Time management is a skill that usually has a unique evolution in people’s debate journeys. Most people will start having too little to say, then too much to say, until they find the balance that’s just right to deliver their points.
It’s normal to go through these phases, and people stay in the second one for longer than you think. I probably stayed there for almost two years.
The question is, how do you avoid the stagnation I had and get to that ideal state faster?
If you find yourself explaining your first argument too much that your second argument is almost nonexistent, this article is for you.
If you find yourself spending too much time in rebuttals and unable to deliver your extension, this article is for you.
If your second or third clash doesn’t get enough attention and is dismissed by judges, this article is for you.
This article is most suitable for people who are in the second phase of having too much to say and not knowing how to deliver effectively. If you’re in the first phase of having too little to say, tip #2, #5, and #6 will still be relevant, although the rest probably not as much. Don’t worry though, I’ll have an article specifically for you guys in the future.
There are 6 things I’d suggest you to make a mental checklist of, so that your time management during speeches improves.
Planning time allocation in your speech
You should know how much to spend on each section of your speech! This is something that’s quite flexible, but for reference, I’ll put my usual time allocations:
- Prime Minister (1st Government) 1min setup, 3min first argument, 3min second argument
- Leader of Opposition (1st Opposition), Member of Government, Member of Opposition 2min rebuttals, 2.30 first argument, 2.30 second argument
- Deputy Prime Minister & Deputy Leader of Opposition (2nd speaker) 5min rebuttals/clashes, 2min extension
- Government Whip & Opposition Whip (3rd speaker) 1min clarifications, 6min clashes
You should plan this out from the beginning, and put in timestamps in your notes if necessary! They make good reminders. Of course, that also means you must time yourself and be aware of the time.
Don’t spend time on an argument just because you want to avoid being undertime!
Stalling just by repeating sentences that mean the same thing is probably unhelpful to a judge. So is adding examples when a point has already been clearly delivered. Your judge will probably not write it, and even begin to expect less from the rest of your speech because they get bored.
Only spend time in an argument when it’s important to do so. I’ve known people who spoke for 5 minute speeches but won best speaker awards! I think it’s good to not have the mindset to stall from early on, since it might lead to a tendency to overcompensate in the long term.
If you’re going to speak for 7 minutes, it should only be because you know everything you say will count.
Arguments only take a long time to explain because there are certain ways you need to prove it. keep reading to find which parts of the arguments to best zoom in on.
Don’t spend too much time on non-contentious things
A debate speech is made up of both descriptive and argumentative materials. Descriptive materials are things like setup, framing, and context. Argumentative materials are the arguments and rebuttals that you run on top of those descriptive materials.
What wins you the debate is the argumentative materials, because that’s where all your offenses and defenses lie. This is not to say that you should have 0 descriptive materials in your speech, but it’s to say that you should spend just enough time on the descriptive materials so you can focus on the argumentative materials.
Here are some common mistake you want to avoid:
- If your opponent is going to agree with a context you’re explaining, then you probably only need to spend 1-2 sentences on it as a preamble for your argument.
- Your opening line’s function is usually just to highlight the bottom line of your speech, or to catch the judge’s attention. That means it’s probably good to spend time on the other parts of your speech if the additional sentences in your opening only serve to beautify.
- If you spend more than a minute for your setup, think about whether what you’re saying is actually important. Only spend more than a minute if you’re sure you’re not repeating the motion, defining the obvious, making models that can be co-opted, etc.
Spend time on both positive and negative case
Debate is a comparative game. You win by showing your world is better than your opponent’s. To be able to do that, you have to illustrate your world and your opponent’s world, and then compare them.
Sometimes, teams only focus on the problems in the opponent’s side, and don’t explain why those problems are fixed on their side. Or they mention benefits on their side and don’t explain why their opponents can’t achieve the same benefits.
This makes the case uncomparative. In order to win that comparative game, you have to explain the negative case (opponent’s problems and harms) and the positive case (your solutions and benefits).
And I think teams usually focus on negative cases because they like to attack their opponents. Unless your benefits are just achieved through an absence of the harms of the opponent’s side, you should take time to explain how actors in the debate work to achieve them!
Ask questions like, how do their incentives change on your side? What are they likely to do as a result?
Dedicate time for conclusions
Let’s face it. Debate speeches, especially since many of them are fast-paced, are overwhelming. Oftentimes, judges will be too busy making sure they catch everything in your speech that the links become blurry if you don’t make them clear.
This is why it’s important to conclude, at the end of every argument and rebuttal, what that analysis does in the debate. Slow down and use sentences like “The conclusion is that our policy results in the fastest solvency of the problem” or “Therefore, the harms that the Opposition talks about are worsened on their side”.
Leave time for POIs
Don’t forget that POI engagement is important too! If you haven’t taken any POIs, don’t spend too much time on your arguments because you have to make room for POIs, unless the opponent seems like they’re offering none.
And if you’re wondering, the best time to take POIs is between 1.00-1.30. This is because that burden is quickly lifted off your shoulders and you can manage your time with more certainty. It’s also because teams usually offer bad POIs at that time—they don’t yet know what your speech is all about.
But if you can’t, try to take them when you’re transitioning between arguments or clashes, so that they don’t interrupt you in the middle of an explanation. It makes it easier for judges to take notes this way.
What this means for you
This is the mindset that you need to have mid-speech.
When you spend enough time for every section of your speech, and when you’re aware of what’s important to explain, you’ll have less holes in your argument. Plus, if your time management is more effective than your opponent’s, it means the judge will credit more material from you than from them. This makes every speech in your team deadly!
In terms of speaker scores, if you’re debating in the WSDC format, this will also earn you points for the strategy part of the scoring scale, because judges expect airtime to be used effectively if you want to score high on those parts.
If you’re debating in general, good time management is usually rewarded too! When you spend the most time in the most important things, it sounds like you know exactly what to do to win, and that means you fulfill things like “arguments engage with the core issues in the debate” that describe the above average scores in the speaker scale.