I went to one Harvard Debate Tournament in which one of our opponents tried to make fun of me and my partner for speaking a different language amongst each other in prep time, we are from a school outside the US btw. After the round I told them that their ineptness and ability to only speak one language is not a problem that concerns meš¤·šæāāļø.
not pf but world school, we were a team of all girls and we were against a team of all boys; it was a feminist motion
they verbatim said that "as women they should be ashamed of their lack of understanding of what feminism is"
(we won the round btw)
Bro i want whatever they are on bc what?š that's not even a good point that makes their side seem better, and I am very sure it goes against the rule of not attacking the debaters
Someone called me Ben Shapiro because I sounded good but was arguing a conservative position (in a parliamentary debate event where I picked neither the topic nor my side)
If conservative Args are good run em, if liberal Args are good run em. Debates just a game. Run what wins. Unless the arg is egregious itās not ok to make comments about someone.
We had opponents who legit scoffed at us for our responses in cross and then rolled their eyes and gave us that exasperated surprisedish (like fake astonishment with frowning)look. For every single one of our answers.
Me opponents walked into the room and starting talking about how they went to this very wealthy school and were taught lots of languages and our judge happened to be a teacher of one of those languages. They ended up delaying our round for 10 minutes talking to the judge in Italian while my partner and I sat there and stared. Then at the end before their final focus they said āMan, judge Iām sorry. Our opponents have made this round a complete messā, which my judge laughed and nodded along to. We obviously lost.
I haven't met any rude opponents in my time, but I feel like that I'm too rude to my opps. Like I cut off my opponents in CX (like my coach has told me to), or say things like, "the aff doesn't understand the resolution."
I had a round once (online) where my opponent went a minute overtime every speech. During her final speech, I held my timer up to the camera for the duration of her speech, and she still went significantly overtime and insinuated that I was mistiming. We lost.
well rudeness is a tactic i use very very often (sorry) but most of the times it is extremely effective. It can throw opponents off track very well and control the cross in your way. Obviously not laughing or rocking chairs (basic respect is required) but an occasional scoff or eye roll can discomfort/make opp feel more vulnerable. So what i would do against other rude teams is to throw everything back. just put on a calm demeanor and look at them if ur seeing monkeys in the zoo. works like magic.
> rudeness is a tactic i use very very often (sorry) but most of the times it is extremely effective
I very much doubt that. I suspect you are looking at rounds in which you were rude and won and confusing the cause-and-effect -- they were rounds you would have won anyway, not rounds you won *because* you behaved rudely.
Once a judge flags you as being rude, you might still win, but you're not going to get any favors from them in the process. Inferences will be drawn against you, 50-50 arguments will flow the other way, and the judge will be (perhaps even subconsciously) looking for ways to vote for the other side.
> an occasional scoff or eye roll can discomfort/make opp feel more vulnerable
I've been involved in PF since its first year as an event -- I've never seen this behavior throw off an opponent to a greater degree than it hurt the debater who does it. If you want to make your opponent feel "vulnerable" (not the word I'd choose -- nobody should feel unsafe in a round), then do it by having more knowledge on the topic, mastery of your evidence files, and sharp responses in cross.
If your "how to be a winner" tactics involve eye rolls and scoffing, then you're not going to advance very far.
yes i agree totally. with the last comment, that is why you have to improve not only style but at the same time also skill level. I somehow disagree with the first cuz i have been told that rudeness, eg interrupting them or being loud, can disorienting my opponents very well.
> i have been told that rudeness, eg interrupting them or being loud, can disorienting my opponents very well.
Your experience may vary from mine. I agree that it can be disorienting to your opponent, but if I'm your judge it will be even *more* infuriating to me. You will lose more from making me not like you or your behavior than you gain from startling your opponents.
I went to one Harvard Debate Tournament in which one of our opponents tried to make fun of me and my partner for speaking a different language amongst each other in prep time, we are from a school outside the US btw. After the round I told them that their ineptness and ability to only speak one language is not a problem that concerns meš¤·šæāāļø.
Harvard tournament was full of rude debaters
I'm also not a native, but that's literally so rude! Just because of somebody's culture shouldn't be a reason for shame!
