CX IS A SPEECHDONT FORGET IT. -Cross-examination is a speech.

I dont care if you poop out trophies every morning before breakfast, this is something that everyone here needs to do a better job remembering. If CX is a speech, that means you should treat it like one: -Use your evidence. -Allocate your time. -Control your ethos. -Its not a place to bicker. Its not a place to hurt your opponents feelings. -Make cross-applications. If you make a good argument in CX, make sure to cross-apply it in your next speech. This is considered perfectly acceptable. The CX before the 1NR is the affirmatives last chance to make new arguments affirmatives should be taking advantage of that! CX ISNT JUST ABOUT GETTING THEM TO EXPLAIN THEIR ARGUMENTS Its also a place where you can build a foundation for your arguments. Ask them questions that are going to make your arguments stronger. (Hegemony advantage/F35 DAask questions like is a Space Force the only way to secure U.S. hegemony?) If a team drops an argument, dont ask them if they dropped it. Theyre not going to say yes. Likewise, if you drop something, bring it up in CX as much as possible to make it seem like you didnt . CX is a speech. KNOW YOUR OPPONENT: If youre debating someone who has never debated before, dont make fun of them for being stupid. Likewise, if you know youre hitting someone who is better than you, you need to be prepared to stand up for yourself. Just because you know the other team

is better than you does not mean that the judge knows they are. Its called swagger. You should all look into it. DONT BE A JERK: Winning the debate and being nice should never be mutually exclusive. Debate is a community. We arent just competitors. Were friends. The people you debate are two of the only people in the world who are going to understand why you do what you do and the sacrifices you make to do it. That alone is a reason they deserve your respect. DONT BE A SLOB: -CX is like hitchhikingnobody is going to pick you up if you smell like a dirty bum. -Stand up straight. -Wear nice clothes. -Dont sit there with your feet on your desk. If you cant muster up the effort to stand up, I dont want to muster up the effort to listen to what you have to say. ETHOS IS EVERYTHING: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lZ1Mu78VFM -Ethos is Greek for swagger. Aristotle, Socratesthose guys were players. Socrates especially. (If youve never read the Trial and Death of Socrates, its pretty sweet. Its basically about this dude named Socrates who walks around asking people CX questions until they kill him for being smarter than everybody else. Socrates has mad ethos.) Ethos is charisma. Its your ability to control the room. Its your ability to connect with the judge. Its your likability. Its your self-confidence; youre ability to project your competence. People with good ethos always sound like theyre winning, even when theyre not.

Notice how, in the video we watch, Prince controls the stage. The other musicians are playing right next to him, but Prince is the one you watch. Hes the one you want to watch. Part of ethos is having fun. I absolutely LOVE to watch debaters who are having a good time. These are the debaters who are comfortable and confident enough to relax, smile and crack a few jokes. If you notice Prince, it looks like hes having a great time. Thats what I want to see when I watch your crossexaminations. The Condescending Know-It-All: -This CXer is so rude to their opponent that it makes everyone in the room feel uncomfortable, including the judge. -Characterized by their tendency to snort, sigh impatiently and send what the fuck? faces to the judge, inviting him/or her to join in. -These are also the debaters who do things like make fun of people who have less experience. Theyre the people who are snobby to younger debaters. Be polite, but firm. Say something like I dont want to come across as rude, but Id really appreciate it if you stopped talking down to me. The Berserker: -The Berserker takes everything personally. -They see it as their personal mission to make someone cry in CX. Its kind of annoying. -Theres a huge difference between someone who says your affirmative doesnt solve and someone who calls your mom fat. So why are you taking the debate so personally? -Debate is supposed to be a place where people have fun. These debaters turn it into a place where people feel bad about themselves. -Berserkers style of cross-examination often backfires. Theyre usually so wound-up and angry by the end of the debate that theyre the one who feels like crying by the end of the debate. What do you do if you hit a Berserker? You want to find ways to laugh at them without being rude or condescending. Berserkers want you to be afraid of them. Theyre CX bullies. Nothing makes a Berserker angrier than a relaxed debater whos having a good time.

