Speaker Roles

In debating, each team will be made up of three people: a 1st, 2nd and 3rd speaker. The roles of each speaker vary considerably, so make sure you know what is required of each person so that you can play to each teammate’s strengths, properly fulfill your role and maximise your team’s points. Also, be aware that roles will also vary depending on whether you are part of the AFFIRMATIVE or NEGATIVE team.

First Speaker (Affirmative): The first affirmative must introduce the debate as a whole, not just their team’s side. This means that they need to provide a DEFINITION (that is, defining the key terms and the topic as a whole in the MOST REASONABLE way).  Secondly, they must introduce your TEAM LINE, which is the overarching argument that your team will be pursuing (try and summarise it in a catchy line). Thirdly, they must show break down what each speaker will be saying in a TEAM SPLIT. Finally, they must introduce at least one POSITIVE ARGUMENT for their team. They will also need to introduce any models you want to use.

First Speaker (Negative): The first negative does not need to provide a definition, UNLESS the affirmative fails to do so or if you disagree with a fundamental aspect of their definition (in the case of a disagreement, the MOST REASONABLE DEFINITION will win). However, they will need to REBUT the substantive points made by the first speaker.  Other than this, their role is the same as the first affirmative.

Second Speaker: The second speaker begins with rebutting any important points that the other team has made. Whilst this should not take up more than 25-35% of your time, you MUST rebut. However, you then need to introduce the main arguments for your team. The second speaker will be in charge of delivering the majority of your team’s substantive material, and will need facts, statistics, examples, or other evidence to back up what they are saying.

Third Speaker: The third speaker has to do four things. Firstly, they REBUT. Secondly, they REBUT. Thirdly, they REBUT. And fourthly, they SUM UP. Rebutting should take up most of the third speaker’s time.  They must rebut the WHOLE of the other team’s argument, ideally by grouping together similar arguments and picking them apart all at once. Finally, they must summarise your team’s case, reminding the audience of what you have been arguing and why you are right. However, they CANNOT introduce new evidence (unless they are using it to directly rebut an opposing argument).