March 23, 2026
What I Like To Call The Most Important Speech
Written by Mahek Acharya Most people think debates are won during the final few statements. They spend hours crafting their position, rehearsing their evidence, perfecting their delivery and then at the end, many debaters believe that’s what is going to solidify the win. While that might be true, the second speech can have that same…
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March 7, 2026
Student Leader Feature: Captain Anthony Lee
Written by Katherine Xue Hey PDA Fam! As another exciting stretch of tournaments wraps up, we’re back with another feature – this time, it’s another one of our captains! We’re traveling a bit farther than usual today; while the majority of our Potomac debaters are from the US, he is one of our international debaters,…
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February 28, 2026
How Speech and Debate Prepares You for Every Career
Written by Mahek Acharya You spend whole Saturdays at tournaments, stay up late writing cases, and argue both sides of issues you don’t always believe in. You learn how to stand in front of a room and make people listen, even if it is about a boring issue. And now, whether you realize it or…
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February 28, 2026
Alumni & Coaches Feature: Leon Wang
Written by Sherry Lin Hello everyone! I’m excited to announce the first feature in a new series spotlighting Potomac Debate Academy’s alumni and current coaches, which will explore how debate has shaped their journeys after high school. Today, we’re hearing from Leon Wang, who is a Varsity and Travel Tournament Coach here at PDA. He…
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February 23, 2026
How to Pick the Right In-Person Tournament to Attend
Written by Sherry Lin Hi PDA Fam! It’s Student Coach Sherry again, and this week I wanted to talk about something that can feel tricky starting out, but is super important in your debate journey: choosing what in-person tournaments to attend. Once you start debating regularly, you’ll notice that there are often multiple tournament options…
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