Glossary

Advocacy/Advocate
The act or process of supporting a cause or proposal

Aggressive vs Assertive
These 2 words are often used in judge comments, and I want you to be sure to know the correct definitions
because judges sometimes mix them up. “Aggressive” means “intending to hurt.” “Assertive” means “able to
speak up for yourself in a way that is honest and respectful.”

Ambassador
A person sent by a country as its official representative to a foreign country.

Analysis
The parts of a contention written in your own words that help connect all the other parts together.

Argument
Your point; the idea you’re supporting; the belief that you are speaking in favor of

Audience
The people listening to a speaker; the most important element of a speech. The audience in a round of
debate is the judge. Direct all speeches to the judge.

Audience Analysis
To think about who your audience is before you create a speech; you use your observations about your
audience in order to shape the speech toward them; if you make the speech more relevant and
understandable to your judge in a debate round, they will vote for you more often

Ballot
A form people use to vote for something; in Speech and Debate, the judges write their ranks, scores and
decisions on ballots; the important part of ballots is the pattern of comment – one judge’s opinion may not be
helpful, but multiple judges giving similar feedback should be paid attention to.

Biased
Unfairly for or against someone or something; every person is biased is some ways or has “biases,” defined
as “knowledge, experience or beliefs in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with
another, usually in a way considered to be unfair.” When determining whether a news/research source is
reliable or unreliable, do not factor “bias” because all sources have biases, even if it’s just the bias of being
American and reporting from a U.S. perspective. Having “journalistic integrity,” being honest and not
having a reputation for lying to its audience is what makes a source reliable.

Binding
Involving an obligation that cannot be broken. If the UN makes a binding agreement between 2 countries,
that means that both countries must comply.

Block
Debate term for a counter-argument you plan when preparing for a debate.

Blocking
Speech term for where you plan to move when performing your piece

Body Language
The messages that your body sends; this is how people can tell if you’re happy, if you’re sad, or if you’re
lying just by looking at what your body is doing

Break
When you break past the preliminary rounds in a debate tournament and make it to the elimination rounds

Bridging Response/Bridging Statement
In a question/answer session, when you receive a hostile question or a question you don’t know the answer
to, then you move the discussion back to what you want; e.g. “I think it would be more accurate to say…” or
“Let me emphasize again that…”

Brink
In the normal world, “brink” is another word for “cliff.” In debate a “brink” argument is when you argue that
the affirmative will aggravate a problem in the status quo to the extent that it passes a brink [falls off a cliff],
at which point things get worse than they are currently. For example, if you argue that the affirmative
investing in high-speed rail will lead to inflation

Bye
In a debate tournament, when there is an odd number of total teams, 1 team has to sit out each round and not
participate. This is called a “bye” or “bye round.” It counts as a win for your team in your record for the day.

Capitalism
An economic and political system in which a country’s trade and industry are controlled by private owners
for profit, rather than by the state or by the company’s workers. The pro of capitalism is that it makes rich
people richer. The con of capitalism is that it makes rich people richer by either not sharing their profits with
their employees or by over-charging the general public for their goods and services. When a country’s
government owns all/most of the businesses, that’s “communism.” When a country has an economic system
in which all workers in a company own the company (instead of 1 or a few people owning it), that’s called
“socialism.” When a country has an economic system in which kings own everything and the people are
either slaves or indentured servants, that’s called “feudalism.” All countries have economic systems that are
a mix of many different ideas. The United States has a mixed economic system that is mostly capitalist.

Cards
“Cards” means quotations from sources that you have cut and paste into a list of evidence that you use
during rounds. The reason they are called “cards” is because before computers, we would make copies of
newspaper articles then literally cut and literally paste the relevant passages onto index cards. We put them
on cards to make them easy to carry, find and access during a tournament.

Case
Your constructive speeches plus all the supporting evidence and back-up arguments for your Pro or Con
side. Sometimes when people say “case,” they specifically mean the constructive. But when someone says
“present your case” they mean for you to give a speech that represents all the arguments and evidence you
have. In a court case in real life, that speech is called an “opening argument.” In reality, your “case” is not
just your opening speech, but all the material you’ve gathered to prove your side.

Citation/Cite
Stating your source for information; either written in an essay or spoken in a speech

Civil War
A war between different parts of the same country.

