NCFCA 201

Debate is an exciting and intense way to hone research, speaking, argumentation, logic, and refutation skills. 

To get a sense of how each style of debate works as well as how rounds will be evaluated and scored, look at the  Lincoln-Douglas Debate and the Team Policy Debate starter lists available through our website.

Debate Round Protocols 

The information below is provided to help new competitors and families know what to expect as general practice in debate rounds. Slip ups in following protocols often happen and are not necessarily considered rule violations. This information is provided for explanatory purposes only and is not intended to augment, interpret, or supersede our League Policies or Event Rules. 

Postings and Finding your Room

Postings list all the debate matches, room numbers, and who will be on the Affirmative and Negative sides. They are made public 15-30 minutes before each debate round and can be found by entering the specific tournament at MyPlace.NCFCA.org and clicking on schedule. At in-person tournaments, you can find them on printed pages hanging in designated locations throughout the tournament facility.

Debaters are responsible for checking the postings and reporting to their competition room with all their materials in a timely manner.

Where to Sit and when to Speak

Safety First! Remember the “More than Two” Rule! At in-person tournaments, parents and Designated Adults should not enter a competition room where there is only one student present. In the same manner, a student should not enter a competition room where there is only one non-family adult present.

• At online tournaments, competitors should keep microphones muted and cameras off until there are more than two attendees present in a competition room.
• And, at in-person tournaments, competition room doors are to remain open unless there is a speaker speaking or there is a debate round in progress.

While waiting for the round to start, Affirmative speaker(s) may prepare their materials and stand or sit behind the table that will be to the judge’s left as the judge is facing both teams. The negative speaker(s) should likewise prepare and stand or sit behind their table to the judge’s right.

Introductions. When all participants are ready, debaters will stand and introduce themselves and may ask the judge(s) for their judging philosophy or experience. Debaters should keep the exchange very brief and start the round on time.

After introductions are made, all competitors will be seated except for the first speaker who may move to the podium to give the first speech. Competitors should remain seated until the end of the round unless they are giving a speech or asking/answering cross examination questions.

At the conclusion of the round, all debaters will stand, shake hands with and thank the judges (if permissible at the particular tournament), return to their table, and remain standing until the judge leaves the room.

At the end of the round, debaters may thank the judge(s). Otherwise, they should graciously try to avoid ongoing conversation with judges. All other communication should go through a Communications staff member.

Timing Speeches

Each debater provides his or her own timepiece. Speakers must provide their own timepieces. The timepiece must count down and have an audible alarm.

• Before each speech, the speaker should show their timepiece to the judge(s) and opponent(s) with the correct time set before beginning the speech. 
• The speaker asking questions will time cross-examination. This speaker should show the time piece set to 3:00 minutes to the judge(s) and opponent(s) with the correct time set before beginning cross-examination.
• Teams will track their own prep time and must report their remaining prep time to the judge(s) and opposing team at the conclusion of each prep time.
• Up to three minutes of preparation time may be used by each team throughout the round prior to their constructive and rebuttal speeches. Prep time may not be used immediately before cross-examination.
• The speaking order, assigned speakers, and times must be observed.

Please see the Lincoln-Douglas Value Debate Rules and  Team Policy Debate Event Rules for a complete list of rules.

You can see timing speeches in action in the Demonstration Lincoln-Douglas Round and Demonstration Team Policy Round.

Judging Debate

If you will be judging debate, you will want to look through the resources available for each event.

• Lincoln-Douglas Value Debate Judge Resources
• Team Policy Debate Judge Resources