Speech and Debate Glossary

As with any specialized activity, jargon and abbreviations pervade speech and
debate activities. This guide covers some of the most essential terms of art
that will alleviate your uncertainty as a new coach, as well as the hesitancy any
students new to speech and debate may feel.

BASIC TOURNAME NT TE R MINOLOGY

Ballot: the sheet of paper or online location where judges write members of the local community, including parents are
the results of an individual round of competition, which they considered lay judges, for their lack of technical understanding
submit to the Tab Room or online tabulation system. of competition standards. Judges should be equipped with a
timing device, writing utensils, and paper.
Break: (v.) advancing to the next level of competition; (n.) break
rounds—also called elimination (elims) or out rounds—are Prelims: guaranteed preliminary rounds at a tournament, before
much like “playoffs,” with certain numbers of students competition breaks to elimination rounds.
eliminated at the end of each heat. The last break round of
Posting: (v.) process or (n.) location of prelim schematics or list of
a tournament is the final round, or “finals,” featuring two
contestants breaking to elims.
opposing debate teams or six speech contestants. Also refer
to“posting.” Record: in debate, the win-loss ratio, or in speech, the total
ranks; a general standing of success.
Code: many tournaments use a code system to keep the identity
of contestants—and their schools—anonymous. Codes are Round: an individual heat of competition, where students
often a combination of numbers and letters, which designate are matched to (an) opposing contestant(s) in a particular
school, event, and sequence (how many students from a room with a particular judge or panel of judges. Rounds are
particular school are in a given event). sometimes divided into flights.
Divisions: categorizations of competition at a tournament, such Schematics (or “schem,” “schemats”): matrix that assigns students
as “varsity,” “junior” or “JV,” “novice,” and “open.” to compete in particular rooms with particular judges for each
round. In debate, these are often called “pairings.” These can be
Flight: due to room or time constraints, tournaments will
physically hung at tournaments or released online.
sometimes schedule back-to-back contests in the same room
during a single round’s timeframe. Tab Room (or Tab): short for tabulation, this is the tournament
headquarters, where results are computed. To protect the
Forensics: overarching term for speech and debate, though it
integrity of competition, there are usually protocols about
sometimes connotes speech competition, particularly in states
seeking permission to enter the tab room.
with split debate and speech seasons.
Tabroom.com: (or Tabroom): An online tournament software
Judge (or adjudicator): an adult who evaluates a round of
hosts can use for registration, creating rounds, and results
competition. Judges are drawn from educators, former
calculation.
competitors, and business professionals. Judges drawn from

National Speech & Debate Association: Speech and Debate Glossary  1

Speech and Debate Glossary

DEBATE TER MINOLOGY

Affirmative/Pro: the team or competitor who argues in favor of
adopting the resolution.
Burden of Proof: the affirmative’s responsibility to prove that
the resolution is true. If the affirmative fails to prove the
resolution, they ought to lose the debate.
Burden of Rejoinder: the negative’s responsibility to disprove
the affirmative case. If the negative fails to disprove the
resolution, they ought to lose the debate.
Clash: Direct responses to an opponent’s arguments. Also refer
to“refutation.”
Constructive: the first speech given by each debater (both
teams) in a round, used to build a case. New arguments are
permitted during constructive speeches, which distinguish Kritik/Critique: an argument that questions the underlying
them from rebuttals (wherein new arguments are not allowed). assumptions of the affirmative's plan and argues that the
plan should not be endorsed by the judge due to those
Contention: claims made for or against the resolution. A debate assumptions. Common in Policy Debate, also referred to as a K.
case may be organized into contentions.
Negative/Con: the team or competitor who defends the
Cost Benefit Analysis: one of the most common ways to present system and argues against the resolution.
decide a debate round, this philosophy requires a judge to
analyze the benefits of a policy versus the cost. In other words, Power Matching: system of ranking in prelim rounds where
does the proposal do more harm or good? teams with equal records debate each other.

Counterplan: the negative admits the present system should be Preparation time: time between speeches that the debaters can
changed, but argues that the negative team’s proposal (plan) is use to prepare their arguments. Each event has a dedicated
better than what the affirmative has offered. amount of preparation time that can be used by each side.

Criterion: standard, rule, or test on which a decision or judgment Presumption: an argument that says that the current system
is based. In Policy debate, the basis for establishing or works or is sufficient until proven otherwise, so the plan is not
evaluating policy (i.e., net benefits). In LD debate, the criterion needed. Common in Policy Debate.
is the method by which the value is assessed (i.e., the value of Rebuttal: speech that rebuilds arguments after attacks and
“safety” can be measured in terms of freedom from harm; i.e., refutes arguments of the opposing team.
a person is safe when they are not being harmed, and that’s
how you know that safety is occurring) Refutation: directly attacking the opposing teams’ arguments
(also known as “clash”).
Cross-Examination (or “Cross-Ex,” “CX," "Crossfire"): period of
time when debaters ask each other questions. Resolution: the proposition or subject offered to debate.
Disadvantage: an argument that says something bad will Status Quo: the current state of affairs, the present system.
actually happen as a result of the affirmative's proposed action.
Topicality: an argument that states a competitor's arguments
Common in Policy Debate.
are not directly related to the resolution. Common in Policy
Flowing: note-taking during a debate, accurately recording the rounds, where it is also called Framework.
most important arguments and rebuttals. The paper on which
Value: a concept, standard, or ideal in LD debate rounds.
this note taking occurs is known as a flow.
Something which, according to the debater, should be upheld,
Inherency: the reason a problem still exists. Also understood as i.e. justice, freedom, equality, etc.
the barrier to solvency. For example, if the federal government
Voting Issues: the key points in a debate that are crucial to the
passed a discriminatory law, then that law would be the
outcome, reasons why the judge should give the decision to a
inherent barrier to a just society.
team.
Judging Paradigm/Preferences: a tool for judges to articulate
Weighing Mechanism: the standards by which a judge evaluates
their background, experience, and what characteristics of style
the success of the affirmative and negative’s cases, standards
and argumentation are most persuasive to them.
by which a decision is made (criterion).