Clash
Arguments that directly oppose each other; when you and your opponent directly respond to each others’
arguments, it helps the judge to see who is a better debater; novice debaters sometimes have a habit of not
taking notes or not listening to their opponent, which makes them not respond directly to what each other
said

Closing arguments
The final speeches in a debate or trial

Club Team/Academy
Potomac is a “debate academy” or “club team.” This means we are a private specialty school that focuses on
Speech and Debate. We are categorized differently than a regular school. This means that there are some
external tournaments that we can’t go to because only regular schools can go to them. What we can do is
sign agreements with regular schools that have them list us as the coach for their team. So, if Priya goes to
Springfield High School and is taking debate with Potomac, then the principal of Springfield must sign a
form saying that we are allowed to coach Priya and put down Springfield as her school so that she can go to
tournaments. This means that if your school doesn’t have a team, you can be on Potomac’s team. If your
school does have a team, then you can be on your school team while still taking classes with us

Collapse
When you reduce the amount of arguments you discuss as the round gets closer to the end; the purpose of
collapsing your arguments is to focus your time on the ones you think you are winning

Communication
Another word for talking, either with your body or with words or with machines

Con Team (a.k.a. Negative Team)
The side in a debate that is against the resolution; this side often says they “negate” the resolution

Conflict Prevention
When the UN takes diplomatic actions to stop violence between 2 countries before the violence has begun.
This includes sending envoys to mediate.

Congress
The part of the U.S. federal government that writes and passes laws; made up of 2 parts – Senators and
Representatives. There are 2 Senators for each state. Representatives are based on population, so states with
more people have more Representatives. Congress leads the legislative branch of the federal government,
which makes the laws.

Constructive
The first prepared speeches in a debate; “The constructive is where you build your contentions”; in Public
Forum each constructive is 4 minutes

Content Farm/Content Mill
A website whose purpose is to write (or sometimes, plagiarize) tons of articles about every subject
imaginable simply to get lots of hits when people search for things. Content farm articles are often poorly
researched or just copies of legitimate articles. Try to avoid content farms when researching. Examples of
content farms: about.com, ehow.com, answers.com, technorati

Contention
Another word for a debate argument. Made up of 5 parts: Claim sentence, Warrant, Evidence, Impact, Link.
Usually about a paragraph long

Council
A group of people that gathers for the purpose of giving advice or making decisions.

Critical Thinking
Critical thinking is the suspension of judgment while identifying biases and underlying assumptions in order
to draw accurate conclusions. This is the essence of debate.

Cross-Apply
To take an argument or piece of evidence made on one issue and use it to answer another argument

Cross Examination (aka cross ex or CX)
A time period, in between speeches, where one side asks the other questions about their advocacy. These
questions can be to receive clarification or to attack the opponent. The defining feature of cross-ex is that
one side always asks the questions and the other side always answers the questions. Cross-examination is
how the questioning periods go in Lincoln-Douglas debate. This is also what lawyers do with people on the
stand.

Crossfire
A time period, in between speeches, where both sides ask each other questions about their advocacy and
arguments. These questions can be to receive clarification or to attack the opponent. The defining feature of
crossfire is that both sides are asking and answering questions.

Crystallize
To explain your argument in the simplest way possible

CWEIL
Pronounced “quail;” the parts of a contention; Claim, Warrant, Evidence, Impact, Link; also called CWAIL,
where the A stands for Analysis

Debate
A formal conversation where people discuss the different sides of a topic. A debate is different from an
argument in that a debate has a format and rules that are followed by everyone involved – while an argument
has no formal rules and often involves rudeness or yelling during the disagreement

Debate Claim
Your argument in one sentence. Also called an “assertion”

Debate Event
A speaking contest in which teams give speeches to a judge in order to convince the judge that their team is
more right than the other team. PDA teaches the Public Forum debate event. Other debate events include

● Lincoln-Douglas debate (LD)
● Policy debate
● Parliamentary debate
● World Schools debate
● Big Questions debate (BQ)
● Student Congress
● Spontaneous Argumentation (SpAr)

Defense/Defensive Arguments
Arguments where you say how your opponent is wrong. Defensive arguments are reasons to reject your
opponents’ advocacy. Defense gives the judge a reason not to vote for your opponent.

