Maximizing Your Prep Time: A Debater's Secret Weapon

So you’re a novice with serious ambitions for debate or possibly a seasoned debater looking to improve some key skills. Well then, you’re reading the right article. Welcome to the exhilarating world of speech and debate, where every second of prep time is a golden opportunity. While the clock ticks away, fear not—here's your guide to turning those precious moments into a debate game-changer.

1. Mind Mapping:

Ditch the linear notes and embrace the chaos of mind mapping. Mind mapping is a visual tool that helps organize ideas in a non-linear way. It involves starting with a central concept and branching out to show connections and relationships with related ideas or subtopics.  Let your ideas sprawl like a rebellious vine. It's not just about what you say but how your ideas connect in the tangled jungle of your mind map. Trust us; your brain will thank you.

2. Espresso Shots of Evidence:

Think of your evidence like espresso shots—short, potent, and waking up the judge's brain. Snip out the fluff and present your evidence in quick, memorable bursts. That way your speeches can be more concise and you have time to do other important things like extending your points. It's like serving a debate shot that leaves a lasting buzz.

4. Group, Group, Group:

More often than not you will find that most of your opponent’s points will be similar to one another in many ways or might fall under the same category fundamentally. If you notice this then use your prep time to group those arguments. If arguments are more similar than not you shouldn’t waste your precious prep time thinking of ways to address them individually.

5. Not all arguments are equal!

In nearly every speech you will hear for the rest of your debate career there will be arguments with more or less importance attached to them. You should consider this while prepping. You don’t have to prep chronologically from the first argument they made to the last. Start with the arguments that have the most weight in the round and consider those first before addressing everything else. Whether you do this or not could very well be the line between winning or losing.