Updated 4/6/2020 Wyoming is moving ahead with an online State Speech & Debate Championship, likely April 22-25! Now what? Keep reading for Wyoming Debate’s informal guide to online debate (if you prefer to watch a webinar, click here). This article is divided into five sections: (1) an introduction, (2) what online debate looks like, (3) tech tips, (4) best practices for tournaments, and (5) best practices / tips for debaters. It was authored by Matt Liu, the University of Wyoming director of debate (if you have any questions about the upcoming Wyoming State Championship, please email me at [email protected]!). Introduction: don’t worry, do practice Skype has been around since 2003. Online debate is basically a FaceTime call, which means debaters have basically been preparing for it their whole lives. Based on the 30+ online practices debates we’ve held or scheduled this past week, online debate is intuitive. Why listen to us? UW is and has been pretty deep in the weeds in online debate, even before COVID-19. We hosted the first online college policy tournament last October, after more than half a year of fastidious planning. It’s not even so much that that much planning was needed, but, we wanted to do it right as we entered the ground floor of online debate. We’ve also hosted multiple online scrimmages in different events at the collegiate level. The best practices we established at our tournament have been modeled all over the country. Given our experience, UW was consulted by several college national championships, the TOC, the Michigan debate camp, the Gonzaga Debate Institute, and several other tournaments and camps as they considered or made online transitions. I’m also personally hosting an online LD invitational in California next week. And of course, we’ve had or scheduled over 30 online practice debates (and growing) these last few weeks for Mountain West high school debaters. So we know that online debate is not only feasible, it’s mostly intuitive. None of the participants in our recent online practice debates had ever done an online debate, and they received little to no instruction about how to do it. We jumped right in and I think the results have been a resounding success. So the first prong of my introduction is: don’t worry. This is reliable, fairly accessible tech that is mostly intuitive. Second prong: but do practice We often hear in theory debates that debate is a game of inches not miles. There are hundreds of tiny signals you can send to the judge that you’re less experienced than your opponent. When you walk into a classroom and set-up facing away from the judge, you’re sending a signal. When you give the order and say case instead of telling the judge the actual case order, you’re sending a signal. Practicing online debate won’t just help you learn the ropes, it will help you learn a few new important signals. In this article, I’m going to go over some key ways to signal competence, experience, and practice in online debate What Online Debate Looks Like I think there’s two real platforms for online debate: Zoom and Yaatly. I’m not going to spend any time talking about Discord. I don’t know much about it, and the things I have heard leave me unsettled. I’m going to spend almost all of my time talking about Zoom, but I will give you a quick introduction to Yaatly. Yaatly is used by some of the college parliamentary debate teams, and has actually been used by the University of Wyoming before. Yaatly is great, I really do endorse it. The platform has the advantage of being entirely built for debate, which means it has a great interface and nearly unlimited future potential for customization. The downside to Yaatly is cost. Zoom is just flat out 100% free. Even if the cost-free K-12 access is eventually rolled back, only the tournament admins need to have an Enterprise-level account. That means if UW hosts a tournament, there’s no tech platform fees. We may use Yaatly again in the future. But for now, my advice is save your budget to create more debate opportunities, and use Zoom. Zoom is being used by the eTOC and the NSDA, with a caveat that they have an external third-party client / Zoom partner building an interface over Zoom to facilitate debates. If you don’t want to shell out for that, keep reading for how to run an online tournament with just Zoom. I think there’s four noticeable differences for how an online tournament runs: 1. Pre-tournament tech check-in 2. Zoom Room Managers (ZRMs) 3. Room check-in times 4. Getting from pairings to round start Pre-tournament Check-in This is exactly what it sounds like. All participants (debaters and judges) at an online tournament should be required to make sure their tech works well before the tournament begins. The tournament host should allow people to sign up for “faux rounds”: no debating, rather, you spend 15 minutes making sure everyone can see and hear each other. Every participant in the tournament should have to check-in to compete, judge, etc. I’m saying faux “rounds,” but each check-in slot should be able to accommodate many more people than 5-7. I’d suggest more along the lines of 12-16 people. Tournaments should allow several different periods to sign-up to increase access, and should have a procedure for accommodating those that are busy during those periods. Ideally, tech check-ins will be run by ZRMs. Zoom Room Managers (ZRMs) Tournament staff traditionally includes the tab room and judges. An online tournament should also have Zoom Room Managers (ZRMs). Zoom allows you to use breakout rooms, which means one host/admin/ZRM can manage several debates by assigning participants to a breakout room. That also allows