Coaching Resources
The NAUDL has produced these guides to help coaches manage many aspects of the difficult job of coaching a debate team. These materials can be accessed one section at a time or you can download it as a single PDF-formatted manual.
1. Guide for Starting the Team [ Word | pdf ]
Bare Necessities, Recruiting Team Members, Informational Meeting, Building Support in the School, Building Support Outside, Managing Time Demands, Setting Expectations, Sample Mini-Debate Topics, Following Up with Recruits, Caution about the Media
2. Guide for Running the Team [ Word | pdf ]
Recruitment and Retention, Weekly Team Meetings, Establishing Partnerships, Student Leadership, Agendas for Team Meetings, Building Team Unity, Troubleshooting Partner Issues, Record Keeping
3. Guide to External Resources and Opportunities [ Word | pdf ]
Local Seminars, Web Resources, Summer Camps for Students, Other Leagues and Competition, Local Universities, College Admissions, Talking about College Debate, NAUDL Online Guide to Workshops, Stepping Outside Your League, Choosing a Summer Camp
4. Guide to Professional Development [ Word | pdf ]
Learning to be a Debate Coach, Coaching Colleagues, Manuals and Textbooks, University Assistants, Summer Workshops for Coaches, School Support, NAUDL Policy Debate Manual, Defraying Workshop Costs, Limits of University Assistants
5. Guide to Operating at Tournaments [ Word | pdf ]
Preliminary Rounds, Elimination Rounds, Attending Local Tournaments, Networking, Observing Rounds, Keeping Things Running, After the Tournament, Attending Out of Town Tournaments, Finding Judges, Expectations for Behavior, Etiquette for Observing Debates, A Sample Tournament, Choosing Among Teams
6. Guide to Holding Public Debates [ Word | pdf ]
Forging Partnerships, Widening Audiences, Increasing Recruitment, Political Change
7. Coaching Guide for Beginning Debaters [ Word | pdf ]
What is an Argument?, Winning Clash Battles, Flowing, Evidence, Research Strategies
8. Coaching Guide for Speaking Style [ Word | pdf ]
Verbal Communication, Non-verbal Communication, Cross-Examination, Practice Makes Perfect
9. Coaching the Affirmative [ Word | pdf ]
The Affirmative Case, Solvency and the Affirmative Plan, Sample Outline for the Affirmative Case and Plan, First Affirmative Constructive, Second Affirmative Constructive, First Affirmative Rebuttal, Second Affirmative Rebuttal
10. Coaching the Negative [ Word | pdf ]
Designing the Negative Strategy, Topicality, Case Debate, Disadvantages, Counterplans, Critiques, First Negative Constructive, Second Negative Constructive, First Negative Rebuttal, Second Negative Rebuttal
