NSDA November Springboard Tournament

2020 — NSDA Campus, US

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Open Pro Con Challenge

Event Description:

In the Pro Con Challenge, students will write a 3-5 minute affirmative case and a 3-5 minute negative case on the November/December topic for LD, November topic for PF, or the 2020-2021 Policy topic. Both cases must be on the same topic. They will read both of those speeches back to back within a recording limit of 10 minutes and 30 seconds. Students may take recorded “prep time” in between speeches to pull up files or take a short break, but the recording must stop at 10 minutes and 30 seconds. Judges will evaluate the structure, arguments, evidence, and speaking abilities of each competitor and rank them against each other. The event's goal is to demonstrate that students have the ability to see multiple perspectives on an overall issue. While students will write out the speeches, they should not be memorized. Eye contact and other aspects of nonverbal communication are important considerations. Students may speak from notes in any format - legal pads, notecards, or electronic tablets, for example, are all permissible. There are a number of choices that competitors are free to make with regard to the structure of their Pro Con speeches. For example, you may run a plan if you choose the CX topic, but it is not required. During your con case, you may refute your pro case, but it is not required. It is important to remember that these speeches will be judged against any of the given topic areas all in one round. Thus, coaches and students may wish to make their speeches friendly to a wide range of judges.

Coaches should write the topic chosen (PF, LD, or CX) in Tabroom.com's registration system where it asks for the speech's title. If there are enough entries in each event, we will split the Pro Con Challenge into three separate events: PF Pro Con Challenge, LD Pro Con Challenge, and CX Pro Con Challenge. If one of the events does not have enough submissions to stand alone, all three will be maintained as one overall Pro Con Challenge. Since this is a speaking event and judges are comparing strength of argumentation, it is not essential to the event that all speeches be on the same topic.