Learn to Adapt

May 1, 2007

Granada Hills Charter did the best we have ever done at the California State Tournament. Congratulations goes to San Dieguito for closing out the tournament with two young men that were able to adapt to the situation. I was going to write an unfavorable essay on TOC and their style of debating but I changed my mind. It’s all about adapting. In tennis if you want to win the Grand Slam you must be able to win on 3 different surfaces – hard court, clay, and grass. Well we should look at the Grand Slam of LD the same way. The odds of doing it are nearly impossible; however, if you want to try you need to be able to debate in a presentational style for State, semi-spread for Nationals, and spread for TOC. Don’t forget, you may have to spread just to qualify for these tournaments and then switch to presentational style debate for state and the finals of nationals. It all depends on your judging pool so don’t forget to ask your judges for their paradigms.

I always thought we had the best chance of winning State because I don’t promote spreading to the point of slurring words but I do like fast speakers that can articulate. The problem is since you are being judged by citizens who vote, they look at fast talkers as swindlers. They also look at your overall appearance. So even though this should be our best platform to compete, I was so focused on articulating that I completely forgot about appearance and overall presentation. This year my top debater focused on presentation and slowing down and made it all the way to the Quarter-Finals. Of course, I think she should have won but then again I’m biased and it’s a subjective event anyway. Anyone who made it to the 5th round should be very happy. Anyone could have won from that point. Because it’s a relaxed, presentational style, no one can clearly seek an advantage. All that is left is appearance and overall quality to separate yourself from the pack.

Last year, we lost rounds because the judge said my debater never looked up and failed to establish eye to eye contact. This year we got a complaint because my debater kept putting her hands in her pockets. They claimed that looked unprofessional. TOC judges or college judges rarely notice these things because they are too busy taking meticulous notes and never look up themselves to see what the debaters are doing. Right or wrong it doesn’t matter. If you want to win State you have to adapt to the situation. This tournament is as legit as it gets because it makes students do at this tournament what others fail to achieve. You have to develop communication skills that reach out to the average person on the street. These are true life skills that will benefit you should you plan to be a politician or a lawyer. You can’t spread infront of a jury and hope to win. I had my doubts but now that I know we actually have a chance to win some day – I like presentational style debate.