Cross Examination in LD By Cosette Fronczek

What is Cross Examination? Cross examination is a 3 minute period where you have the opportunity to question your opponent about their case. It takes place for each person after their opponent reads their case, after the constructives. There are a few purposes to cross examination: Point out flaws in logic/flaws in their case. Question their knowledge of their own case. Ask questions that can set a foundation for your rebuttals. That may all sound a bit confusing, but all will be explained!

Point Out Flaws in Your Opponent’s Case Basically, just make sure you’re listening closely to their case for anything that sounds strange/sketchy and if you do, question them about it in cross ex. This is a great way to trap your opponent! Examples: asking your opponent for proof/evidence of a claim they make, asking for examples of something they describe, or pointing out logical fallacies. Make sure that if you point out something that damages your opponent’s case, bring it up again in your rebuttals, as a lot of parent judges don’t pay much attention to cross ex, and some professional judges don’t consider it unless you bring it up in rebuttals.

Question Their Knowledge of Their Own Case Some people from other teams don’t write their own cases, so this can be fantastic for showing the judge that you’re more knowledgeable. It looks extremely bad if you can’t answer questions about your own case. There are several ways to do this: Ask them to state things like their value or value criterion in their own words, if it’s something complex. Ask them how their contentions/value criterion uphold their value.

Setting the Foundation for Rebuttals Cross examination can be a great time to set up your rebuttals. This means that you question your opponents about things in their case that conflict with yours. Example: If you have evidence that directly contradicts their case, ask them if they know of it and what their response to it is. This also means bringing up events from cross examination in your rebuttals, as mentioned previously. Example: “As my opponent conceded to/answered in cross examination…”

General Tips For Answering Questions No matter how you’re feeling, remain calm and composed. In most cases, if you appear confident the judge won’t even notice how good the question is. Always give an answer, even if you don’t have a good one. It looks extremely bad if you say that you don’t know or don’t have an answer. Try to extend your answers a bit so that it takes up more of the time. However, your opponent may interrupt you to give another question. If there’s a question that you know is a trap, don’t directly answer the question. Beat around the bush a bit and while your opponent may try to get you to give a more direct answer, they may eventually move on.

General Tips for Asking Questions Don’t be afraid to interrupt your opponent if they are answering more than what you asked for. The same also applies if they try to give an indirect answer, you can interrupt them and ask for a direct answer. However, be sure to remain polite. DO NOT, under any circumstances, let your opponent ask YOU questions during your cross examination time! If you ask for evidence, ask to see it during prep time so you can have more time to answer questions rather than look at evidence.

Cross Examination Video Note: This is not a full cross examination, just a few questions as an example.

Critiques of the Video Girl on Left If this were an actual cross examination, she shouldn’t have had to ask so many questions for clarification (you should know your opponent’s case!). No need for that “I’ll show why that’s wrong in a few minutes”. Yes, it could work to show your judge that your opponent is wrong but it could also backfire as it can come off as aggressive. Girl on Right She should have been able to answer that question about her case, ALWAYS have an answer to questions. Didn’t sound as confident as she could have about her answers. Could have given longer answers to stall for time.

Good luck in your cross examinations!