First Speech

This speech constructs arguments advocating the resolutions worthiness or why it

should NOT be adopted. This speech should have a brief introduction to present the
teams case for the judge. If a definition is important to understanding the case, it should
be presented from the most appropriate source. A few reasons for adopting the topic
should be presented with accompanying evidence. Each reason should be an
independent reason to vote for the resolution, and should explain why it is pertinent. The
speech should conclude with a summary of the arguments covered.
Public Forum Speech Outline
A Public Forum speech is more like a persuasive essay than a Policy Debate Speech
would be. You still need to prove your point(s) with evidence and logic, but the amount of
evidence used is smaller, the speech is shorter overall, and you need to make text and
evidence blend together in a way that sounds persuasive. Below is a quick outline to help
you write you speeches:
Resolved: In a democracy, civil disobedience is an appropriate weapon in the fight for
justice.
I.

II.

Introduction. Start with a paragraph that a) States your position on the

resolution in a way that, b) grabs the listeners interest. A general statement
about what you intend to show, and/or a pertinent quotation from an
authoritative source about the legitimacy of civil disobedience will do nicely.
You need not make all your arguments here, but stating the main one clearly
and persuasively is important. One other thing you might want to do in this
paragraph is state what you will and will not debate in the round. For example,
on this topic you might want to make a statement about what defines
democracy and how it frames what you do and do not have to defend.
Reasoning. Once youve made your overall claim, the bulk of the speech
should be devoted to proving why its true. Here, you can develop as many
reasons as you wish, but the reality of a four-minute speech and the need to
sound persuasive suggest that you should limit yourself to two or three good
ones. These are your warrants, and you should use evidence from qualified
sources to back them up. However, there are two key differences in evidence
use from what you did in your Policy Debate speeches. First, you should not use
long, extended quotes. Rather, you should be looking for something that backs
up your warrant in a few sentences. There are sometimes reasons to throw out
this advice, but for the most part, short and rhetorically sweet works well.
Second, you need to embed your evidence into your argument. That means,
rather than separating tag, citation, and evidence, you should make your
sources qualifications and words blend into the speech. This only takes the
addition of a few transition words. For example, if I want to back up my
argument for the existence of gnomes, I would say, Leading authorities say
theyre everywhere. According to Dr. Ima Elf, a Professor of Engineering at the

III.

University of Delaware, Gnomes have been spotted in suburban settings, and

they have even been known to frequent the local bowling alleys on Saturday
nights. Again, you should not try to pack a bunch of reasons into the body of
your speech. Some you can save for later; and so for those first speeches, you
need to choose your best two or three and develop them.
Closing. By this time youve hopefully proved your point, and so you want to
close III on a high note. This last paragraph is your sales pitch, and so it should
be well worded and memorable. A good metaphor, a statement about how
allowing civil disobedience (or not) would affect the world, or even another
famous quote (dont get carried away with evidence, though) would work here.
You want the judge to be thinking about your speech when the next speaker is
up there.

First Speech
This speech constructs arguments ____________________ the resolutions worthiness or why
it should _____ be adopted. If a ________________ is important to understanding the case,
it should be presented from the most appropriate source. A few ____________ for adopting
the topic should be presented with accompanying _______________. Each reason should be
an _____________________ _______________ to vote for the resolution, and should explain
why it is ________________. The speech should conclude with a ____________ of the
arguments covered.
Public Forum Speech Outline
A Public Forum speech is more like a persuasive essay than a Policy Debate Speech
would be. You still need to prove your point(s) with evidence and logic, but the amount of
evidence used is smaller, the speech is shorter overall, and you need to make text and
evidence blend together in a way that sounds persuasive. Below is a quick outline to help
you write you speeches:
Resolved: In a democracy, civil disobedience is an appropriate weapon in the fight for
justice.
I.

II.

_________________. Start with a paragraph that a) _________ your _______________

on the resolution in a way that, b) grabs the listeners ______________. A
___________ statement about what you intend to show, and/or a pertinent
quotation from an ________________________ ___________ about the legitimacy of
civil disobedience will do nicely. You need not make all your arguments here,
but stating the ________ one clearly and persuasively is important. One other
thing you might want to do in this paragraph is state what you ______ and
______ _____ debate in the round. For example, on this topic you might want to
make a statement about what _____________ democracy and how it ___________
what you do and do not have to __________.
_________________. Once youve made your _____________ __________, the bulk of
the speech should be devoted to proving why its _______. Here, you can
develop as many _______________ as you wish, but the reality of a _________________ speech and the need to sound persuasive suggest that you should
limit yourself to ____ or ____ good ones. These are your ______________, and you
should use ________________ from ______________ sources to back them up. Look
for something that backs up your warrant in a ______ sentences. Embed your
_________________ into your argument. That means, rather than separating
________, _________________, and ___________________, you should make your
sources qualifications and words _____________ into the speech. This only takes
the addition of a few _____________________ words. You should not try to pack a
bunch of reasons into the body of your speech. Some you can save for later;
and so for those first speeches, you need to choose your best two or three and
develop them.

III.

___________________. By this time youve hopefully proved your point, and so you
want to close III on a high note. This last paragraph is your ___________
___________, and so it should be well worded and ______________________. A good
__________________, a statement about how allowing civil disobedience (or not)
would affect the world, or even another ________________ _____________ (dont get
carried away with ___________________, though) would work here. You want the
judge to be thinking about ___________ speech when the next speaker is up
there.