Speaker Points

Speaker points are a way to evaluate how well each individual spoke. They are on a scale from 0 to 30, but most judges score between 25 and 30 with 30 reserved for top debaters.

Standards

Standards are like impacts for theory. Examples include reciprocity, prep skew, and ground.

Strikes

Before a tournament begins, debaters are given a limited number of strikes, which they can assign to judges. Struck judges will not be placed in those debaters’ rounds.

Summary

The Summary speech is unique to Public Forum. It is three minutes and is used to respond to the opponents teams claims and further devellop the core arguments in the round.

Tabroom

Tabroom is the main software used to run debate tournaments. Debaters have accounts where they can see upcoming tournaments, pairing, and past results.

Team Code

A team code is how an entry is recognized.

Terminal Defense

Terminal defense is a block that, if won, makes the opposing team''s argument untrue.

The Flow

The flow or "a flow" are the notes taken during a debate round. It is similar to a play-by-play.

Theory

Theory is an argument about the rules and norms of debate. A team that proposes a "theory shell" in a round will explain why the opposing team violates the rule or norm the theory team is attempting to enforce and why the opposing team doing so is bad for fairness and education in the debate space.

Timeframe

Timeframe can mean two different things. The first is when the impact occurs and the second is for how long it lasts. If something happens, and the second resolution is affirmed, then it can be weighed on timeframe because it’s more probable. Or, if the impact lasts for centuries, then it could be weighed on timeframe because it’s multigenerational.

Topic

A topic is subject debaters are debating.

Topicality

Topicality is an argument that one side (usually the affirmative) is proposing an argument or a plan that is outside the scope of the resolution.

Tournament of Champions

The Tournament of Champions is hosted in late April by the University of Kentucky. To qualify, teams must earn two "gold bids," which are given out at qualifying tournaments to competitors who make it to a certain round.

Turn

A turn is when a team's argument is flipped to support the opposite side. For example, if an opposing team argues that cats are better than dogs because they don’t need to be walked, a turn could be that walking a dog is a positive thing because it strengthens the bond between owner and pet.

Uniqueness

Uniqueness is a view of the status quo. Imagine a debate about changing the thermostat—one side wants it hotter, the other cooler. Without knowing the current temperature, it’s hard to judge who’s right. If it’s 50 degrees, the “hotter” side wins; if it’s 90, the “cooler” side does. The current temperature is the uniqueness.

Urgency

Urgency is how pressing an issue is. For instance, solving a war is more urgent than renegotiating a treaty in five years.

Varsity

Varsity is for experienced debaters and consists of competitors with generally more than one year of experience.

Voter (Theory)

A voter(s) in relation to theory explain why the judge should care about a theory argument. They are generally a variation of education and fairness.

Voting Issues

Voting issues are the key reasons a judge should vote for a particular side of a debate. Debaters group and frame their strongest arguments as distinct, clearly labeled points in the back half of the round to make it easier for the judge to vote.

Warrant

A warrant is why an argument is true. This generally includes evidence.

Weighing

Weighing is how debaters compare arguments to display which one is superior. There are numerous different weighing mechanisms each with the their own purpose.