Mr./Ms. Mumbles: -These debaters would rather walk barefoot across broken glass than stand up for three minutes and answer questions about their argument. -They mumble. -They stare at the floor instead of making eye contact with the judge. -These debaters lose debates because they have absolutely no ethos. Its usually a little painful to watch. The Reluctant Sneak: -These people are so afraid of linking to an argument that they refuse to give a straight answer. Guess what? Youre going to link to something. You might as well make sure that the judge understands your argument before that happens. -Yes, the downside is that the other team understands your argument, but if you cant explain and defend your affirmative at the same time, your affirmative is probably stupid. -Its better to win a debate by being smart than by being confusing. Youll probably just confuse the judge. If youre debating the Reluctant Sneak, call them out on it. Say something like look dudeyoure going to link to something in my tub. Could you please just give me a straight answer so we can have a real debate? The Puppet Master: -My BIGGEST pet peeve in CX is when a debater tries to limit another debater to yes/no answers. -These debaters watch WAY too much Law & Order. These debaters try to limit the other team to yes/no answers so they can create a series of questions that forces their opponents to present their argument out of context. -These debaters are only interested in getting the answer theyre expecting. This incredibly stupid AND incredibly frustrating. If you come into crossexamination thinking you know everything about the other teams arguments, youre never going to learn what makes their Space Force affirmative different from every other Space Force 1AC. Not recognizing the nuances or particular arguments will lose you the debate, every single time.

-I include, in this category, debaters who refuse to let the other team look at or quote their evidence when answering questions AND debaters who say things like isnt it true, dont you agree, wouldnt you say and you have to admit -I also include teams who try to force other teams to admit they dropped something. -NO. THEY DONT AGREE. THEY WILL NEVER AGREE. STOP ASKING THEM IF THEY AGREE. THEIR JOB IS TO DISAGREE. Call them out on it. LookIm not going to let you put words in my mouth. If youre not interested in hearing what I have to say, Im just going to sit down. The Time-Waster: -This debater gets up and asks pointless questions that dont get them anywhere. -They are simply filling up time. -Yeah, its great that they recognize that those three minutes are crucial prep time that their partner needs to prepare for the next speech, but they dont use CX as effectively as they should. -They ask broad questions like can you explain the affirmative in your own words ? -When debaters ask these questions, all theyre really doing is giving the other team three extra minutes to explain their arguments. -Everybody loves debating time-wasters. If you dont want your crossexamination, I have absolutely no problem taking it from you. The I-No-Flow Debater: -This debater spends the entirety of their cross-examination filling in the holes of their flows. -Either theyre not paying attention during their opponents speech (usually because theyre talking to their partner or theyre answering a text message something so stupid) or theyre just really bad at flowing. -Its okay to ask for the tags and authors of one or two cards, but if thats the entirety of your cross-examination, youre doing something wrong.

-Sometimes you have to be this debater. I understand that. Sometimes people are too fast, or theyre really unclear. But if you find yourself having a lot of these cross-examinations, its time to do some flow drills. The Clueless K Hack: -These people usually think theyre way better at debate than they actually are. -They usually debate the K. -Theyre some of the most annoying debaters to judge. -They tend to think that dropping as many big words as possible in CX will make them sound smart. It doesnt. If you cant explain your argument in a simple and concise manner, chances are that you dont understand your argument. Call them out! Youre stringing a lot of big words together, but Im not sure anyone here actually understands what youre saying. Can you simplify your argument? You can also ask them to give an example of what theyre talking about. High school K debaters are REALLY bad at giving real-world examples of the abstract philosophy they love to blather on about. This is a really quick and effective way to point out to the judge that the other team has no idea what theyre talking about. The Soapbox Star: -Theres a difference between controlling cross-examination and refusing to shut up. -These debaters ask questions, but they dont listen to the answers. -They usually try to control their partners cross-examination. -Theyre the people who keep talking after theyve already answered the question. You can either politely (and firmly) cut them off OR you can let them be belligerent. Theyre really only hurting themselves. Its important to recognize the difference between a Soapbox Star and someone who has good ethos. If you get the impression that the person in

question is talking simply because theyre in love with the sound of their own voice, chances are youre dealing with a Soapbox Star.