How To Lose

A bit of a digression, perhaps.  Nominally this blog is supposed to show you how to win parliamentary debate rounds.  But, try as we all might, eventually we'll end up losing one or two along the way.

So, let's set the scene.  You come out of a debate round brimming with confidence.  You walk back into the room.  "I vote for (not you.)"  How should you proceed?

1. Assume that the judge is right.

The first reason that you should assume the judge is right is that if the ballot went against you, and your name isn't Tom Schally, odds are you lost.  Might as well get used to that fact early on.

The second reason that you should do this is because one of the most underrated skills in debate is the ability to empathize.  If you cannot put yourself in the judge's shoes, how on earth can you expect to persuade them?

Finally, assuming the judge is right means that everything you do in the next 5 minutes will have the proper tone - one of honest inquisitiveness, as opposed to arrogant belligerence.

2. Reconcile your view of the debate round with your critic's.

To do this, you must listen to the RFD carefully.  Does the RFD sound anything like your side's rebuttal?  If not, the rebuttal was a failure.  Even if it highlighted the right arguments, it was not a clearly communicated vision.  Your rebuttals should be clean enough that a 10-year-old can figure out why you are winning.

If the critic's RFD doesn't account for an argument that you considered important, ask them how they evaluated that argument.  The answer should give you some insight - did they have the relevant argument flowed?  Did your side emphasize it appropriately?  Did it go over your critic's head?  Was it impacted appropriately?  Does your critic have an IQ of 70?  Etcetera.  Ask how they evaluated an argument, get an answer, rinse, repeat.

Again, the skill that you are trying to develop here is empathy.  Debate is about communication, communication is a two-way street, if you ignore your critic, then you're missing the whole point.

3. Extract strategic insights.

I'm a huge fan of asking the following question after a loss - "What needed to happen in my speech for us to win this debate round?"  Most good critics will have a pretty clear idea of what they think you should have done.  Sometimes they'll say something really valuable.  I lost a round against Long Beach at the Loma Round Robin, asked this question, got an answer, and had a much better win rate against the K in future debate rounds.

Notice that nowhere in the above list includes yelling, bitching, whining, etc.  Losing a debate round is a non-event.  A tiny, insignificant moment that nobody in the fucking world will care about.  You could be a five-year-old starving in the desert somewhere, you aren't, be grateful, and figure out how to win the next time you are in front of that critic.