UHSAA 2A Region 16
2025 — Holladay, UT/US
Public Forum
Event Description:
Students are expected to prepare a constructive for the AFF and the NEG side of the argument. This speech must be 4 minutes long. Students are also expected to be able to give a rebuttal written in round. This should also be 4 minutes long. Summaries and final focus must also be written in round. Summaries will be 3 minutes and final focus will be 2 minutes long. The 1st cross will happen after both sides present their 1st constructive. It will be between the 2 first speakers, and should be 3 minutes long. Second cross is also 3 minutes and will happen between the second speakers after the rebuttals. Grand cross will take place after the summaries. Grand cross means that all 4 debaters will be able to speak.
Rounds are determined by a coin flip. Students will flip a coin. The winner of the coin toss can either choose to be AFF or NEG or can choose to be 1st or 2nd speaker. The loser gets to choose whatever is left over.
The judge should look for how well the students know their topic and how well their speeches are written. The students should show confidence in their work and speak clearly. The judge also needs to be looking for strong points that help the students' case and strong points against their opponents' case. And you need to look for evidence and the reasoning behind it.
Reasons for decisions most often come down to who spoke better and more confidently. Although this can be a contributing factor, your main decision should be based on who made better arguments, even if that team stumbled over their words or had poor eye contact. This is a debate event, not a speech event. At the end of the debate, ask yourself which team convinced you they were correct. If the debate is close/both sides made points, it is reasonable to use periphery items like speaking ability as a deciding factor.
Along with making great points, students should also use their rebuttal speech to talk about their opponent’s arguments. Teams that never interact with their opponents probably shouldn’t win. The best teams apply their own arguments to their opponents arguments in a way that is seamless and serves to advance their own points while rebutting their opponents. In some cases, especially in debates with novice teams or bad varsity teams, they may not interact at all but just keep restating their own arguments over and over again. If that happens, pick a winner based on who has better points and tell both teams to stop doing that.