Public Forum

What is public forum?

Public Forum is a type of current events debate where teams debate on previously selected resolutions. It covers recent, up to date topics in a variety of news such as politics, economics, etc. Teams of two individuals need to prepare cases for both Affirmative and Negative cases as sides are presented during the tournament before each round. In each team, each individual has different roles: First Speaker and Second Speaker. Evidence is crucial in Public Forum debate and needed for logical arguments that can win a judge over. There are no distinct right or wrong answer to the debate as the same evidence for Affirmative can easily be used to prove another point in Negative. Public Forum forces debaters to widen their perspectives and utilize certain evidence for different points.

More info on NSDA event

Resolution Examples:

The United States should end its economic sanctions against Venezuela.
The benefits of the United States' use of offensive cyber operations outweigh the harms.
The United States should increase its use of nuclear energy for commercial energy production.

Round Timings:

4 - Affirmative Contentions

4 - Negative Contentions

3 - Crossfire between the two First Speakers allowing both sides to question

4 - Affirmative Rebuttals

4 - Negative Rebuttals

3 - Crossfire between the two Second Speakers allowing both sides to question

2 - Affirmative Summary

2 - Negative Summary

3 - Grand Crossfire between all speakers allowing both sides to question

2 - Affirmative Final Focus

2 - Negative Final Focus

Breakdown OF SPEECHES

AFFIRMATIVE CONSTRUCTIVE

- The First Speaker for Affirmative states their contentions and evidence in the given time. It is also important for them to set the standard of the debate.

NEGATIVE CONSTRUCTIVE

- The First Speaker for Negative states their contentions and evidence in the given time. They have the opportunity to either agree with the Affirmative's standard or present their own.

FIRST CROSSFIRE

- The two First Speakers of each team take turns prodding for loopholes in each other's cases during an active Q&A session. Each question should be proposed with the intent to extract information which will help with the rebuttal.

AFFIRMATIVE REBUTTAL

- The Second Speaker for Affirmative breaks down the opponents' evidence and states why their reasoning is invalid. New evidence can be brought up.

NEGATIVE REBUTTAL

- The Second Speaker for Negative breaks down the opponents' evidence and states why their reasoning is invalid. New evidence can be brought up.

SECOND CROSSFIRE

- The two Second Speakers take turns widening the loopholes and appealing to the judge why their case is better than the other during another active Q&A session.

AFFIRMATIVE SUMMARY

- The First Speaker for Affirmative goes over a brief summary of their case's main points, focusing on their strongest points and tying them back to the standard. The goal of this speech is to prove why you have won.

NEGATIVE SUMMARY

- The First Speaker for Negative goes over a brief summary of their case's main points, focusing on their strongest points and tying them back to the standard. The goal of this speech is to prove why you have won.

GRAND CROSSFIRE

- All speakers are allowed to speak and teams take turns asking questions to weaken their opponent's case.

AFFIRMATIVE FINAL FOCUS

- The Second Speaker for Affirmative wraps up their case quickly and points out why their opponent shouldn't win because of failure to refute certain points questioned or falsified evidence. The goal of this speech is to prove why your opponents have lost.

NEGATIVE FINAL FOCUS

- The Second Speaker for Negative wraps up their case quickly and points out why their opponent shouldn't win because of failure to refute certain points questioned or falsified evidence. The goal of this speech is to prove why your opponents have lost.

PREP TIME