Collapsing Strat

by: aash

What is collapsing?

Collapsing is when you decide to focus on a smaller number of arguments instead of going for everything in the round, and the point is to make the judge’s decision simple and easy.

Why should I collapse?

MANY debaters lose rounds not because they don't have the arguments, but because they either go for too many arguments, or don’t properly develop them.

But don’t worry!

Collapsing helps you:

1. Weigh better

2. Extend your arguments in an organized way for the judge’s flow

Especially when you have a lay round, collapsing helps the judge focus on just a few reasons so they can cleanly vote off of it.

When should I collapse?

1. SUMMARY

You should ALWAYS collapse by summary.

If you’re still going for 

1. 2 contentions

2. multiple turns

3. offense and defense on all parts of the flow

it’s highly unlikely that the judge can cleanly vote for you.

2. When you’re clearly winning an important argument

Collapse when you have:

1. A conceded turn

2. A strong impact with weak responses

What to do: (more detail for entire contentions)

1. Extend the argument by saying: “Extend [argument claim] from [x] speech”

2. Warrant the argument to give context to the judge: “It went dropped. This argument solves [x] and [x]”

3. Impact the argument - tell the judge why they should care: “This matters because [x]”

Example:
You win a turn that zeroes their case entirely= you go solely for the turn and one part of your case-- go heavy on the fact that you win all of their case, it makes it cleaner for the judge to take that into account.

3. When the judge is lay or doesn’t flow

If the judge either doesn’t flow well, only writes minimal notes, or is a parent judge who’d rather be cooking food, you HAVE to collapse. Collapsing allows you to explain arguments slowly so the judge can follow along while you talk, and helps you not get spread out so you don’t seem messy in front of these types of judges.

What do I collapse on?

1. The best type of argument to collapse on

Strong collapse arguments have:

1. Clear link chain

2. Weighable impact

3. Comparative reason why it’s better

Good options:

1. Turns (especially conceded ones)

2. High-probability impacts

3. Arguments you can easily weigh 

Bad options:

1. Small pieces of defense

2. NEW arguments

2. Prefer offense over defense

Give the judge a reason to vote for YOU along with a reason to NOT vote for your opponents. You should have one strong piece for both. Only one usually isn’t sufficient. This is also the time to point out dropped arguments. 

How do I collapse?

Step 1: Choose 1–2 winning arguments

Ask yourself:

1. What are we clearly ahead on?

2. What can we win with the least effort?

Step 2: Fully extend them

A proper extension includes a claim, a warrant, and an impact

DON’T just say “extend our contention”, make sure you write out a small explanation of what your case is, how it works, and WHY it matters.

Step 3: WEIGH

Mechanisms to use:

1. Magnitude/Scope

2. Probability

3. Timeframe 

(Check this out for more detail on this: How to Weigh)

Stuff NOT to do while collapsing

1. Extend new stuff

If it wasn’t in summary, it doesn’t exist anymore. Don’t bring it up. TRUST ME.

2. Not doing COMPARATIVE weighing

Even if you win your argument, AND the fact that it matters, you still lose if you don’t explain why you should prefer it over THEIR argument.

Weighing is telling the judge why your argument matters more than theirs, not just why YOURS matters more!!

3. Collapsing to weak arguments

Do NOT collapse to arguments you barely understand, arguments they heavily frontlined, or arguments with no clear impact, otherwise you’re likely to lose because you cannot warrant or explain your case.

4. Forgetting to weigh in summary

Don’t wait until FF, start saying why it outweighs BY summary, and look above for weighing info.

And that’s all! Happy debating :)