De-link
When you say that an opponent’s contention isn’t internally connected. Like saying that their claim doesn’t
lead to their warrant, or that their impact isn’t proven by their evidence. Or saying that their contention
doesn’t prove/disprove the resolution.

Deliver
To give a speech to an audience

Developing Country
A country which, relative to other countries, has a lower average standard of living.

Development
To build the things that people need to survive, including housing, healthcare, water systems, electricity
systems, phones and other communication systems

Diplomat
An official representing a country while in another country

Drop an argument
When you don’t respond to one of your opponent’s arguments. Many judges will automatically vote against
a team that doesn’t respond to one of their opponent’s contentions. You must listen to your opponent and
take notes on their arguments so that you don’t miss any.

Economics
Anything having to do with money

Economic and Social Council
Branch of the UN responsible for mediating economic and social matters between countries (e.g. exempli gratia, Latin for “for example”)

Elimination Round
Also called “break rounds” or “out rounds;” a round in a Speech and Debate tournament that occurs after the
lower-ranking players have been eliminated from the competition based on their scores in preliminary
rounds.

A “Final round” has 2 debate teams or 6 speech competitors
“Semifinals” have 2 rounds with 4 debate teams or 12 speech competitors
“Quarterfinals” have 4 rounds with 8 debate teams or 24 speech competitors
“Octafinals” have 8 rounds with 16 debate teams or 48 speech competitors
“Double Octofinals” have 16 rounds with 32 debate teams or 64 speech competitors
“Triple Octafinals” have 32 rounds with 64 debate teams or 128 speech competitors

“Runoff” rounds are rounds between people who have tied in the preliminary rounds; the winner goes on to
the elimination rounds

Empirical Evidence
Factual information discovered through the process of experimenting and observing through methods that
can be measured or categorized

Enunciation
Speaking clearly

Envoy
Synonym for diplomat; a representative sent to another country

Evidence
The news sources and data that support your arguments; from the Latin for “obvious to the eye”

Executive Branch
The part of the U.S. government that makes sure the laws made by the legislative branch (Congress) are
followed. The US President is the head of the Executive Branch.

Extend
To repeat your arguments in order to make sure the judge remembers them

Fascism
A political philosophy, movement, or regime that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that
stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social
regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition

Federal
National; covering the whole country instead of just one state or city; the U.S. federal government is the one
in Washington, D.C. with Congress, the Supreme Court and the President.

Feedback
Spoken and unspoken responses to a speech by the audience

Filler Words
Sounds like “uh” or “um” that people make when they’re thinking. To reduce your number of filler words,
you need to 1. notice that you’re doing it (like by watching yourself on video) then 2. making yourself pause
every time you’re about to say one

Final Focus
The last speech in a round of Public Forum debate; 2 minutes; the main purpose is to tell the judge why your
arguments are better

Finance/Finances
Making money

First Speaker
The person on a 2-person Public Forum team who delivers the Constructive and the Summary

Flay Judge
A portmanteau of Flow and Lay; a judge who has medium experience with debate, e.g. a first year coach or
a high school debater judging middle school

Flow
The notes you take during a debate; you take notes in order to remember what you and your opponent said
so that you can argue against them; can also be used as a verb: “I flowed the debate round”; it’s called a
“flow” because you take these notes to ensure that all the arguments appear in each speech from the
beginning to the end

Forensics
A fancy Latin word for public speaking in a forum (like a courtroom, city hall or other public place where
people speak their mind); Speech and Debate teams are sometimes called “forensics” teams

Format
The structure of something; the way something is built or set up

Framing/Frame/Framework
When you explain to the judge the standards they should use to judge the debate. Example: “Judge, all we
on the Con side have to do is prove that zoos are either harmful to humans or animals and we win.”

Frontline (verb)
When you fight the arguments your opponents have made against your main contentions (in their Rebuttal).
The Summary is a great time to make sure you frontline. If the First Speaker frontlines in the Summary, the
First Speaker will have had time to think and plan against what the opponent said in their Rebuttal.