National Speech & Debate Association: Speech and Debate Glossary  2

Speech and Debate Glossary

CONGRESS TER MINOLOGY

Agenda: the order of legislation as suggested by a committee or Legislation: specific, written proposal (bill or resolution) made
legislator, and voted on by the assembly (sometimes called the by a legislator or committee for debate.
“calendar”).
Parliamentarian: one judge will be designated as
Amendment: a specific change to an item of legislation, Parliamentarian, or Parli, to assist the presiding officer with
explaining exactly which words it modifies, and not changing questions of parliamentary procedure. They often rank all
the intent of the legislation itself. students in the chamber, and their ranks typically count as the
final tiebreaker.
Authorship: a constructive speech of up to three (3) minutes
given by a legislator, which introduces an item of legislation Precedence: presiding officer recognizes speakers who have
for debate by the chamber. It is called a sponsorship speech if spoken least (or not at all).
given by a student who is not affiliated with the school from
Presiding Officer: the leader of a legislative assembly who runs
which the legislation originated. All authorship speeches are
its meetings by recognizing members (legislators) to speak or
followed by a two-minute questioning period. All affirmative
move. Also called the “presiding ofcer,” or “P.O.” Modeled after
and negative speeches that follow an authorship speech should
the Speaker of the House, or the Vice President or President
introduce new ideas (arguments) and respond to previous
pro tempore of the Senate.
arguments (refute or rebut).
Questioning: refer to "traditional questioning."
Bill: legislation that describes details of how a policy would be
enacted, if voted into law by the assembly. Recency: recognizing speakers based on who has spoken least
recently (or earlier).
Committee: small group of legislators who meet and bring
recommendations to the full assembly. Resolution: legislation that expresses a conviction, or value
belief of an assembly, which may urge, request, or suggest
Direct questioning: period where members of the assembly ask
further action by another decision-making authority.
questions of the speaker. The presiding officer will recognize
questioners for a cross-examination period of no more than 30 Traditional Questioning: period where the members of the
seconds. Questioners will be chosen according to a separate assembly ask individual questions of the speaker (sometimes
questioning recency. Ask whether the tournament you're called cross-examination). Multiple-part (or two-part)
attending uses traditional questioning or direct questioning. questions are not allowed (unless the rules are suspended for
that instance). Ask whether the tournament you're attending
Docket: the complete packet of legislation (as titles or full text)
uses traditional questioning or direct questioning.
distributed by a tournament.
Floor: when a member has the full attention of the assembly
to speak (also refers to the area where the assembly meets,
where its legislators speak, and where it conducts its business).

National Speech & Debate Association: Speech and Debate Glossary  3

Speech and Debate Glossary

SPEECH TE R MINOLOGY
Blocking: movements made during a performance. patterns in a tournament: Pattern A events, Pattern B events,
and Debate.
Category: another word for “event,” referring to a specific
contest, such as Original Oratory or Duo Interpretation. Piece: literary selection (title and author) performed in
interpretation events. Students find quality works of
Cut (or cutting): to take only selected sections from a literary
literature from printed or online materials which “show
piece; to cut to meet time limits or to cut inappropriate
insight into human motivations, relationships, problems, and
material.
understandings, and not by sentimentality, violence for its own
Double Entered: entered in more than one event in a pattern. sake, unmotivated endings, or stereotyped characterizations.”
Also called cross entered.
Pop: when an individual performer suddenly changes characters
Draw: limited prep events, such as Extemp, require that when performing an Interp event.
students prepare their response to a question or prompt
Speaking Order: the order contestants are listed on the
distributed at the tournament for each round. The draw time
schematic for each round is the order in which those students
is when students select their topic; followed by a prescribed
should present. Conventional wisdom about speaking order is
preparation time before they speak (which, for Extemp, is 30
that primacy (first impression) and recency (the last word) are
minutes). During that time, students must stay in the Prep
the choicest positions, so tournaments tend to mix the order
Room, until they leave to speak.
in which students present, to allow each contestant an equal
Evaluation (or “Critique” or “Ballot”): form where judges write opportunity to present close to first and last.
specific, constructive comments.
Teaser: just prior to the introduction, a brief selection from the
Extemporaneous: speaking without the benefit of a prepared or piece, which grabs the audience’s attention, much as television
memorized manuscript. Brief notes are sometimes allowed. shows have before the opening credits begin.
Interp: short for Interpretation; refers to a performance based Time Signals: hand signals showing how much time a competitor
event where a student brings literature alive of the printed has left to speak.
page. Also refer to“piece."
Introduction: opening of a piece; often referred to as an “intro,”
which is written by the competitor and (usually) memorized or
(sometimes) given extemporaneously.
Patterns: different groups of events. Events may be divided into
“Patterns” and run at different times. Usually there are three

National Speech & Debate Association: Speech and Debate Glossary  4