Choosing the Right Question
The single highest-leverage decision in a round happens in the first sixty seconds: which of the three drawn questions to keep. You will be able to evaluate three questions quickly against your file strength and confidence.
Evaluating File Strength Fast
For each of the three questions, ask a fast mental question: do I have at least two or three strong, recent sources on this exact topic? A question that sounds interesting but touches a topic you have not read on in weeks is riskier than a less exciting question backed by a folder you updated three days ago.
Avoiding the Trap of the 'Easy-Sounding' Question
Some questions sound simple but are actually vague or require nuanced framing to answer well, such as "Is America in decline?" which invites a rambling, unfocused speech unless a competitor immediately narrows it to a specific, arguable thesis. Choosing the question you can answer most precisely, not the one that sounds easiest to talk about generally, produces the strongest speech.
The Ten-Second Gut Check
Elite competitors train a near-instant gut check: within about ten seconds of reading each slip, they should be able to name at least one specific source and one likely thesis direction; if they cannot do this for any of the three, that question is immediately deprioritized regardless of how interesting it sounds.
A competitor draws three IX slips: one on Taiwan-China relations, one on the Sahel security crisis, one on European Union agricultural subsidies.
She has read four articles on Taiwan-China tensions in the last two weeks including a fresh one from that morning, one older article on the Sahel from a month ago, and nothing recent on EU agricultural subsidies. Despite finding the Sahel question personally more interesting, she keeps the Taiwan question because her file gives her the strongest, most current evidence to build a precise thesis quickly.
1. What should primarily drive a competitor's choice among three drawn questions?
2. True or False?
"A question that sounds simple, like 'Is America in decline?', is always the safest choice because it requires less specific evidence."
Answer all 2 to check.
Choose the question your file can answer with precision and recent evidence, not the one that simply sounds most appealing.