Building a Full Argument on the Flow
Putting claim, warrant, and impact together into a flowable, labeled argument makes your case easy for the judge to track and easy for your partner to extend. You will be able to write out a complete Parli-style argument with a tagline.
The tagline
Every argument should start with a short tagline — a memorable few words the judge can write down, like 'Tagline: Psychological Harm.' This tag becomes the shorthand your whole team uses to reference the argument for the rest of the round, so both partners must agree on it during prep.
Full argument format
After the tagline, state the claim in one sentence, then the warrant in two or three sentences of reasoning or example, then the impact in one or two sentences of magnitude and comparison. This consistent structure, delivered every time, trains the judge to expect and follow your logic, which pays off enormously when you extend the same argument later in the round.
Numbering arguments
Presenting arguments as 'my first argument is... my second argument is...' rather than blending them together in a paragraph makes it dramatically easier for the judge's flow and for your partner to reference 'argument two' precisely in a later speech, rather than searching for what you meant.
A PM is delivering the second argument of a case on banning single-use plastics.
'My second argument: Tagline, Ecosystem Collapse. Claim: single-use plastic waste is directly driving marine ecosystem collapse. Warrant: plastic doesn't biodegrade, it breaks into microplastics that enter the food chain at every level, from plankton to the fish humans eat, disrupting reproduction and gut function across species, which is why ocean plastic pollution has become one of the most documented environmental crises of the past two decades. Impact: this isn't a slow, distant harm — it's already collapsing fish stocks that hundreds of millions of people depend on for protein, which outweighs the modest convenience cost of finding plastic alternatives.'
1. What is the purpose of a tagline at the start of an argument?
Answer all 1 to check.
Structure every argument as tagline, claim, warrant, impact, and number your arguments clearly so the whole room can follow and extend them.