The Lincoln-Douglas style of debate is one of the most commonly used formats in competitive or professional debate due to its simple structure and adequately long sections for each speech. It originated during 1858 with late President Abraham Lincoln and late Senator Stephen Douglas[1]. Nevertheless, this particular style is very popular in competitive debate. Like all debates, the LD debaters will be given a statement or prompt and whether they will be the affirmative or negative side. The affirmative side will agree with the statement while the negative will disagree. Each debater has 16 total minutes of dominant floor and speech time which are broken up into different sections: opening speech, cross examination, and rebuttal. Overall,
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During the opening speech, the debater will have six minutes to present their case and explain all of their points. During this time, the negative side should be taking note of the points made and creating questions for cross-examination. After the opening speech comes the cross examination of the affirmative, the affirmative will be questioned by the negative and attempt to keep their argument strong. However, after the negative side’s opening, the former has a chance to do the same. They have the same goal: cast doubt on the opposing argument in favor of their own. Both cross examinations last three minutes long. Lastly, there are two rebuttals which allow the affirmative to reassert their points and reveal the flaws within the negative’s speech. For the negative side, the layout is essentially the same. They have a seven minute opening, two cross-examination periods, but only one rebuttal. This means that they must perform very well in the three other sections in order to balance out the possible disadvantages. Overall, both sides of the Lincoln-Douglas debate have the same goal which is to convince their audience that they are right, or at least more logical. However, they are not expected to be perfect as per their human nature; stuttering occasionally would not be a huge drawback neither would being visibly nervous.
During the opening speech, the debater will have six minutes to present their case and explain all of their points. During this time, the negative side should be taking note of the points made and creating questions for cross-examination. After the opening speech comes the cross examination of the affirmative, the affirmative will be questioned by the negative and attempt to keep their argument strong. However, after the negative side’s opening, the former has a chance to do the same. They have the same goal: cast doubt on the opposing argument in favor of their own. Both cross examinations last three minutes long. Lastly, there are two rebuttals which allow the affirmative to reassert their points and reveal the flaws within the negative’s speech. For the negative side, the layout is essentially the same. They have a seven minute opening, two cross-examination periods, but only one rebuttal. This means that they must perform very well in the three other sections in order to balance out the possible disadvantages. Overall, both sides of the Lincoln-Douglas debate have the same goal which is to convince their audience that they are right, or at least more logical. However, they are not expected to be perfect as per their human nature; stuttering occasionally would not be a huge drawback neither would being visibly nervous.