?
What is the counterfactual?
The portions of a speech during which POIs cannot be offered are called this.
What is protected time?
Before proving the case, an opening speaker identifies what their side must establish to win the motion. This obligation is called this.
What is the burden of proof?
“Even if their policy saves money, the damage to education is more important.” This response temporarily grants a claim before answering it on another level.
What is an even-if rebuttal?
“Their harm happens immediately, but our benefit takes twenty years to appear.” Which weighing factor concerns when an impact begins, rather than how long it lasts?
What is timeframe? (Accept: timing or immediacy.)
A debate about what a particular actor should do requires considering that actor’s goals, duties, and available choices. This is called taking this perspective.
What is the actor’s perspective?
An opponent offers a POI containing two separate challenges. After accepting it, what should you do to keep your answer clear and your speech on track?
What is briefly answering the central challenge, then returning to the argument? Accept a concise answer that addresses the substance without turning the POI into a back-and-forth discussion.
On “This House Would ban private cars in city centres,” a first speaker defines “private cars” as only cars already banned by law. What is the central problem with this definition?
What is defining away the debate? The definition removes the meaningful policy change and denies the opposition a fair issue to contest.
Government claims a subsidy will increase bus use. Opposition proves every bus is already full and the subsidy adds no capacity. Which link in government’s argument does this attack?
What is the link between lower fares and increased ridership? Without spare capacity or more buses, cheaper fares need not allow more people to travel.
Government says a policy creates a small benefit for many people. Opposition says it risks permanent loss of basic rights for a smaller group. Name two comparisons a third speaker should develop beyond simply counting people.
What are severity and reversibility? Explain how serious each impact is and whether it can be undone. Also accept well-explained comparisons of likelihood, duration, or the importance of the rights involved.
Both sides agree a problem is serious. Government proves its policy helps, but opposition argues the problem will improve just as much without the policy. What must government establish to answer this challenge?
What is an additional benefit compared with the world without the policy? Showing improvement alone does not show that the policy causes a better outcome.
A speaker claims a ban reduces harm because users will quit. Write a POI that tests the key assumption about users’ behaviour.
What is “Why would users quit rather than switch to an unregulated alternative?” Accept any concise question testing whether users stop or substitute.