Lighthouse 4n6 Series Daffodil CANCELED

2025 — Online, US

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World Schools Debate

Event Description:

• Entries

• Teams are comprised of three to five students

• Motions

• There will be a mixture of prepared and impromptu motions

• Tournament officials will work to ensure around half of rounds are prepared and half are impromptu

• Motions shall take the form befitting debate in a House of Parliament, always beginning with the phrase “This House” which will often be followed by the verbs “would,” “believes that,” or “regrets.”

• For impromptu motions, both the team supporting and opposing the motion shall have one hour from the time the motion is released until the beginning of the impromptu round

• All members of the team, both those speaking and any other members who may speak in rounds may participate in preparation for impromptu rounds. Up to five team members may participate

• Teams and speakers

• In a debate there are two teams, one proposes the motion and the other opposes it

• There are three speakers

• Before a debate begins, each team must inform judges of the names of their three speakers, the Reply speaker, and the order they will be speaking

• The only persons who may speak in a debate are the three speakers for each team

• Each speaker gives only one constructive (substantive) speech

• After each speaker has spoken, the forest or second speaker for each team gives a reply speech, with the opposition reply going first

• Timing and interruptions

• Each substantive speech is eight minutes and each reply speech is four minutes

• The judge shall provide time signals

• During a substantive speech a competitor from the opposite team may verbally interrupt or indicate that they wish to offer a Point of Information (POI)

• A POI may be a question ro a statement

• The first and last full minute of a substantive speech are considered protect time, no POIs may be given

• The speaker may choose to accept or reject a POI, rejection can take the form of an obvious hand gesture or verbal comment from the speaker

• Speakers are discouraged, through not prohibited from offering POIs that exceed 15 seconds or rising more frequently than every 20 seconds

• There are no other interruptions in the flow of the debate, teams have no prep time once the debate begins

• Debaters that are speaking may communicate with each other, but are prohibited from communicating with any other individual