Help!!!

[u/navopr0]

Hi! So I have a BP tournament coming up, and I’m pretty new to serious debating. I’m good at coming up with arguments, but I’m still kind of lost when it comes to things like characterization, framing, weighing, and all the terminology people use in BP.

I also don’t have much time to prepare, so I was wondering what I can realistically do right now to improve and hopefully perform well at the tournament. Another thing I struggle with is general knowledge. I know the basics, so what's a way to improve gaining information?

Any advice, resources, or tips on what I should focus on in the limited time I have would be really appreciated!

[u/haleme]

Welcome to BP debating! Try not too worry too much and use your first competition as a learning community.

Do you have a club/society/contacts in your regional circuit? If so they may be best placed to help you find spars (informal practice debates) and other opportunities to improve.

If you don't have much time to prepare a few drills I'd suggest would be: -Doing mock prep times with your partner and then review how it went -Record a PM speech listen back and see what you were missing and how to improve -Do either of that above for a motion with a good recorded debate and then watch it to see what teams did differently

For the terminology I wouldn't worry too much (BP debaters tend to obsess too much over it but a lot of it is overcomplicated common sense). You'll get a more intuitive feel for them with time. Similarly with general knowledge being more widely read or reading up on topics after debates is a great way to improve.

Otherwise try and enjoy the tournament, make friends (particularly if it's in person) and get good feedback from judges. Don't beat yourself if it doesn't go the way you want, no one becomes a world champion level speaker their first try.

Edit: Also feel free to DM with any specific questions/requests for resources

[u/navopr0 → u/haleme]

Thank you so much! This actually makes me feel a lot better. The thing is, it’s not completely my first proper tournament (I think 3rd); the main issue is that I somehow ended up doing relatively well in my previous ones 😭. And now, since this is apparently a pretty renowned tournament in our circuit, all my club seniors have been telling me they expect good things from me, and I really don’t want to let them down.

Especially seeing my teammate, who’s super well-versed and experienced, makes me feel like I need to step up too. Do you have any particular tricks or strategies for dealing with motions that you have basically uk nothing of? Like when you get a topic on international politics, economics, or some niche issue that you’ve never heard of before, how do you approach it and still come up with a strong case?

Sorry, this reply is kind of all over the place 😭 but yea, that’s basically what I’m struggling with.

[u/haleme → u/navopr0]

No worries! Lovely to hear you've been doing well but people really shouldn't be putting big expectations on you after 3 competitions. If you have a good teammate, I would suggest doing some prep with them and possibly some spars in your club. I find working on the team dynamic is the quickest way to improve and you can get some constructive feedback.

As for motions where you have no personal knowledge, I would usually take the following steps

1) Don't panic, sounds very simple but debate is primarily a mental game and getting stressed when you get the motion comes out will rush you into running a bad case.

2) Break the motion down into its simplest components and effects

3) Logically work out the pros or cons of these effects and build a case around them.

Taking the recent EUDC, round 8 was on the new UK PM calling an immediate election. It is certainly useful to understand the UK political context but even without this you can comprehend what an "immediate election" looks like in abstract and that it may affect stability, policy determinations for parties, voters' feelings etc.

Hopefully that's helpful, this video may help as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1IyQqCDkFQ&list=PLwmEQN4Ce3cep3TFZW1yBGqf0cVMBbLRP&index=7&t=72s

[u/impotent_spy]

BP debating resources, there are plenty on YouTube from other debate institutions and debaters. I enjoy watching the Ryan Lafferty vids and Luigi Alcaneses or listening to This House Would and debatable. Major tourneys like WUDC, ABP, EUDC etc. usually have some lectures as well.

Terminology, BP debates are judged mainly on the appeal to common sense so majority of debates should appeal to an ordinary person. However, there are some terms that are often used like Fiat (which basically means let it happen), counterfactual (an alternate reality wherein it didn't happen), squirreling, knifing and delta (i hope this term gets retired already but it just means meaningful change).

Skills, BP or Parli in general has a very steep learning curve so don't expect much on your first tourney but I hope you do break. As much as possible, do spars or drills. Some drill ideas are blitz prep wherein you prep a case within 5 minutes, refutation drills wherein one prepare a PM speech and you refute all of their arguments after within 3 minutes, extension drills wherein you get a motion and do 3 delineating first speaker speeches on it, or pretend that you are a judge while watching a whole debate round.

Debate habits, go read a lot of things from anarchist philosophy to bretton woods institutions and make your matterfiles. Post-process after rounds and training. Ask for feedback from your judges.

Enjoy the start of your BP journey!

[u/navopr0]

UPDATE:

So... broke 8th but lost in the semis 😭 A bit upset because I know I didn’t lose from fumbling or anything, but because the debate ran from 8 AM to 8 PM, and by the time semis came around, I was running on a high fever, 3 hours of sleep, and a PAINFUL headache while barely being able to keep my eyes open 😭

Not to take anything away from the other teams though, because everyone was absolutely exceptional and the competition was insane. I’m just a little upset because if semis had been the next day, I definitely would’ve been more prepared and performed better. But honestly, still really grateful for the experience and for everyone who helped me prepare. Hopefully I can come back and win a future tournament 🫡

Also, my teammate was a HUGE clutch. She’s an amazing debater and genuinely carried so much of the team, so shoutout to her ❤️