General Assembly
The part of the UN that is made up of all 193 members. They vote to decide when a new country is allowed
in the UN. They vote to decide the UN budget. They choose the members in the 5 other “organs”
(committees) of the U.N. They vote on resolutions that recommend what a country should change when it’s
misbehaving. (The country doesn’t have to obey the resolution, but it looks bad if the whole U.N. asks you
to do something and you don’t do it.)
[General Assembly is also a general term meaning any group of representatives who make laws for an area.]

Gestures
Movements you make with your hands

Goodwill Ambassador
A celebrity hired by the U.N. to bring publicity to a world problem so that more people learn about it.
Examples of Goodwill Ambassadors include Whoopi Goldberg, Jackie Chan, Serena Williams, Katy Perry,
and Millie Bobby Brown.

Government (Abbreviation “gov” or “gov’t”)
The people who make the laws for your city, your state, or the whole nation; also the group of people who
work for the government like court clerks, police officers, congressional aides, etc

Grant
A gift of money that does not have to be re-paid.

Hegemon (pronounced HEH jeh mahn)
A leader, country, or group that is very strong and powerful and therefore able to control others.

Hegemony (pronounce heh JEH moh nee)
Political or cultural dominance or authority over others.

i.e.
id est, Latin for “in other words”

Impact
The part of a contention where you explain how people are affected by your claim; a “terminal impact” is an
impact that harms millions or even billions of people

Impact Calculus
Debate slang for weighing your team’s impacts against your opponents. Has nothing to do with real
calculus, which is a form of math you learn about in high school or college.

Impromptu Delivery
Giving a speech without preparation; the Rebuttal, Summary and Final Focus are impromptu speeches that
you make up during the round.

Income
The money that people get, usually from a job.

Interests/Special Interests
Groups of people seeking or receiving special advantages, typically through political lobbying.

International Criminal Court
Part of the U.N. that takes people to criminal court for war crimes. The ICC brings individuals to court and
can send them to jail if found guilty. The ICJ (below) mediates between 2 countries to make treaties.

International Court of Justice (ICJ)
Part of the U.N. that mediates disputes between 2 countries.If both countries agree beforehand, then they
have to agree to the decision made by the ICJ. There are 15 members of the ICJ and their term in office is 9
years. Also called the World Court.

Intramural
Means “within the walls.” When a person competes against another person in their own school or workplace
(as opposed to competing against teams from other schools or workplaces)

Invitation/Invite
An information sheet about a Speech and Debate tournament.

Invitational
A Speech and Debate tournament where any school is allowed to attend. Originally, these were called
“invitationals” because a school had to be invited to come. Now schools “invite” anyone who asks to come.

Jargon
The specific language of a group of people that wouldn’t be understood by people outside that group; many
of the Debate words in this glossary are words a judge wouldn’t understand

Judge
A person who decides the winner in a public speaking contest; a “flow judge” is a judge who takes notes on
the debate and determines who wins based on which side refuted the highest number of their opponent’s
arguments; a “tech judge” is a judge who understands advanced debate jargon; a “lay judge” is a judge who
has never debated before or coached a team – most judges are lay judges

Junior Varsity
A player or team representing a school at the level below varsity in a competition.

Kritik (pronounced “krih TEEK”)
An off-case argument about the assumptions made by the affirmative and how an alternative can resolve the
implications of those assumptions.

Law
Rules that have been passed by a government; the system of rules which a particular country or community
recognizes as regulating the actions of its members and which it may enforce by the imposition of penalties.

League
In Speech and Debate, a group of schools that arrange competitions against each other. Only people in the
league can compete in league tournaments.

League of Nations
An organization that was like the United Nations that was started before the UN. The League of Nations
started in 1920 and ended in 1946.

Legislation
Another word for laws.

Lincoln-Douglas Debate (L.D.)
A debate event where 2 teams of 1 person each debate on a new resolution every 2 months. Named after
debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas in 1858, when they were both running for Senator
of Illinois

Link
The part of a contention where you explain how your claim supports the resolution

Link Chain/Argument Chain
Debate slang for how each part of your argument connects to the next

Lobby/Lobbyist
A person or a group of people whose job it is to influence politicians

Local Tournament
A speech and debate tournament that is limited to schools in your area. Most people who do Speech and
Debate do it at local tournaments. Local tournaments are mostly planned by a “league”, which is just a
group of schools divided by school district, region, or state. For example, in Virginia we have the Virginia
High School League, which coordinates all the competitive activities for the public schools of Virginia, from
football to theater contests. Virginia also has a league called the Virginia Catholic Forensic League, which
coordinates speech and debate tournaments for public and private schools in the southern half of Virginia.

