Impact: Why It Matters
The impact answers 'so what?' — why the judge should care about the argument at all. You will be able to write an impact that gives the judge a reason to vote.
Naming the Stakes
An impact translates your claim and warrant into a consequence: lives saved, dollars gained, rights protected, harms prevented. Impacts should be framed in terms a judge intuitively values, such as human welfare, fairness, or economic stability, rather than abstract debate jargon.
Impact Calculus Preview
Not all impacts are equal — some affect more people (magnitude), some are more likely to happen (probability), and some happen sooner (timeframe). This unit introduces the concept; Unit 8 will teach you how to formally weigh impacts against the other team's.
A debater has claim and warrant about a public health policy and needs to add impact.
Claim: 'Needle exchange programs reduce HIV transmission.' Warrant: 'Because they replace shared needles with sterile ones, cutting the primary vector for bloodborne transmission, as shown in a CDC study of 12 U.S. cities.' Impact: 'This directly prevents thousands of new HIV infections every year — a life-or-death outcome for some of the most vulnerable people in our communities.'
1. The impact of an argument primarily answers which question?
Answer all 1 to check.
An impact turns proof into stakes — always finish the thought with 'and that matters because...'