1. Future of Public Forum A Conversation Chris McDonald, Eagan HS, MN
Pam have other suggestions for this?
Chris McDonald, Eagan HS, MN
Dave Huston, Colleyville Heritage HS, TX & NSDA Board of Directors

2. PUBlIC FORUM DISCUSSION
Why talk about Public Forum now?
Fastest growing of the debate events
Newest of the debate events
Originally planned as an alternative to other forms
Never a really good discussion and examination of the practice
It’s time
Language from Pam and Joe
Why slide – overall goal

3. PUBlIC FORUM DISCUSSION
What happened this year?
The NSDA formed an ad-hoc committee of coaches chaired by NSDA board member, Polly Reitkowski and Eagan, MN coach Chris McDonald
Their charge was to examine the current state of Public Forum and suggest potential changes
After several online meetings, the committee made a number of proposals
Those proposals will now be vetted and examined in several ways so that some or all may be implemented in the school year
Language from Pam and Joe
Why slide – overall goal

4. PUBlIC FORUM DISCUSSION
THINGS THE COMMITTEE DISCUSSED AND CONSIDERED AS THEY MADE THIS PROPOSAL
Switch side debate and requiring students to debate both sides of the resolution is a good thing
Calling for and examining evidence is a good thing
Improves debate
Allows for greater scrutiny
Language from Pam and Joe
Why slide – overall goal

5. PUBlIC FORUM DISCUSSION
WHAT ARE THE PROPOSED CHANGES ?
CHANGE #1
(Already implemented)
TIMING OF TOPICS
First four months of the season would feature two topics (Sept/Oct; Nov/Dec)
Topics would then be monthly beginning in January
Gives novices time to get used to a topic; holidays in Nov/Dec make those very short topics otherwise
Language from Pam and Joe
Why slide – overall goal

6. PUBlIC FORUM DISCUSSION
WHAT ARE THE PROPOSED CHANGES ?
CHANGE #2
ELIMINATE GRAND CROSS FIRE
Most see it as a waste of time in the vast majority of rounds; time could be better spent elsewhere
Other proposals give choices for what to do with the extra time created
Language from Pam and Joe
Why slide – overall goal

7. PUBlIC FORUM DISCUSSION
WHAT ARE THE PROPOSED CHANGES ?
CHANGE #3
EVIDENCE EXCHANGE & PREP TIME
Increase prep time for each team to 3 minutes
Better enhances current evidence exchanges; Need to develop norms for evidence exchange
More time to prepare arguments; greater depth of arguments
Language from Pam and Joe
Why slide – overall goal

8. PUBlIC FORUM DISCUSSION
WHAT ARE THE PROPOSED CHANGES ?
CHANGE #4
Additional Time in One or More Speeches
Add 1 minute to the summary speech
Doesn’t change the length because of the elimination of the grand cross fire
Allows the summary speaker a better chance to cover the rebuttal speeches
Language from Pam and Joe
Why slide – overall goal

9. PUBlIC FORUM DISCUSSION
WHAT ARE THE PROPOSED CHANGES ?
CHANGE #5
Eliminate the coin flip
Why would we want to change something that has made this event fundamentally unique?
Switch debate is good (pedagogical); Guarantees that competitors have a balanced number of rounds
Eliminates confusion of negative speaking first (practical/tabroom issues)
Language from Pam and Joe
Why slide – overall goal

10. WHAT ARE THE PROPOSED CHANGES ?
PUBlIC FORUM DISCUSSION
WHAT ARE THE PROPOSED CHANGES ?
CHANGE #6
Order of the Speeches
Proposed format would allow for a ”block” of speeches for each team
Pro would always speak first; CX after the constructives;
Con would have the first rebuttal; CX after the rebuttals;
Pro would have first summary and final focus speech
Language from Pam and Joe
Why slide – overall goal

11. WHAT DOES THE PROPOSED DEBATE NOW LOOK LIKE?
PUBlIC FORUM DISCUSSION
WHAT DOES THE PROPOSED DEBATE NOW LOOK LIKE?
Pro Constructive—4 minutes Pro Summary—3 minutes
Con Constructive—4 minutes Con Summary—3 minutes
Crossfire—3 minutes Pro Final Focus—2 minutes
Con Rebuttal—4 minutes Con Final Focus—2 minutes
Pro Rebuttal—4 minutes (3 minutes prep per team)
Crossfire—3 minutes
Language from Pam and Joe
Why slide – overall goal

12. PUBlIC FORUM DISCUSSION
WHAT ARE THE PROPOSED CHANGES ?
CHANGE #7
Paraphrasing of Evidence
Many teams paraphrase evidence; becomes very difficult to enforce
Ignorance/lack of knowledge of NSDA evidence rules cause issues, especially with the sharing of evidence
Academic integrity of the event is improved
Language from Pam and Joe
Why slide – overall goal

13. PUBlIC FORUM DISCUSSION
OTHER THINGS THE COMMITTEE DISCUSSED
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT IS A GOOD THING
We want to make sure community persons are still the norm in judging
If we keep that model, we need to do a better job of training judges
NSDA needs to take the lead in developing training materials and curriculum for local organizations to use
Language from Pam and Joe
Why slide – overall goal

14. OTHER THINGS THE COMMITTEE DISCUSSED
PUBlIC FORUM DISCUSSION
OTHER THINGS THE COMMITTEE DISCUSSED
TOPIC SELECTION INPUT
Calendar is now established to allow the community to suggest and support topic wordings
The topic committee will solicit and use community input to help with the formation of topics
Language from Pam and Joe
Why slide – overall goal

15. WANT TO SEE THE NEW PROPOSED FORMAT?
PUBlIC FORUM DISCUSSION
WANT TO SEE THE NEW PROPOSED FORMAT?
Chris McDonald & Eagan HS in conjunction with another Minneapolis area school did a demonstration debate using the proposed format.
The link is here:
Language from Pam and Joe
Why slide – overall goal

16. Questions?
Language from Pam and Joe
Why slide – overall goal

17. Language from Pam and Joe
Why slide – overall goal