Logic
connection (as of facts or events) in a way that seems reasonable; remember that “logical” DOES NOT
EQUAL “healthy” or “morally correct.” It IS “logical” that people smoke cigarettes because it feels good
when they do it…it IS NOT healthy.

Magnitude
How severe the impact is; the size of the harm/benefit

Manuscript Delivery
Giving a prepared speech using a script that has all the words you plan to say; when you deliver a
constructive speech, you are doing a manuscript delivery

Maverick
“Going maverick” is when a Public Forum debater debates without a partner, usually because their partner
canceled at the last minute. Sometimes tournaments don’t allow this, and if your partner doesn’t show up,
you’re disqualified from the tournament instead.

Mediate
When a neutral person goes between 2 groups who are fighting in order to make peace. Mediation is the
noun. The U.N. often mediates between countries who disagree.

Memorized Delivery
Giving a prepared speech from memory, with no outline or manuscript

Misinformation/Disinformation
Misinformation is any wrong information that is communicated to a group, either on purpose or on accident.
Disinformation is when the wrong information is communicated on purpose by lying or deceiving
intentionally.
Mis-information could be a mis-take.
Dis-information is dis-respectful.

Mitigate
To make less severe, serious, or painful; when you do this to an opponent’s argument by refuting it well

MOMI
The 4 methods of delivering a speech: manuscript, outline, memorized, impromptu

National Championship Tournament
There are many Speech and Debate tournaments that are called “national championships” or “nationals,”
where you have to qualify for the tournament (not anyone can just go). Usually to qualify for a national
championship, you have to place at the the top of a certain other tournament beforehand.

National Circuit
A group of about 60 Speech and Debate tournaments that attracts students from around the country. These
are invitational tournaments that are usually hosted by colleges (but they are for high school and middle
school students). If you do well at a National Circuit tournament, then you qualify for the Tournament of
Champions, which happens every April at the University of Kentucky.

National Speech and Debate Association (N.S.D.A.)
The company who makes the rules for Speech and Debate tournaments in the United States; the NSDA also
makes up the topics for debate events; the NSDA is made up of coaches and students who are on high
school teams. For the monthly debate topics, there are committees of the NSDA that decide the general
topics, then the student and coach members vote on which resolutions they want.

NSDA Campus
A website for hosting online tournaments

Negotiate
To deal or bargain with others, as in a contract

Neutral Position
When you stand up straight with your feet slightly apart and your hands at your sides. This is called the
neutral position because the audience interprets this position as “neutral” or “not communicating.” When
you’re in the neutral position, the audience focuses on your face/words. When you change to any position
that is not neutral, the audience notices and watches your body for messages it’s trying to communicate.

Non-verbal Communication
Talking with messages from your body, like gestures, movement, tone of voice, facial expressions

Novice
Someone in their first year of doing Speech and Debate tournaments; someone who is new to something

Offense/Offensive Arguments
Arguments where you say that your side is right. Offensive arguments are a reason to support your own
side’s advocacy. Offense gives the judge a reason to vote for your side.

On Balance
A phrase that often appears in debate resolutions. It means “considering all things” or “after considering all
the relevant facts.” From the website BeyondResolved: “This phrase asks for a cost/benefit analysis; this
means you MUST compare impacts. The impacts are the possible costs, or negative effects, and the possible
benefits, or positive effects.”

Opening arguments
The first speeches in a debate or trial; also called a “constructive”

Opponent
A person on the opposite side of you in a debate

Out-round
One of the levels of final rounds in a debate tournament

Outline Delivery
Giving a prepared speech with an outline or other form of notes; in Public Forum, rebuttals, summaries and
final focuses are delivered by outline based on your notes on what the opposing team said

Pairings
In a tournament, the list of pairs of teams competing against each other in a round

Paradigm
A judge’s preferences for how competitors should speak; usually written on Tabroom.com

Peacebuilding
Nonviolent methods of building peace between conflicting groups.

Peace Enforcement
Using military force to get conflicting parties to comply with a peace agreement.

