Cheat sheet for parli debate.

There are two teams of two, one side is the Gov (they affirm the resolution), and the
other side is the Opp (they negate the government).
Here is speaking order and times
Prime Minister Constructive: 7 mins (this is the first speaker from the government
side. It is her job to lay out the governments case, define any important terms from
the resolution, explain how the are approaching the resolution).
Leader of Opposition Constructive: 8 mins (this is the first speaker from the
opposition side. The opposition has several routes to argue against the government.
They may directly clash with the govs case, they may claim there are bad
unintended consquences of the case, they may offer a different plan for solution, or
they may critique the underlying philosophical assumptions of the case. It is up to
the opposition to be clear what they are trying to do. You will mostly see direct clash
in the rounds you are in).
Member of Government Constructive: 8 mins (this person extends her partners
arguments, and responds to the Leader of Opposition Argument)
Member of Opposition Constructive: 8 mins (this person extends her partners
arguments, and responds to the Member of Government argument).
Leader of Opposition rebuttal: 4 mins (This speech is not suppose to introduce any
new arguments. It is mainly a place for the Leader to lay out her arguments for why
the opp is winning the round, and to summarize the arguments in the round)
Prime Minister Rebuttal: 5 mins (this speech is not suppose to introduce any new
arguments. It is mainly a place for the Prime Minister to lay out her arguments for
why the gov is winning the round, and to summarize the arguments in the round)
So, to resummarize
PMC: 7 mins
LOC: 8 mins
MGC: 8 mins
MOC: 8 mins
LOR: 4 mins
PMR: 5 mins
During the first four speeches (know as constructives), students may ask questions,
if they are called upon by their opponents, and recognized to do so. You dont need
to do anything during this process, just listen. Also during the first four speeches,
people get to make new arguments. During the last 2 speeches, known as rebuttals,
there are no questions allowed, and people should not make new arguments.
Sometimes, if a member of the other team thinks there is a new argument in a
rebuttal, she might say Point of Order. The protocol is to stop the timer, hear both
sides out on the issue, and then normally say you will take it under consideration
(meaning you will think if it is a new argument when you go to make your decision).
Students may also rap the desks during speeches to signify thanks or agreement.

Determining the winner and filling out your ballot:

The teams should adapt to you. They should make it clear why they think you
should vote for them. Any failure to follow this is not on you, but on the debaters.
You should evaluate the arguments in the round, and vote for the ones that seem
better, however you determine that.
When filling out the ballot, you should provide any comments to individual debaters
you think appropriate. Sometimes there is nothing that needs to be said on this
point. Then you need to put an RFD (reason for decision). This is where you lay out
what compelled you to vote one way or another. How did the arguments made by
debaters convince you to vote.
You will also need to rank the debaters in the round on how well the spoke and
delivered information (1-4, with one being the best in the round, and 4 being the
least best in the round). You will also need to give speaker points to each speaker,
these can tie. It is out of 30, but the standard would be to usually give the best
speakers 27 or 28 (29 if they were especially impressive), and to give the worse
speakers 27, 26, or 25. You shouldnt give less than a 25 unless people are rude or
offensive. If they are rude or offensive, explain so on the ballot, and give whatever
you want in speaks.
Please let me know if you have any questions. If you have the time or energy, you
can fill free to read this longish article on parli debate, but dont feel you have to.
http://www.parlidebate.org/debate/coaching-helps/parliamentary-debate-roberttrapp/