How to Get Good

The Most Important Tips for Winning on the National Circuit

I'll elaborate on most of these in future posts, but here's the overview.

1. Specialize

Don't try to learn every argument style at once. Pick one, get good at it, and learn how it interacts with everything else. The full breakdown is in the next post in this series.

2. Get Organized

Most national circuit debates come down to a handful of predictable controversies. The exact ones vary by event and region, but they're largely foreseeable if you're paying attention. The best competitors over-prepare those common clashes instead of scrambling in round. Organization is what makes that possible. The best debaters always know exactly where their files are. They can pull their yes/no RVI blocks without thinking about it.

3. Drills Over Lectures

Watching someone explain an argument is not the same as being able to execute it under pressure. You have to implement things. Do spreading drills every single day. In almost every circuit, speed is a real competitive advantage. You can't get faster by listening to a podcast about it.

4. Redos

No speech you give is perfect. When a round ends, redo your speeches before you do anything else. Record yourself during practice rounds (with consent), watch the footage, and be honest about what you see. Most debaters skip this and it's why most debaters stop improving after a certain point.

5. Innovate, but Stay Legible

Creativity is one of the best ways to get opponents off their prepared blocks. If they've never seen your argument before, they can't have a canned answer for it. The catch is that judging at 350+ words per minute is genuinely hard. Your innovation has to be tied to something familiar enough that the judge can follow along. An argument no one understands isn't a good argument.

6. Make Friends

Debate is a community. You need people rooting for you, people feeding you intel, and people you're actually excited to see at tournaments. The competitors who last are the ones who genuinely like being there. It's a hard activity. If it's not fun, you'll quit.