Peacekeepers
Civilian, military and police forces of the UN who work together to monitor and observe peace processes
after a conflict has ended. They assist people in implementing the peace agreements they may have signed.
Such assistance comes in many forms, including separating people who were fighting each other, reducing
military tensions, helping people share the power to run an area, helping set up voting, making sure laws are
followed, and other forms of economic and social development. UN peacekeepers are often referred to as
Blue Berets or Blue Helmets because of their uniform.

Peacemaking
Making peace during a conflict. The UN will do this by offering to send envoys who mediate between the
conflicting leaders

Permanent Members of the U.N.S.C. (a.k.a P5)
China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, United States

Persuasive Speech
A speech where you try to convince the audience of something; all debate speeches are persuasive speeches

Pivot
Changing the subject in the middle of an answer during a crossfire

Policy Debate
An advanced debate event where 2 teams of 2 people each debate the same resolution for the whole school
year. Public Forum debate changes topics every 1 or 2 months. In Policy debate, they debate about making a
specific government policy and making a plan for how the government will make that policy happen. But
Public Forum debates are more about the morality, social impacts and general effectiveness of the
resolution, not about the specifics of putting a policy into place. One clear difference is that in Policy you
might have arguments about the specifics of the budget for a resolution. Debating about the budget for a
resolution (eg whether it should be 250B or 400B) almost never happens in PF.

Politics/Political/Politician
Politics is anything having to do with the government. Political is the adjective for politics. Politician is a
person who is elected to be a government leader.

Political Party
A group of politicians with similar goals who band together in organized groups in order to have political
power. The 2 biggest political parties in the U.S. are the Democrats and Republicans; other political parties
include Libertarian, Green, Socialist, and many others

Power Matching
Many tournaments use “power matching” to determine which speakers or debate teams will face each other
in rounds later in the tournament. This means that each speaker/team is assigned against another
speaker/team with the same record. A speaker/team that won or ranked high in the first two rounds will
compete against another speaker/team that won or ranked high in the first two rounds. For example, a
debate team with a 1-1 record will debate another team that has won a debate and lost a debate. This
ensures that each team is given competitive debates throughout the tournament. Tournaments that use
power matching usually have two random rounds, called “presets,” as the first two rounds. After that, they
begin power matching the debates.

Pre-flow
When you put your contentions on your flow sheet; some tournaments allow opponents to write each others’
contentions down before the round begins. Most tournaments don’t allow this. You should put your own
contentions on your flow sheets before the round.

Preliminary Round
Also called “prelims;” a round in which all the competitors in a tournament get to compete

Prep Time
Preparation time; time used to prepare impromptu speeches during a debate

Private/Public
A private business is one that is not owned by a government. A public business is one that is owned by a
local or federal government.

Probability
When you discuss how likely an impact is to happen.

Pro Team (a.k.a. Affirmative Team)
The side in a debate that agrees with the resolution; this team often says they “affirm” the resolution

Prompt
Something that gives a speaker an idea of what to talk about

Pronunciation
Saying words correctly

Public Forum Debate (P.F.)
A debate event where 2 teams of 2 people each debate on a different resolution every 1-2 months; this class
teaches you how to do Public Forum

Public Speaking
Giving a speech in front of an audience; all Speech and Debate events are examples of public speaking

Rebuttal
A speech refuting an opposing speaker in a debate; the verb is “to rebut”; in PF, the main purpose of the
Rebuttal is to refute what your opponent said in their constructive.

Rehearse/Rehearsal
To practice something spoken, like a speech or play

Relevant
Closely connected or appropriate to the audience of a speech; important to the audience

Representative
A person who speaks or acts for a group or community.

Research
Finding information by looking at data that’s already been collected. Primary research means collecting
information for the first time by doing something like an interview or a survey. Secondary research means
collecting information that has already been collected, by going to the library or reading an online article

Resolution
The thesis statement of a debate; also known as the motion, proposal, proposition; in the real world of
politics, a resolution is legislation that expresses a conviction, or value belief of an assembly, which may
urge, request, or suggest further action by another decision-making authority. A resolution is usually written
in this form: “We are resolved that [this or that should happen]” or “Resolved: [this or that should happen].”
Our current resolution is:
The United Nations should abolish permanent membership on its Security Council.

