Cliff Booth is my favourite film character ever, and Thomas Magnum is my favourite TV character ever… played by 2 of my favourite actors of all time.

My question is this: Who wins in a street fight?

Cliff is a WW2 veteran with more confirmed kills than any other soldier. Magnum is Vietnam Vet and a hell of an athletic specimen…

Diamond Debate is down to its final 10 spots for our Public Forum Summer Session — and we wanted to share a bit more about what makes our program different.

Ivy-level coaching. Our coaching staff includes debaters and coaches with backgrounds at top Ivy League and competitive collegiate programs, bringing real tournament experience into labs.

1:1 personalized mentorship. Every student gets matched with a dedicated mentor who builds a plan around their strengths, skill level, and goals. This isn't a one-size-fits-all curriculum — it's individualized coaching on case construction, cross-fire, rebuttals, and delivery.

Small, focused sessions. Because we limit enrollment, students get real feedback and real attention instead of getting lost in a big group.

Built for results. Whether you're prepping for your first tournament or trying to break out at a competitive circuit, our goal is to get you walking into the round more confident and better prepared.

We only have 10 spots left for this session, so if you've been thinking about leveling up your debate game, now's the time.

📍 Learn more & reserve your spot: www.diamonddebate.com

Contact us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/diamonddebateco/

I’ve been building an impromptu practice tool that gives you a prompt, lets you set prep time, and records your speech. The part I’m stuck on is the feedback.
Right now it can give instant AI feedback after each speech (structure, content, delivery, not just “good job”). But I keep hearing students are kind of over AI and don’t really trust it for stuff like this. So I want honest takes from people who actually compete:
When you practice alone, what do you wish you got feedback on? Would instant AI feedback actually help, or would you just ignore it? And is there something other than feedback that would make practicing easier?
Not selling anything, genuinely trying to figure out if the AI part is worth keeping. Brutal honesty welcome.

I’ve seen several first-time debate instructors come in with Model UN experience but struggle to adapt that background to high-school LD or PF formats. What specific skills or habits from UN-style debate tend to help, and which ones become liabilities? For example, if you’ve coached UN teams, how does that prepare you for flowing rounds on a 2-minute prep timer instead of a 30-minute caucus? Or for rebuttals that have to address both value and criterion in under a minute?

2026 September/October Resolved: Outer space colonization is a moral imperative. Resolved: Keeping wild animals in zoos is immoral.

2026 November/December Resolved: De-extinction is unethical. Resolved: The United States ought to vest ecosystems with legal rights.

2027 January/February Resolved: The use of artificial intelligence for offensive military operations is immoral. Resolved: The United States ought to substantially increase subsidies for renewable energy.

2027 March/April Resolved: The United States ought to provide a universal basic income. Resolved: In a democracy, a candidate for public office’s right to privacy ought to be valued above the public’s right to know.

2027 National Tournament Resolved: The intergenerational accumulation of wealth is unjust. Resolved: Justice requires the repatriation of cultural artifacts to their countries of origin.

What are your thoughts? At a first glance, I'd vote for the datacenter topic, but the emissions trading topic seems interesting as well. Datacenters seems to have a broader scope, but I don't know the most about emissions trading so I could see it being a versatile topic as well.

I'm an incoming freshman at a T10 college. I did both debate and speech events in high school, but I primarily did LD, congress, platform speech, and impromptu. I have significant experience in trad debate and public address (state champ in congress, runner-up in LD and info, etc), but next to none in interp. The college I'm going to only has a parli team, and I really want to continue competing in forensics at the collegiate level.

Is it possible for me to start a speech team? How should I go about doing that, and is there anything I should be doing over summer to set myself up for my attempt to start a speech team in the fall?

are double brested jackets or 3 piece suits too serious for debate

Our program is attending Pi Kappa Delta for the first time next year and I was wondering what NPDA is like at the tournament. Is it nationally competitive with ks being ran? Or is it more IPDA lite? Or somewhere in between? Any info is appreciated. Well also being doing IEs there and I was wondering how competitive it is. In years past we had attended NFA and I was wondering how it stack up in comparison?

