• Twitter
  • Facebook

Potent Speaking

Impress the audience

  • Home
  • About
  • Coaching
  • Videos
  • Resources
    • Brief template
    • eBook – 5 useful debate drills
    • Speaker point spreadsheet
    • Sample visualization
    • Debate lingo replacement chart

Phrases — Getting your #1 point across

19Feb

February 19, 2016 by PotentSpeaking Leave a Comment

Credit for the idea of this phrase goes to Samuel Sefzik. It’s easy for your audience to get overwhelmed in a debate speech. There are a lot of points and plenty of logic floating around in any given debate round. Getting your audience to remember and care about all of your points is usually impossible (unless […]

Phrases — Outweighing their arguments

17Dec

December 17, 2015 by PotentSpeaking 2 Comments

Sometimes, arguments in a debate round are like fireworks on the fourth of July. Everyone’s lighting off their little bottle rockets, roman candles, and maybe even some small mortars. None of these fireworks are really memorable, they only become memorable if they hit someone or if something important happens around one. But sometimes there’s an […]

Cross-Examination: Using first names

13Mar

March 13, 2015 by PotentSpeaking Leave a Comment

Sometimes your opponent is simply being unreasonable in cross-examination. Often times, everyone knows he/she’s being unreasonable. One of the ways to make them snap to their senses is to use their first name. I’ll provide a few examples of how using first names can project your confidence and control over the round. Examples Setting the stage: […]

Get a 5 in evidence

03Feb

February 3, 2015 by PotentSpeaking Leave a Comment

Evidence is undeniably one of the most important parts of Team Policy debate. I care about it particularly because a good evidence battle can win you a round, and because there’s an entire category of speaker points dedicated to evidence. Here are a few tips for getting a perfect 5 in the evidence category. 1. Vocal […]

No more debater voice

13Jan

January 13, 2015 by PotentSpeaking Leave a Comment

This is going to be a short post. That does not undermine its importance. The message I have today. Is. Important. For the love of all that debaters hold dear, get rid of the debater voice! Here is what I mean.   After listening to the sound clip, you may be wondering what specifically makes […]

“You may be thinking…”

06Jan

January 6, 2015 by PotentSpeaking Leave a Comment

Here’s a cool phrase you can use in order to address any concerns that the judge has. I often used this phrase when I already knew what the judge’s objection would likely be. For example, “The result of all this is nuclear war. Now I know what you might be thinking—is that really likely? Surprisingly, […]

Keep the judge curious

18Nov

November 18, 2014 by PotentSpeaking Leave a Comment

They say curiosity killed the cat. Thankfully, your judge isn’t a cat. So curiosity won’t kill them. Isn’t that nice? If you’re able to keep your judge curious about what you’re going to say next, you will keep them engaged. Everyone knows an engaging speaker is a good one. That’s why so many professional speakers […]

Emphasis by positioning

14Nov

November 14, 2014 by PotentSpeaking Leave a Comment

When you need to make a point stand out in a judge’s mind, it’s time to pull out all stops and give them the best you have. One technique I seldom see used is positioning in order to emphasize key points. How it’s done Before I begin, this is not to be overused. Someone who […]

Run less arguments

14Oct

October 14, 2014 by PotentSpeaking 2 Comments

  One of the first challenges for a novice is to fill up all the time in their speech. They are drilled and pushed to get to that 8 or 5 minute time limit and fill up their speeches. And rightly so! The only problem with this approach, a problem that I hope to remedy in […]

Use power words

03Oct

October 3, 2014 by PotentSpeaking Leave a Comment

    For sale: baby shoes, never worn. Sometimes a story told in six words can be more powerful than a speech. The concise power of the above sentence can send chills through your spine. If it had been longer, describing more of the story, it probably would have been less impactful. Although I can’t match the […]

  • 1
  • 2
  • Next Page »

Newsletter

Subscribe here

Recent Posts

  • Drawing a line in the sand using false equivalence
  • Debate traditions that you need to drop
  • 7 Debate Tactics You Probably Don’t Use (but Should)
  • Book Gleaning — Made to Stick
  • Making an Affirmative response sheet

Categories

  • Advanced
  • Analogies
  • Basics
  • Body language
  • Confidence
  • Cross-Examination
  • Delivery/Conduct
  • Emphasis
  • Engagement
  • Ethics
  • Evidence
  • Intermediate
  • Interview
  • Introduction
  • Judge interaction
  • Mental tips
  • Motivation
  • Novice
  • Organization
  • Persuasive techniques
  • Phrases
  • Preparation
  • Refutation
  • Round strategy
  • Tournaments
  • Uncategorized
  • Voice
  • Word choice

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org
Portlight on Genesis Framework · WordPress