October 8, 2025
Discovering Your Own Debate Style
Written by Mahek Acharya and Jason Stansell Every successful debater eventually realizes a fundamental truth: there’s no single “right” way to debate. The most effective debaters aren’t those who perfectly mimic their coaches or copy last year’s champions, but rather they’re the ones who’ve discovered and refined their own authentic style. Why Your Debate Style…
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October 5, 2025
Finding the Right Speech Event for You
Written by Jason Stansell Sometimes, finding the right Speech event can be daunting since they are all a lot of fun! So, how do you choose? Well, the long answer is that you will have the opportunity to compete in all speech events if you so choose. However, for the short answer, we’ve crafted a…
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October 2, 2025
Potomac Students Champion Season Opener
Written by Jason Stansell The National Speech and Debate Season Opener at University of Kentucky, also known as the University of Kentucky Season Opener, was a rousing success this year. Several Potomac Debate Academy teams competed online in Public Forum Debate in both the Public Forum Open and Middle School Public Forum Divisions, debating the…
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September 30, 2025
Nervousness: Relax or Don’t — Either way, it’s Going to be Fine
Written by Jason Stansell The first thing to remember about giving a speech is that nerves are to be expected and are absolutely normal. In fact, all other speakers there feel just as nervous, and likely so do/does the judge(s). Everyone handles those butterflies in the stomach differently. But the nerves are still there. You…
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September 28, 2025
A Parent’s Guide to Basic Speech & Debate Jargon
Written by Jason Stansell Picture this… your child comes up to you and asks you to listen to their Speech performance or their Debate case, and within the first minute, they’ve thrown out words and terms that, in context, you don’t understand. Or, they come to you for help with ideas on their piece/case, and…
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