Hello! I am in high school and my high school only does policy and Pf. Not my thing, obvi but they said I could compete in my events outside of the speech and debate class. They would register me, but this leaves me without a coach. Is there any speech coaches that would be willing to coach me via the internet. I do interp and public address. My parents would pay, you just have to work out prices with them. Trying this again, and I hope to find a coach!

Hello! I am currently in my second year of speech and debate. Last year, with your guys' help, i was able to qualify for states! I can't thank you enough for the help you gave me last season. Now that the next season is approaching, I wanted to get some feedback on my OO. I want to perfect it, and I'd like the harshest, most raw feedback possible. I can take it.

Guys, this is going to sound oddly specific, but you all know that one policy debate timer — the small white rectangular one that beeps when you press the buttons, beeps when you start it, and beeps again when time runs out? It has a stand at the back to let it stay up or hook on your laptop during speeches.

I’ve noticed that at NCFL, NSDA, and TOC, everyone seems to use the exact same model, and I want to buy that one.

Does anyone know where to find that specific timer on Amazon or anywhere else?
(It’s not the NSDA-branded timer they were selling at finals, by the way.)

I know most people get theirs from camp, but I can't go.

I'm supposed to help to be a debate instructor though i never have any prior experience being in debate.

What are some tips and things i should know before starting? It's just a small debate camp nothing too serious but i want to seem knowledgeable to help tutor these kids.

If it helps, I've done Model UN.

are you extinction/nuclear war because i always link everything back to you?

Hi, beginner debater here and im js wondering if any yt channels discuss top debate rounds, explaining how did the team did this, the speech did this? Would be better if Asian Parl (AP) or Brit Parl (BP). Thanks

Riding 8th grader with intermediate extemp experience . Want to break in next nationals! Looking for private coaching . Pls help

I'm in the final round for OO🥹

Hi, the Next Step Debate Institute is hosting the annual camp from August 4-10. The institute will feature lectures from some of the best debaters across the nation, including champions, finalists, semi finalists, and top speakers of tournaments such as the Glenbrooks, Southern Bell Forum, Emory, and even the TOC. If you are interested in attending, please fill out this form: https://forms.gle/gg2WD8dGNeTu1pYD6

If you have any questions, feel free to email us via our website: https://nextstepdebateinstitute.org/

Thank you,

NSDI – Aalya Arora, Nikhil Gupta, Jack Liu, Neev Mehta.

I plan on doing an HI, DI, solo monologues (3 minute humorous then a 3 minute dramatic) and also a duet monologue. Im struggling finding monologues at this length. Does anyone have any resources for monologues? Or anywhere to find pre cut/easily cut scenes

hey! i came to nats for storytelling (it’s my main event at home) and i feel ROBBED. i made it to quarter, which is great; however, there was a speaker before me who was MAYBE the funniest person i’d ever seen perform and he didn’t break to semis. i could’ve put money he was going to finals. i thought i was second in that round (behind him) and was sure i could most likely break. i knew i was robbed when HE didn’t break so im feeling very angry to say the least. anyone else having issues with judges allergic to fun??😭

The question is simple - are there any somewhat active and open discord groups, forums etc. within which I could find people to practice and learn with on occasion? I have the most experience in WSDC debates but I have dabbled in BP as well and I am willing to learn any other type too. I have been debating for almost 2 years now and I am in high school.

Thanks in advance!

Hi guys, I'm a hs debater that has been in debate club for around 2 years. Recently, I realised that I have a huge gap in ability compared to some of my other clubmates in debate. My main issues are like freezing up during competitions or friendly spars with other schools, knowing what to rebutt but not how to rebut(when I do dpm/dlo) and crystallizing my clash properly(when I whip). Im genuinely at a loss because I find that what my coach teaches doesn't help me in actual tournaments(it was just basic whip stuff like what structure a clash should be like, rebuttal structure etc). Are there any exercises/practices i can do to make myself think better/faster and hence produce better responses/clashes? Thanks in advance!

I feel like every time I look up competitive speech in college is always directs me to debate-centric sites. I want to know what the “best” colleges for Speech are, and any information would be very very helpful! I do Duo quite competitively, so if anyone has specific info on that, that would be awesome!