Debate Format and Guidelines

The debate will follow a MODIFIED LINCOLN – DOUGLAS DEBATE FORMAT.

Since groups will consist of either 3 or 4 members, durations and format will change accordingly. A 4-person debate format is given below:

Speaker / Side Allocation Content

Speaker 1 – Affirmative 2 minutes Introduction of the proposition. Summary of why the proposition is necessary.
Speaker 1 – Negative 2 minutes Restatement of affirmative’s viewpoint and why the proposition should be discarded.
Speaker 2 – Affirmative 2 minutes Disagreement with negative side supported by facts and evidence supporting the proposition.
Speaker 2 – Negative 2 minutes Explanation of position supported by facts and evidence.
Speaker 3 – Affirmative 2 minutes Disagreement with negative side supported by facts and evidence supporting the proposition.
Speaker 3 – Negative 2 minutes Explanation of position supported by facts and evidence.
Speaker 4 – Negative 2 minutes Point out the statements of the affirmative side which are deemed to be false and make a conclusion.
Speaker 4 - Affirmative 2 minutes Conclude the debate by stating important point on why the proposition should be considered.
TOTAL 16 minutes (In the event that there are only 3 speakers, Speaker 3 will assume the role of the final speaker.)
Group Criteria

Criteria 2 5 8 10
Lack of confidence in team
Seemingly unprepared, Able to deliver the Very cohesive. Statements
members. Lack of cohesion
lack of confidence in statements well. Cohesive were delivered in a very
Preparedness between team members.
presentation of statements, in presentation of points. convincing and prepared
Able to deliver statements
clueless on how to begin Some stuttering and body manner. No signs of ill-
but body language suggests
and defend the proposition. language showing doubts. preparedness
uncertainty.
Group Organization and
Completely clear and
Clarity: Unclear in most parts; Most clear and orderly in
Clear in some parts but orderly presentation;
Relatedness and disorganized and difficult all parts; somewhat logical
organization is not logical logical organization of
organization of the points to follow in organization
major points and details
used in the debate.
Most relevant reasons
Overall Use of
Few or no relevant reasons Some relevant reasons given in support; no
Arguments: Most reasons given: most
given/ fallacies in given’ fallacies in fallacies in logic used;
Reasons are given to relevant; not overly
reasoning reasoning used reasons develop position
support proposition
effectively
Most points are thoughtful, All points are thoughtful,
Use of Rebuttal: Response Few of the points raised are
Off-topic, unsupported, effective, relevant; points effective, relevant; points
to points raised by effective; relevant; some
illogical rebuttals raised raised, supported by raised, supported by
opposing team supported by research
research research
Presentation style did not Consistently used gestures,
Presentation Style: Tone Some features were used Gestures, eye contact, tone
keep attention of audience; eye contact, tone of voice
of voice, volume, use of convincingly; kept of voice and level of
eye contact weak; read and a level of enthusiasm
gestures, and enthusiasm attention of audience some enthusiasm that kept the
from paper; could not hear; in a way that kept the
are convincing of the time attention of audience.
tone monotone attention of the audience.
Speaker’s Scoring Rubric:

Criteria 2 5 8 10
Presentation style did not Consistently used gestures,
Presentation Style: Some features were used Gestures, eye contact, tone
keep attention of audience; eye contact, tone of voice
Tone of voice, volume, use convincingly; kept of voice and level of
eye contact weak; read and a level of enthusiasm
of gestures, and enthusiasm attention of audience some enthusiasm that kept the
from paper; could not hear; in a way that kept the
are convincing of the time attention of audience.
tone monotone attention of the audience.
Use of Examples and
Every point was not Every major point Every major point was Every major point was well
Facts:
supported. Examples and supported with facts, adequately supported with supported with several
Examples, statistics,and
statistics are statistics and/or examples, relevant facts, statistics relevant facts, statistics
facts are given to support
weak or non-existent but relevance questionable and/or examples and/or examples.
reasons.
Organization and Completely clear and
Unclear in most parts; Most clear and orderly in
Clarity: Viewpoints and Clear in some parts but orderly presentation;
disorganized and difficult all parts; somewhat logical
responses outlined clearly organization is not logical logical organization of
to follow in organization
and orderly. major points and details
Strong, effective attention
Attention getter interesting;
Does not show an adequate Has attention getter: getter; Team members
Clearly understood the
understanding of topic. Introduces main points of clearly understood topic
Opening / Closing / Body topic in-depth and
Uninteresting, unprepared; the topic with ease. in-depth and presented
Statement presented information with
background info did not Somewhat unrelated to information forcefully and
ease; provides effective
match what follows what team presents; convincingly
intro to points that follow;