How to Prep Before a Round

By Ishayu Ramkumar 

What is Prep

Prior to most major commitments that you have, you most likely need to prepare for them. This can be done in many ways: studying, learning, memorizing, and debate is no different than any other activity. A prerequisite to success in debate is efficient prep, or creating of arguments, preemptive responses, and much, much more. This guide will not teach you how to actually create prep, it will only teach you how you should structure your prep, what you should prep, and how to efficiently prep. Reference the other guides in the folder to figure out how to actually structure your created prep and make it strong. 

Prep schedule 

A prerequisite to successful prep is having a good prep schedule. If you join any club team, they will mandate you to attend prep a few days of the week, from one hour to another hour, depending on which club you join. This is one of the most important things that is needed for you to do successful prep. Diligence is key. A prep schedule in and of itself is simply a calendar dictating which days, how long, and even what you will prep. Structured prep means more efficient prep. I would recommend only doing about two to three hours of prep each day, but if you cannot fit that in, find time to prep whenever you can. I like to prep in free periods in school, or whenever I have time. Don't cram all your prep in before your tournament. Make sure to spread it out over time so you don't feel overwhelmed. Target your prep to specific areas on specific days, so you won't feel like you're running back and forth doing everything you need to do.

Below is an example of a prep schedule. Zoom in to get a better view.

What should I prep? 

Case

The case is what is read in the first speech, the constructive speech of public forum. The case outlines your belief of what will happen if you affirm or negate. Reference the "How to Create a Case" guide for more details on how to actually write your case.  Your case is what guides you throughout the round. You should begin with writing this. This is what will guide you in writing extensions later, and also guide the entire back half of your round. This will guide you throughout your rounds and also make you a stronger debater because creating a case means you can poke holes in your own case and make it stronger, winning you more rounds. Spend time creating your case, and make sure it's strong. Make sure you cannot easily refute your case, and make sure it's able to fill the four-minute time allotment of the first speech. Some debaters create so many cases that they make their own disadvantage files or advantage files, which are files full of potential cases they can run for either side and they mix and match throughout their rounds. For now, focus on writing one contention on either side. You can begin to write more as you make sure your first contention is ultimately strong. 

Refutations

Refutations build primarily off your case at the beginning. Depending on your negative case, i.e. if I were to be running climate, I would make refutations to climate to help make my case stronger. Reputations are basically pre-written responses which you can mix and match throughout the round. It is important to have strong refutations, and early debaters should create a block file, which is a file of refutations that you use in round. You can reference the "How to Give a Rebuttal" doc to know how to structure your refutations in round.  Make sure to reference a prep schedule or the prep schedule up there (optionally) to know when to write your refutations. Refutations can be interchanged during prep with extensions. Either can be written first. It is important to write refutations for your success in round. You can delve into more deep refutations as you get better at debate over time, but for now, write a few simple ones and make sure they have cards which back them up. 

Extensions

For how to structure extensions in Round, read the "How to Give a Summary" document. An extension is like a mini re-read of your case/contention/argument that you read in round. Many debaters do not pre-write extensions, but I feel it's necessary to succeed in debating. To give an extension is to give a short summary of whatever you read to help the judge get a better understanding. For ways to do this successfully in round. , check the “Intro to Tech” and “Intro to Lay” guides.  There are many complicated types of extensions, but in its core, it should be a restatement of your link chain, discussed in the "What is PF?" guide. Prewriting extensions help to fill the 3 minutes needed in summary, and also helps you to save time in round. An extension should not be too long, maybe 100 words maximum. They should be able to read in 30 seconds comfortably. 

Frontlines

Frontlines defend your case. They are pre-written in response to the refutations your opponents provide in their rebuttal speech. Reference the "How to Give a Rebuttal" guide to teach you more about frontlines. If we present them with X, and in response they give us Y, to back up our claim of X, we give you Z. Frontlines can help turn a round in your direction.  It is important to rewrite frontlines, but can be placed in the backburner until you finish your case and refutations. This is because case and refutations are a prerequisite to having front lines. To have front lines, you need to have something to defend and you need to have something to defend against. A frontline can be based on your refutations and does not need to be pre-written. It can be purely analytic, like most of the things in this round. Reading frontlines helps to turn the tides of the round, bolster your case, and also sway the judges in general.