📖 Core Terminology
Essential terms you will encounter while debating.
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| 👩⚖️👨⚖️ Adjudicators The people who decide the winner of the debate. Usage: The adjudicators awarded the debate to the proposition team. |
| 💡 Motion the topic being discussed Usage: The motion in today's debate is that we should ban fast food. |
| 🏛️ The House Everyone present in this debate room. Remember - our debate is a representation of parliament. Usage: Greetings to the house at large... |
| 👍 Proposition / Affirmative The team arguing in support of the motion. |
| 👎 Opposition / Negative The team arguing against the motion. |
| 📖 Definition This is not a dictionary definition of each word in the motion. Rather, it is a description of the key terms. Example: We define a sport as a physical activity that can be performed competitively, like soccer or running. |
| 👪 The floor The audience. |
| 📜 Policy A broad description of how your team would implement the motion. Example: We will legalize cannabis only for medical use. Patients will need to get a certified doctors note to qualify. |
| ⚔️ Rebuttal A counterargument to the argument raised by the other team Example: The proposition team claimed [X], but we disagree with their conclusion because [Y]... |
| 🏗️ Substantive Matter Argumentation that proves your case. Example: I have three points of substantive matter today. They are... |
| 🚧 Sign Posting Telling the audience when you start/end something in your speech. This makes it easy for the audience to follow along. Example: Before I address the substantive matter in my speech, I would like to rebut the ideas we have heard from the opposition. |
| 🔄 Shafting Contradicting a position your team has already taken. Example: Proposition Speaker 1 - 'Fast food is unhealthy and disproportionately hurts the poor, because it is often the cheapest food available.' | Proposition Speaker 2 - 'Fast food is too expensive for most people to afford, and negatively impacts family finances.' |
| ⚡ Point of Information (POI) When you interrupt the current speaker to offer a question or statement. These should not be longer than 15 seconds. |
| ⏳ Protective Time The period of time when POIs are not allowed. This is the first and final minute of each speech. |
| 🐝 Badgering Offering so many POIs that it obstructs the debate. |