5 Keys to Choosing a Debate Partner
August 21, 2008
Debate and duo partners are not picked or arranged by any debate or speech coach or the head coach. We encourage our families to take the active part in helping their children pick their partners. Furthermore, we feel that parents are the best experts in educating and raising their own children. As you are considering partner choices for you or your children, please consider these criteria:
- Parental Requirements. First and foremost, how do your parents feel about your perspective partner choices? Do they want you to only consider only girl-girl or boy-boy partnerships, or prefer someone from your church, denomination, etc. Perhaps they already have a prospective partner(s) picked out for you. So, talk to your parents.
- Club Commitment. Do you want to only be active in the club a few months, go to only 1 or 2 practice tournaments, or qualify for the Region IV Tournament and hopefully onto Nationals? But realize, after your first tournament, you may change your mind and go all the way! It is amazing how often this happens. Also, your parents are likely to more accurately estimate how you will respond to speech and debate in the upcoming months, than you are.
- Geography. Does your perspective partner live near you? How about in the same house! Remember, your brother or sister will have this relationship with you for the rest of your life. You might as well learn to do great things with them now, while you are living in the same home. Learning how to work with each other can help make you a dangerous team to the evil one.
- Opposites. Opposites can make good teams. Are you more technical and detail oriented or more artistic and talkative? Are you like to solve puzzles and fix problems or are you more humorous and dramatic? Again, your parents are experts and your best counselors.
- Duo Partners? Duo Interpretation partners do not have to be the same as Team Policy Debate partners, in fact they rarely are the same.
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