Structure & Organization 3
Twenty minutes of prep time begins the instant the motion is announced, and how you use it determines whether your case is coherent or scrambled. You will be able to describe what happens during prep and why no communication with coaches or outside sources is allowed.
The reveal moment
A tournament official or the judge announces the motion to both teams at the same time, often reading it aloud twice and posting it in writing. From that second, the twenty-minute clock starts, and both teams typically separate to different corners of the room or hallway to prep independently.
No outside help
During prep, debaters cannot consult coaches, teammates from other rounds, phones, or the internet — everything must come from what the two partners already know and can reason out together. This is what makes Parli a test of a team's existing knowledge base and their ability to construct arguments together under pressure, rather than a test of who prepped the best file the night before.
What good prep produces
By the end of twenty minutes, the Government team should have a one-sentence definition of the motion, a model or plan if needed, and two to three full arguments with claims, warrants, and impacts sketched on paper. Opposition should have a strategic read on likely Government cases and at least one or two independent Opposition arguments ready to go, even before hearing the actual PMC.
Splitting prep efficiently
Experienced Government teams split prep into three phases: two minutes to agree on interpretation and burden, twelve minutes to independently draft arguments in parallel (PM on case, MG on a backup argument and clash predictions), and the final six minutes to merge, cut weak material, and rehearse the first minute of the PMC out loud so it doesn't stumble.
The motion 'This House would abolish the electoral college' is announced at 2:00 PM.
Government immediately writes the motion at the top of a legal pad, agrees within one minute that they'll defend a straightforward switch to national popular vote, and then splits: the PM drafts the definition and first two arguments (democratic legitimacy, reducing swing-state distortion) while the MG sketches a third argument (ending faithless electors) and starts predicting Opposition responses. By minute eighteen they regroup, read through the case once out loud, and agree on who says what in the first thirty seconds of PMC.
1. When does the 20-minute prep clock begin?
2. Which resource CAN a Parli team use during their 20 minutes of prep?
3. True or False?
"Opposition can begin sketching arguments during prep even before hearing the actual PMC."
Answer all 3 to check.
Prep time is closed, independent, and time-boxed — use it to lock a definition, sketch two to three full arguments, and assign speaking roles.