Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Roadmap
All can be strategically used to win a debate! (or at least place you higher)
Phrasing
• Clear, concise POI’s are powerful(=not necessarily short, but on point)
• Judges get them
• Speaker cannot shove them off as ‘confusing’
• Write it down, and read it to yourself in your mind
• Check it with your partner
• If factually contradicting somebody
• Don’t make it a question to which it is obvious to say ‘no, that’s exactly what
I’ve been saying’ to. Make it a question that forces the opponent to engage
with your case.
• Also take into account the amount of analysis that had gone into the point
you are trying to disprove
Phrasing
Speaker: “The application of the death penalty is an effective deter- rent to
capital crimes. Research for decades has consistently shown that states with
capital punishment have lower murder rates.”
POI 1: “On that point. That same research indicates that states that actually use
the death penalty have growing rates of capital crimes and that states with an
unused death penalty have decreasing murder rates.
POI 2: “On that point. Isn’t it true that states that actually use the death penalty
have growing rates of capital crimes and that states with an unused death
penalty have decreasing murder rates?
Example 1: ‘The Leading Question’
• Worlds Final 2001
• Motion:THW elect its judges
POI: How often will you re-elect your judges?
Response: ‘I don’t know why you’re nitpicking, but let’s make it 6 years’