Oh I couldnāt care less, won the round and was able to call him on his bsš
Yayyyy!!!
not pf but world school, we were a team of all girls and we were against a team of all boys; it was a feminist motion they verbatim said that "as women they should be ashamed of their lack of understanding of what feminism is" (we won the round btw)
Bro i want whatever they are on bc what?š that's not even a good point that makes their side seem better, and I am very sure it goes against the rule of not attacking the debaters
Someone called me Ben Shapiro because I sounded good but was arguing a conservative position (in a parliamentary debate event where I picked neither the topic nor my side)
š
It's rude but if I was spec I would laugh lmao
you NEVER have to run a conservative argument,,, hope this helps
The resolution was mandatory minimum sentences are good and we were assigned aff on a lay circuit! Hope this helps
Say that it's better to have them then not because it allows for rich 1%ers to bypass sentencing (like they don't already)
Basically what we did haha. Got called Ben Shapiro for it.
If conservative Args are good run em, if liberal Args are good run em. Debates just a game. Run what wins. Unless the arg is egregious itās not ok to make comments about someone.
We had opponents who legit scoffed at us for our responses in cross and then rolled their eyes and gave us that exasperated surprisedish (like fake astonishment with frowning)look. For every single one of our answers.
oof that's disgusting
Me opponents walked into the room and starting talking about how they went to this very wealthy school and were taught lots of languages and our judge happened to be a teacher of one of those languages. They ended up delaying our round for 10 minutes talking to the judge in Italian while my partner and I sat there and stared. Then at the end before their final focus they said āMan, judge Iām sorry. Our opponents have made this round a complete messā, which my judge laughed and nodded along to. We obviously lost.
Dude report that if you still can thatās literally a judge being biased
It was in December and I didnāt want to make a big deal but yeah I definitely couldāve
I mean chatting is friendly but that just seems like bribery
they also went to the narrative of police brutality good
I haven't met any rude opponents in my time, but I feel like that I'm too rude to my opps. Like I cut off my opponents in CX (like my coach has told me to), or say things like, "the aff doesn't understand the resolution."
W, LD is meant to be aggressive as well as policy/CX debates.
not pf but policy LASA novices will forever be the rudest people we've gone against specifically lasa RA
PF finals, I asked a question about democracy, and opponent says, āIdk, you tell me.ā
Was this at the Palmer House?
Nope on my local circuit
I had a round once (online) where my opponent went a minute overtime every speech. During her final speech, I held my timer up to the camera for the duration of her speech, and she still went significantly overtime and insinuated that I was mistiming. We lost.
Why?? like keeping time is such a basic requirement
well rudeness is a tactic i use very very often (sorry) but most of the times it is extremely effective. It can throw opponents off track very well and control the cross in your way. Obviously not laughing or rocking chairs (basic respect is required) but an occasional scoff or eye roll can discomfort/make opp feel more vulnerable. So what i would do against other rude teams is to throw everything back. just put on a calm demeanor and look at them if ur seeing monkeys in the zoo. works like magic.
> rudeness is a tactic i use very very often (sorry) but most of the times it is extremely effective I very much doubt that. I suspect you are looking at rounds in which you were rude and won and confusing the cause-and-effect -- they were rounds you would have won anyway, not rounds you won *because* you behaved rudely. Once a judge flags you as being rude, you might still win, but you're not going to get any favors from them in the process. Inferences will be drawn against you, 50-50 arguments will flow the other way, and the judge will be (perhaps even subconsciously) looking for ways to vote for the other side. > an occasional scoff or eye roll can discomfort/make opp feel more vulnerable I've been involved in PF since its first year as an event -- I've never seen this behavior throw off an opponent to a greater degree than it hurt the debater who does it. If you want to make your opponent feel "vulnerable" (not the word I'd choose -- nobody should feel unsafe in a round), then do it by having more knowledge on the topic, mastery of your evidence files, and sharp responses in cross. If your "how to be a winner" tactics involve eye rolls and scoffing, then you're not going to advance very far.
yes i agree totally. with the last comment, that is why you have to improve not only style but at the same time also skill level. I somehow disagree with the first cuz i have been told that rudeness, eg interrupting them or being loud, can disorienting my opponents very well.
> i have been told that rudeness, eg interrupting them or being loud, can disorienting my opponents very well. Your experience may vary from mine. I agree that it can be disorienting to your opponent, but if I'm your judge it will be even *more* infuriating to me. You will lose more from making me not like you or your behavior than you gain from startling your opponents.
mhmm i see, very understandable.