Public Forum Debate
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Public Forum NFL Manual: Click here to view the manual
Public Forum:
Public Forum Debate is a team event in which a team either advocates or rejects a position posed by the current resolution. For each month, there is an official resolution, and thus the topic varies every single month. A central tenet of the debate is that the clash of ideas must be communicated in a manner persuasive to the non-specialist or the "citizen judge", i.e. a member of the American Jury. In this type of debate, argumentation is performed in teams of two, consisting of the first and the second speakers. Both speakers have somewhat different jobs, but essentially the goal of the team is to convince the judge to vote for a particular side. The side for which you are debating (either affirmative or negative) is determined by a coin flip and the preference of the team that wins the flip. Thus, each Public Forum team must be able to argue for both sides of the issue and at the same time be able to convince the judge. What is particular to this debate is that there is a specific order of proceeding in a round : Introductory speeches of 1st speakers, crossfire ("open debate") between 1st speakers, extemporaneous 2nd speaker speeches "attacking" the opponents and "defending" your side, crossfire between 2nd speakers, summary speeches, grand crossfire, and then the final focus. All of these proceedings provide a structure to debate that is able to give the most effective "clash of ideas".
The debate should:
- Display solid logic, reasoning, and analysis;
- Utilize evidence but not be driven by it;
- Present a clash of ideas, or points of view;
- Counter the arguments of the opponents (rebuttal);
- Communicate ideas with clarity, organization, eloquence, and professional decorum;
For your convenience, here is a chart of the proceedings in a typical round:
Team A: First Speaker: Constructive Speech 4 minutes Team B: First Speaker: Constructive Speech 4 minutes Crossfire (between first speakers) 3 minutes Team A: Second Speaker: Rebuttal 4 minutes Team B: Second Speaker: Rebuttal 4 minutes Crossfire (between second speakers) 3 minutes Team A: First Speaker: Summary 2 minutes Team B: First Speaker: Summary 2 minutes Grand Crossfire (All speakers) 3 minutes Team A: Second Speaker: Final Focus/Last Shot 1 minute Team B: Second Speaker: Final Focus/Last Shot 1 minute
Topics: Each month of the season, a new topic is assigned to be debated. For the entire month, regardless of the number of tournaments, only the official topic will be debated. If you wish to view the current topic for Public Forum, click on (and make sure you find the section labeled as "Public Forum" on the page) the following link that will take you to the official NFL website: View the Current Topic. If however you wish to view all of the previous topics (prior to 2006) click to download the follwing file: All Previous Topics. Here are few examples of topics present in previous national debates:
June 2006 (nationals topic): "Resolved: That the United States government should ratify the Kyoto Protocol."
May 2005 (nationals topic): Resolved: That, when a choice is required for public high schools in the United States, government funding should prioritize vocational education over college preparatory education.
Differences: Public forum is thus a unique debate form. While Policy Debate focuses on a plan to solve the problem(s) posed by the resolution, and Lincoln Douglas Debate focuses on the core value of the resolution, Public Forum Debate focuses on advocacy of a position derived from the issues presented in the resolution, and not a prescribed set of burdens.
Judging: Public Forum Debate is designed to appeal to an audience of "lay judges" with no background in the rules of Public Forum debate or debate theory. This was designed to make the format of Public Forum debate more accessible to the general public. Rounds are typically judged by an adult, often an assistant coach, parent of a competitor, or a member of the community. In a typical one-day tournament, each team will debate four rounds. In two-day tournaments, each team usually debates six preliminary rounds with possible outrounds. Judges decide the rounds based on which team they feel has better convinced them of their side and has made the better arguments. Unlike Public Forum's relatives, Lincoln-Douglas and Policy Debate, the winner of the debate should not be weighed on "technical merit" alone.
Other Helpful Links:
National Forensic League
Wikipedia - Public Forum