The Great Debate – Lincoln-Douglas Value Debate Training

When The Great Debate book and website were first introduced, the main focus was on team policy debate. As the years have passed, we have been asked to help debaters learn other styles of competitive forensics. We've worked with students learning parliamentary debate, we offer a complete Lincoln-Douglas Value Debate curriculum, complete with weekly lessons on our blog, and now we are proud to enter the public forum debate world.

While our policy book (available here) and teacher's guide (coming soon) will remain our primary focus, we hope this addition to the Great Debate family will be a valuable resource to students, coaches, and parents for the years to come.

So without further ado, here is our Public Forum debate training curriculum. This free (yes, you read that right, free) web curriculum is available to you for asking. The videos are available on our youtube page. Handouts, a syllabus, and suggested additional readings are available via email. Videos begin at the very beginning, asking "what is public forum debate?" and progress through the various aspects of a Public Forum debate class. If you're new to debate as a student, parent, or coach, these videos will help you master the basics of public forum debate!

Videos are available on our YouTube page or below. It's your choice!

If you would like to receive a copy of the "coach's packet" please email : jwolfson@greatdebate.net and we will pass the materials on to you. Please include your name, email address, and which league(s) you coach for in your request. "Student packets" are also available (the blank handouts only).

While we provide all these resources for free, if you find them helpful, we would appreciate if you hit our tip jar below:

Because these videos are a first for us, we would love your feedback. Please leave comments, post on our facebook wall, email us, and tell others about the new resource. And stay tuned - more videos will be posted every week.

These videos were recorded at SciAcademy in New Orleans under a program coordinated by New Orleans Outreach. The training is catered to a team competing in the Louisiana High School Speech League (LHSSL) using the National Forensics League (NFL) resolution. However, the training on Public Forum basics is transferable regardless of which league you plan to join. In addition, many of the skills employed in a public forum debate transfer to policy debate, student congress, and model United Nations. Take a look at these videos to find out what might help you become a stronger speaker making even better arguments.

Best of luck to you as you learn to be a value debater!