The Atlanta Urban Debate League is committed to providing excellent debate education programs, services, and opportunities to diverse students, educators, and members of the community!
What Is My Role?: Sides & Speaker Positions
Like policy debate, each debater will have a side (Pro / Con) and a Speaker Position (1st / 2nd).
Choosing Sides
Each team will either affirm or negate the resolution.
The team that affirms the resolution is the “Pro” team.
The team that negates the resolution is the “Con” team.
When pairings for a round are released, each team will be assigned the Pro or Con side.
Each team will affirm and negate the resolution twice, for a total of four rounds.
In League tournaments, the speaking order and sides are chosen for you.
Each team will be assigned a side on the pairing before the debate.
The “Pro” speaks first and the “Con” speaks second.
Non-League tournaments may flip a coin for sides and speaking order.
This IS NOT the case for tournaments hosted by the AUDL.
Choosing A Speaker Position
Before the tournament, each team will need to decide who is the 1st / 2nd Speaker for EACH side.
The 2nd Speaker is the “Captain” of the team. They are responsible for:
Writing & Researching the Constructive Speech
Giving the Rebuttal & Final Focus Speeches
Making In-Round Decisions
Assisting the 1st Speaker With The Constructive & Summary Speeches
The 1st Speaker “assists” the 2nd Speaker. They are responsible for:
Learning & Delivering the Constructive Speech
Giving The Constructive & Summary Speeches
Assisting the 2nd Speaker With The Rebuttal & Final Focus Speeches
To keep things equal, speaker position should VARY by side.
Example: Cayden and Simion are debating.
On the Pro side, Cayden is the 2nd Speaker and Simion is the 1st Speaker.
BUT, on the Con side, Simion is the 2nd Speaker and Cayden is the 1st Speaker.