HN Mastering Debate 101: Always impact your arguments [video]

I'm a former national debate champion and I've been building SuperDebate, adult competitive debate clubs and tournaments. We just ran a workshop in Roatan before a live championship.

This clip is about impact, which is honestly the most overlooked part of making an argument. Most people can make a claim and back it up with some evidence. But if you don't tell people why it matters, in concrete terms, you lose. A small argument with a huge impact can beat a strong argument with a weak one, because judges and audiences weight what they feel. "This leads to X" hits harder than "this is bad."

The other thing people miss is that your opponent doesn't have to beat your evidence. They just have to break the link between your evidence and your impact. If they can show your evidence doesn't actually lead to the scenario you described, your whole argument falls apart even if the facts are right.

There are millions of people who debated in school and have nothing as adults. No clubs, no leagues, no tournaments. We're building that. Local debate clubs that feed into real championships.

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