What is speed reading?

If you watch policy debates online, chances are you’ve seen a debate where debaters are talking at blazing speeds, at speeds of 300 words per minute, or more. This is called speed reading - or, as the debate community calls it, spreading. Spreading is when debaters talk at fast speeds, particularly when reading evidence, in order to get more information and arguments out. It is an extremely common practice and is akin to a skill in non-lay circuits. 

Why is spreading good?

There are a multitude of reasons. The main reason is that it enables a lot more information, evidence and arguments. Compared to a lay debate, where analysis is mostly surface level, cards are very short, and a lot of it is ships passing by, spreading in policy debate creates a very different environment. Debates are fast, technical, very in depth on topics, and have multiple comparing warrants, evidence and arguments. Speeches require much more knowledge, preparation, and on the spot thinking. It’s intimidating at first, but once you get used to it, the argument heavy speeches can start to create a very complex, multifaceted debate. Essentially, spreading helps turn debate from a speech session into 4-D Chess. There are, however, reasons spreading can be bad as well. It’s ableist, and many people can’t listen or understand words at high speeds or speak at high speed. It also raises the bar for who can and can’t judge an average policy debate, which can be both bad and good.

How do you get better speaker points in debate?

Getting better at speaking is difficult, especially in policy. Speaker points are dictated by many things; strategic decision-making, clarity, organization, flowability, argument choice, politeness and attitude, humor, the judge’s mood, etc. However, there are usually central things you can focus on. A lot of this is covered in depth in the How to Improve guide, but for speaker points specifically:

Be organized. Line up arguments on the flow - don’t debate to win, debate so the judge sees you won. An example of how to do line by line and stay organized is in the LBL guide. 

Adapt to judges. Remember, you’re playing for a judges ballot, not to destroy your opponent. Judges are imperfect and inevitably biased, and the more you adapt to their wants, the better you will be. 

Word economy. Learn to say things in less words and be concise. When writing blocks, try writing a shorter explanation of the same arguments in less words.

Strategic decision making. Ask judges what would’ve been better arguments to condense to. Watch and flow rounds on Youtube from top debaters, and before the 2NR / 2AR, think about what the debaters should go for and why. Then, examine what they do, and the RFDs for rounds that include them to see how accurate your choice was. This will help you build a debate-sense; you’ll start to see rounds more from the judge’s perspective instead of solely yours, which allows you to fight bias and plan ahead a lot better. 

Over-enunciation drills. These are some of the best speaking exercises to do in order to raise speaks - before tournaments, read through some evidence or blocks with over-emphasis on each syllable, making sure to stretch out your jaw and muscles. This sounds weird, but is the best drill in order to boost clarity while spreading. 

Be flowable. Watch high level debaters either in person or online on YouTube and try to grasp the way they speak. Your judge should have clear tags for whatever you’re saying and be able to clearly identify what their flow means. 

How do you get better at spreading?

Getting better at spreading is a matter of time commitment, practice and drills. There are two pieces of the puzzle of spreading; speed, and clarity. Speed is obviously key to spread fast, but clarity is also necessary. There is a minimum amount of clarity that you need; otherwise judges will say “clear” if they can’t understand what you’re saying. Consistency is the most important thing to get faster, as practicing everyday is the best and most efficient way to be good at spreading. Below are a few drills to practice: 

What are the best drills to get faster?

Backwards drills. Find a card, and then read it backwards. This is best to train your brain to ignore the content of what you’re saying and learn to just read it. That helps massively with getting through cards, as you don’t need to understand every word, but you just need to go forward with it. It also helps you stop stumbling and staying smooth with spreading. 

Pen drills. Put a pen in your mouth and try to spread. It’s very difficult, and it is a weird drill, but this helps immensely with enunciation and clarity. 

Endurance drills. Do a lengthy speech at high speeds/while spreading all throughout. Starting at 5 minutes, and moving your way up to 8, 10, 15, etc.. is great since it helps train you to spread for a long time and builds your stamina to do multiple fast speeches a day. 

High speed drills. Try and push your limits and sacrifice a bit of clarity for going faster. Be sure to record past word-per-minutes and aim for slightly higher each time. Doing this alongside clarity drills helps massively. 

Extra Resources

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBmEf_SATYE&pp=ygUbYmlsbCBiYXR0ZXJtYW4gc3BlYWsgZmFzdGVy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBmEf_SATYE&list=PLpBMs3Uxrdct3k_T9Yxb1veF6QjSej62O