TOC ASIA Fall Championships
2024 — CN
Public Forum Debate MS
Event Description:
TOC ASIA Speech & Debate -Public Forum Debate
Resolved: Cities in China should substantially increase their support for the adoption of autonomous vehicles.
Format
Team A Constructive:4 minutes
Team B Constructive: 4 minutes
1st Crossfire: 3 minutes
Team A Rebuttal A:4 minutes
Team B Rebuttal B: 4 minutes
2nd Crossfire: 3 minutes
Team A Summary A: 3minutes
Team B Summary B: 3minutes
Grand Crossfire: 3 minutes
Team A Final Focus A: 2minutes
Team B Final Focus B: 2 minutes
*3 minutes of preparation time per team
Event Description
- Prior to EVERY round and in the presence of the judge(s), a coin is tossed by one team and called by the other team. The team that wins the flip may choose one of two options:EITHER the SIDE of the topic they wish to defend (pro or con) OR the SPEAKING POSITION they wish to have (begin the debate or end the debate). The remaining option (SIDE OR SPEAKING POSITION) is the choice of the team that loses the flip. Once speaking positions and sides has been determined, the debate begins (the con team may lead, depending on the coin flip results). Following the first two constructive speeches, the two debaters who have just given speeches will stand and participate in a three-minute “crossfire”. In“crossfire” both debaters “hold the floor.” However, the speaker who spoke first should ask the first question. After that question, either debater may question and/or answer atwill. At the conclusion of the summary speeches, all four debaters will remain seated and participate in a three-minute “Grand Crossfire” in which all four debaters are allowed tocross-examine one another.
- The speaker who gave the first summary speech should ask the first question. The speakers from each team will continue to ask and answer questions. Teams should alternate asking and answering questions rather than allowing one team to dominate so that a balance between teams is achieved. All speakers are encouraged to participate in the Grand Crossfire. Speakers should listen respectfully to opponents’ questions and answers. Following this, both teams will give a final focus speech where they explain the most important arguments and how the judge should decide a winner.
Plans/Counterplans
In Public Forum Debate, the Association defines a plan or counterplan as a formalized,comprehensive proposal for implementation. Neither the pro or con side is permitted to offer a plan or counterplan; rather, they should offer reasoning to support a position of advocacy. Debaters may offer generalized, practical solutions.
Evidence
Students who cite evidence must be able to provide access to the original text of the evidence. If a student has paraphrased, they must be able to show the section they have paraphrased from. If the student reads direct evidence, they must provide the exact text of the evidence as read. This must include a link to the original source. Personal communication with a source is NOT valid evidence.
Evidence Checks
A team has one minute to produce a piece of evidence on request from the opposing team. Once the evidence has been supplied, the team requesting the evidence shall begin to use their preparation time to read the evidence. If a team provides a debate card with exact wording, the team requesting the evidence may NOT extend the one-minute evidence check time to open the link; they must do that with their own preparation time.
Failed Evidence Checks
If the team cannot produce the evidence within one minute, the team using the evidence may either begin their preparation time to continue to find the evidence OR may choose to disregard the evidence. If the evidence is disre- garded, the judge shall view it as an analytic argument made by the student with no source.
Scoring
Judges will be provided with a ballot on which a win and loss and a point score between 20 and 30. Judges are encouraged to maintain a range of 25-30, with half points (0.5) being acceptable. Any score below a 25 should be given for a student who consistently fails to complete their speeches, and any score be- low a 24 should be for offensive conduct (conduct which warrants a follow-up from TOC staff). Judges are highly encouraged to provide written feedback on the ballot. Low point wins ARE ALLOWED in Public Forum.
Disclosure
Most rule violations do not lead to an automatic loss. When a debate team feels their opponents have violated a rule, they should explain to the judge how a rule violation affected the debate and what should be done about it. This is then treated like any other argument in the debate- it does not guarantee that punishment will be taken, and judges have ultimate au- thority over the consequences over most rule violations. Only academic dishonesty or extreme violations of decorum may (but not must) lead to round or tournament disqualification. Any accusation of academic dishon- esty or extreme violations of decorum will be handled by the Organizing Committee under relevant policies. For all other rule violations, debaters should explain why they matter and what the judge should do about them.
Unless instructed otherwise by TOC Staff (a “Silent Round”) judges shall disclose the team they voted for and give a brief explanation of why they voted for the team they did. Debaters may ask short questions of the judge. The post-round discussion shall be cordial and respectful. The TOC Organizing Committee reserves the right to sanction (up to and including disqualification/removal from the tournament) any competitor who ver- bally abuses judges or competitors or any judge who gives feedback that is inappropriate.
Iron-Person
An iron person occurs when one or more debaters are missing from the team during a preliminary round. In this case, the debater present will give all of the speeches in substitute for the missing debaters. The debat- er present will choose which speech they will be scored on prior to the debate. The missing speakers will get the floor score for the round. Teams are allowed to earn a result (win or loss) for only their first iron-person pre- liminary round in a tournament. Any subsequent iron-person rounds will result in an automatic loss. Teams will not be allowed to iron person in the elimination rounds. In the event that a speaker is not present for an elimi- nation round, the round will be forfeited.