Resolve
verb: to decide to do something; “We resolve to fix the problem.”
noun: determination; willingness; “We have the resolve to fix the problem.”

Resolved
Firmly determined to do something; “We are resolved to fix the problem.”

Round
The part of a contest where you compete; you compete in a round, take a break, then have another round; in
a Speech and Debate tournament, you usually do 3 to 6 rounds in one day, meaning that you debate or
deliver your speech 3 to 6 times in one day. In a round of Debate, 2 teams do all of their speeches, then the
judge decides who won, based on the arguments

Schematics
The list of rooms, competitors and judges for a round

Scope
Who or what is affected by an impact

Second Speaker
The person on a 2-person public forum team who delivers the Rebuttal and the Final Focus

Secretariat
The administrators and office workers of the U.N. Led by the Secretary-General, who acts as the
spokesperson for the U.N. There are thousands of employees in the Secretariat working around the world.

Security
Something that gives or assures safety, tranquility, certainty, protection

Security Council (UNSC)
A committee of the U.N. whose purpose is to investigate and mediate threats to peace anywhere in the
world. They can also approve military actions without permission of the U.N. General Assembly. There are
15 member countries of the UNSC. Five countries are permanently on the UNSC – China, France, Russia,
United States and the United Kingdom. The other 10 members are not permanent – they run for elections
every 2 years. The UNSC can make resolutions that are “compulsory” or “binding,” which means that if
you’re in the UN, you have to obey the resolution they made. Nine members of the UNSC have to agree to a
resolution for it to pass. Any of the 5 permanent members can veto any UNSC resolution, even if all 14 of
the other members vote for it. If a permanent member does not agree with a resolution, but they don’t want
to veto it, they can “abstain,” which means just not vote at all.

Signpost
Using phrases and words to guide the judge through the content of your speech; telling the judge what
you’re doing as you do it; examples: “In conclusion…” “There are 3 reasons why we won this debate…”
“We affirm that…”

Source
Where you found your data; usually in the form of a news article, research study or government report

Speaker Points
In some tournaments, the judges not only choose who wins, but also give everyone speaker points based on
how well they debated; they’re like a grade

Speech and Debate Team
A school activity in which students give speeches and adult judges decide the winners; most Speech and
Debate teams are in high schools; there are some in middle schools and a few in elementary schools

Speech Event
A contest in which 3-6 people give speeches to a judge, and the judge ranks the speakers based on how well
they spoke; in this class you’re learning how to do debate events, in which 2 teams debate and the judge
decides one winner

Spread
A mixture of the term “speed read”

Squirrelly Argument
An argument that a debater knows is bad but they push it anyway

Status Quo
The current state of things; Latin for “the state in which”; we use this phrase a lot in debate because the
resolution is almost always a proposal to change the status quo; the con side often argues that the status quo
is just fine

Student Congress (aka Congressional Debate)
A debate event in which 10-15 students are in a room debating for and against a mock law. They are
pretending to be members of Congress. Everyone debates as an individual, not teams.

Subsidized/Subsidy
A general term for when a person or government pays for part of someone else’s costs; you can subsidize
your child’s first home, or the government can subsidize farmers producing milk; the money that is paid is
called a “subsidy”

Summary
A speech in Public Forum where you review your main contentions and why you are winning each one, then
review your opponents’ main arguments and why they are losing each one. A summary is also a good place
to weigh arguments, where you compare a pro and a con argument directly against each other so that the
judge can see which argument is better.

Supreme Court
The highest court. A state supreme court is the highest court in a state. The United States Supreme Court is
the highest court in the U.S. The US Supreme Court is in charge of the judicial branch of the federal
government.

Tab Room
The room at a live tournament where coaches tabulate (add) the scores from each round; students
participating in the tournament are not allowed in this room

Tabloid
An untrustworthy type of newspaper that tells fake stories about celebrities and aliens. Usually sold at
grocery stores

Tabroom.com
A website owned by the NSDA that has many purposes: listing all the tournaments happening throughout
the year; registering for tournaments; communicating with competitors; writing ballots; scoring rounds.
There is a similar website called Speechwire.com that is popular but only used by a minority of
tournaments.

