Speech Order and Times
BQ has a fixed sequence of constructive speeches, cross-examinations, rebuttals, and summaries that every round follows. You will be able to name each speech, its time limit, and its job in the round.
The Speech Sequence
A standard BQ round runs: Affirmative Constructive (5 minutes), Cross-Examination of Aff (3 minutes), Negative Constructive (5 minutes), Cross-Examination of Neg (3 minutes), Affirmative Rebuttal (4 minutes), Negative Rebuttal (4 minutes), Affirmative Summary (3 minutes), Negative Summary (3 minutes), and Grand Crossfire (3 minutes) before both debaters deliver Final Focuses (2 minutes each). Exact times can vary slightly by tournament invitation, so always check the packet.
What Each Speech Does
Constructives lay out your full case with premises and evidence; rebuttals directly answer the other side's constructive; summaries extend your strongest surviving arguments and explain why you are winning; final focus narrows to the one or two reasons the judge should vote for you. Nothing new should appear in final focus that was not already in the round.
Prep Time
Debaters usually get 3-4 minutes of prep time to use before any of their speeches, similar to Public Forum. Spend prep time deciding which arguments to extend and which to abandon, not re-reading evidence you should already know cold.
It is round 3, and the Affirmative just finished a 5-minute constructive on free will.
The Negative debater takes 3 minutes of cross-examination to ask: 'You said moral responsibility requires free will — can you define free will in a way that is not just the absence of external coercion?' This question targets a hidden premise before the Negative's own constructive even begins, setting up a clash for later speeches.
1. Which speech comes immediately after the Negative Constructive?
Answer all 1 to check.
A BQ round is a fixed relay of constructives, cross-examinations, rebuttals, summaries, and final focuses, each with a distinct job.