Hot Tip From Budlman, Jr.

Dear Debaters,

Here’s a big tip about winning rounds. Talk, talk and TALK some more about IMPACTS. Give them numbers. I was horrified recently to find out that the body count for Iraqi civilian casualties is over 100,000. Who will talk about the numbers being affected right now by a genocide in Sudan? They are available to anyone who wants to research them. The AIDs numbers in any aff or DA are staggering. The picture of it is horrible. Can you paint this picture, young debaters? She or he who has their numbers and a visual description of the impact in order will sway the judge the most. Your round will depend upon it.

It is up for debate as to whether the world depends on it but my guess is that yes, the state of the world is also dependant upon your ability to articulate the impacts of the important debate topics in your world.

To that end I ask you to join me in an upcoming year that is so filled with public debate that the world around us starts listening to student voice. I need your help with ideas for putting on public debates. But we can’t expect our loud chorus of voices around the town can have an impact unless we know what we are talking about, and we can convey the picture of what is and could be happening if our idea is or isn’t put into action.

Which brings me back to impacts. Learn to use the rebuttal speech as a place to practice describing impacts. Always remember that evidence of numbers and an ability to convey a picture of the impact are powerful rhetorical tools. Rhetoric is the use of language or argument to persuade an audience.

Mail any ideas that you have about public debate in 2005 to my roommate Spilly at spilly@budl.org.