Tabula Rasa
Latin phrase that means “blank/erased tablet.” A tablet is a rock that people wrote on with chalk back in ye
olden tymes. In Speech & Debate, tabula rasa is the idea that judges should have a “blank mind” with no
opinions, biases or prejudices about speakers or topics. The idea of humans being able to have a tabula rasa
has been proven false. Even as newborn babies, different brains have different constructions that lead to
different behavior and personalities. Judges try their best to judge without biases, but it has been found that
the best way to reduce them is to, in fact, make yourself aware of your biases so that you can consciously
push them aside when they are activated. Speech & Debate is an art form (the Rhetorical Arts), so the
judging is going to be subjective, not objective. This isn’t a sport where a ball objectively goes into a goal or
doesn’t. This is why when a debate class watches the same sample round of debate on a video, about half
vote for the pro and half for the con, even though they all watched the same debate. There is no objective
winner of a round of Speech & Debate.

Tabulation/Tabulate
To add up judge scores to see who the winner of a tournament is; the room where this happens is the “tab
room”

Tax
Money that people pay to a government. Governments then use the money for products and services that
everyone uses like roads, fire departments, public schools.

Template
A form that serves as a pattern for writing a speech

Terminal Impact
An impact which is hard to defeat because it harms millions or even billions of people; one strategy is to
connect all of your claims to terminal impacts; some people use a short list of terminal impacts and connect
any claim for any resolution to those terminal impacts; a pro of this strategy is that you become very
familiar with your short list of terminal impacts, to the point of easily being able to explain the impact and
its evidence to any judge; the con of this strategy is that the connection between a claim and a terminal
impact can look ridiculous, like arguing that standardized tests lead to nuclear war. Some examples of
events that could be terminal impacts are nuclear war; pandemics, regular war, environmental disaster, mass
poverty, or an extinction level event.

Thesis
A statement that someone wants to discuss or prove; another word for a resolution

Tournament
A speech and debate competition; when live, it usually takes place at a high school or college; usually lasts
from 8am until 6pm; because it takes so long, they almost always happen on Saturdays; each person usually
does 3-4 rounds

Treaty
An agreement that binds two or more countries. Treaties can also involve different groups within one
country.

Trigger Warning/Content Warning
When you warn the audience that you’re about to talk about something violent so that they can leave in case
they don’t want to hear it

Turn
When you twist your opponents’ argument into supporting your side

United Nations
Organization founded in 1945 with the purpose of offering a place for the world’s countries to mediate and
negotiate the world’s international relations. There are 193 countries in the U.N. represented by 193
ambassadors. The current U.S. ambassador to the U.N. is Linda Thomas-Greenfield. Thomas-Greenfield is
also on the UN Security Council. Her assistant ambassador is Robert A Wood. The U.N. headquarters is
located in New York City and is open to the public.

UNICEF
United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund. Now called the United Nations Children’s Fund.
A branch of the UN dedicated to helping impoverished children and mothers have food and healthcare.

Varsity
A school team or player that is at the most skilled level of play

Verbal Communication
Talking; using written or spoken words

Veto
The power to say “no” to something that was voted on. The P5 have the power to veto any of the UNSC’s
resolutions.

Voter
An argument for your side that you think is winning the debate; also known as “voting issue”

Warrant
Part of a contention; the reason your claim sentence is true

Weigh/Weighing
Weighing is debate jargon that just means “comparing 2 opposing arguments.” It is when you compare the
impacts of one of your arguments against the impacts of an opponent’s argument. Sometimes these
arguments seem to have nothing to do with each other. The con argument “Zoos cause animals poor mental
health” may seem to have nothing to do with the pro argument “Zoos educate children.” One way to weigh
them against each other would be to compare the number of animals who get mental problems vs the
number of children educated by zoos. Another way to weigh them might be to compare the depth of the
effect of mental health problems on an animal against the depth of the effect of zoo education programs on a
child.

Win-Loss Record
In debate, or any competition, how many times you won versus how many times you lost. Number of wins
is always first. In a debate tournament with 4 rounds, the best you can get is 4-0, 4 wins and 0 losses. 3-1 is
also very good. 2-2 is average (most teams get 2-2 in a 4-round tournament). 1-3 or 0-4 usually happens to
people at their first tournaments