Public Forum Debate · Experienced
Two teams, a coin flip, and four minutes to make a lay judge believe you won the topic.
8–12 min lessons
- September/October 2026
Resolved: The United States federal government should enact a moratorium on hyperscale data center construction.
Fight over 'moratorium' scope and solvency mechanism. Build blocks by argument, not by speech, and pre-write your summary extensions.
Two-month topics for Sept/Oct and Nov/Dec, then monthly from January through Nationals. Confirm the live topic
What PF Is and How a Round Runs
You are new to Public Forum, so this unit lays the foundation: the event's purpose, the monthly resolution, the coin flip, and the exact order and timing of every speech in a round.
Claim, Warrant, Impact — and Contention Structure
Now that you know how a round runs, you need the basic unit every PF speech is built from: the three-part argument. This unit teaches claim-warrant-impact and how contentions package multiple arguments into a case.
Research and Evidence
With claim-warrant-impact as your building block, you now need material to fill the warrant slot — this unit covers finding, cutting, and ethically using evidence in PF.
Building the Constructive Case
Armed with claim-warrant-impact and solid research skills, you're ready to assemble a full 4-minute Constructive case for either side of a resolution.
Rebuttal: Line-by-Line and Frontlining
With both cases built, you now need to respond to the other team's case directly — this unit covers line-by-line refutation, frontlining your own case, and the difference between turns and defense.
Delivery for a Lay Judge
You now know how to construct and attack arguments — this unit makes sure a real judge can actually follow and believe them, through pacing, plain language, and signposting.
Crossfire, Grand Crossfire, and Using Answers Later
You know how to speak persuasively; now this unit sharpens your live, unscripted skills in Crossfire and Grand Crossfire, and shows how to bank answers for later speeches.
Weighing and Framework
You can now attack, defend, and question effectively; this unit teaches the skill that ties it all together — telling the judge which side's arguments matter more and why.
Summary and Final Focus
With weighing mastered, you now learn to compress an entire round into two tight closing speeches that collapse to what matters, extend cleanly, and tell the judge a coherent ballot story.
Tournament Readiness
You now have every skill needed to debate a full PF round; this final unit turns that skill into tournament performance through prep organization, topic cycles, pre-round routine, and elimination-round awareness.