the ZRM to function as a gatekeeper. Think of the ZRM like a building, and the breakout rooms like rooms in a building. Even if stray debaters wander into the wrong building, they cannot get into the debate room (breakout room) without the ZRM assigning them. Zoom sessions can handle far more participants and far more breakout rooms than I think we would every need. My suggested ratio for ZRMs to rooms is ideally 1:3, but not more than 1:5. So in my ideal scenario, a ZRM is responsible for 3 breakout rooms. Their job is to check-in with the debaters and judges, make sure everyone’s tech works, troubleshoot, and ensure the round starts on time. Room Check-in My ideal schedule for a brick-and-mortar tournament lists three things for each round on the schedule: when pairings are released, when the round starts, and the deadline for decisions. Online tournaments should have a fourth schedule item per round: room check-in time. Approximately 10 minutes after pairings are released, every debater and judge needs to be in the Zoom room and confirm their audio and visual works with their ZRM. They can then turn off their AV, even leave the room if they like. Tech check-in early after pairings come out, not right before the round starts, is key to keep things running on time. Now this assumes a schedule where pairings and round start aren’t simultaneous. In my opinion that’s good praxis, as it allows debaters more prep time (~30m), which creates a more educational experience. I know some might have concerns about tournaments running late, however, online debate saves significant time over the day (there’s no running across campus, no running around looking for rooms, no travel back to the hotel, etc). Getting from Pairings to Round Start First, pairings won’t list the room, they’ll list the ZRM: Liu 1.0, Liu 2.0, Liu 3.0, etc, with the number correlated to the breakout room. There’s two ways to do this: the first option is the ZRM schedules their rooms in advance, everyone has a list of Zoom links for each ZRM, and you click the appropriate link when pairings come out. The second option would be that ZRMs email the relevant parties with a Zoom link from a pre-prepared list of tournament emails. The first option is more efficient, and the ZRM does not need participant emails. The second option creates an additional layer of gate-keeping: a pre-published list of Zoom links shared with the tournament participants creates potential for trolling (either from participants or because of leaks). However, no one can ever get into debate rooms without the ZRM adding them. They can only get into the “lobby”, where the ZRM then assigns them into rooms. All of this is 100% compatible with tabroom.com to run the tournament admin, distribute pairings etc (and Tabroom is free). Tabroom also allows an online “on-site” registration to make sure everyone who registered is actually ready to debate, day-of (or day before). Tech Advice During the online practice debates UW has hosted, we’ve been striving for access over perfection. We’ve set no tech baselines, so that anyone who wants to with a laptop/webcam and almost any internet connection can participate. We have made online debates work with anyone who has a computer and internet. We make suggestions about microphones / headsets, but nothing close to mandates. That’s not how we ran our tournament. The Wyoming Online college tournament had and will have much stricter tech mandates for participation. When we run a college tournament, we adopt standards more befitting cooperation. I want to outline that both paths are possible, and suited to different purposes. For Wyoming and regional high school debate activities, I suggest we lean strongly into accessibility. But I do have 5 tech tips. 1. Whatever tech you’re going to get, get it soon There’s a run on online equipment. Since I started promoting things like Ethernet converters and the TP Link Ethernet Adapter (below), I’ve noticed prices increase (by $2 and $20 respectively). There are also potential supply chain issues. Amazon is projecting longer shipping dates: a month instead of a day. However, in my experience, the actual shipping time is much shorter than projected, much closer to the usual 2 days than the projected month (but that could change). Don’t let any of this deter you from ordering, but do it early (ASAP). Most important, debaters need to practice with the tech before they use it in competition. You want to practice under the exact conditions you’ll debate under: that means your actual rate and volume (and with a human to make sure you’re coming through clear), but also with the tech that you’re going to use. Take it from us, don’t walk into a debate with a brand new mic. 2. Internet Above all, a wired connection beats wifi. There is simply nothing else that comes close to being this important. Ethernet > wifi. If your computer doesn’t have an Ethernet port, you can get an Ethernet to USB converter or micro-USB (or whatever it is that macs use) for $12 on Amazon. Again, this is the single most important thing you can do to improve your set-up for online debate. There’s a couple of options for connecting your router/modem to your computer. If your desk is right next to your router, perfect. If not, there’s always the 50ft Cat 7 Ethernet cord. However, the real action is with the TP-Link Powerline Ethernet adapter. Think of the TP-Link like a 50ft (or more) Ethernet cord without the cable. It’s two boxes: plug one in next to your router (and connect it with the small Ethernet cord it comes with), plug the other in next to your work station (and connect it to your computer the other small Ethernet cord it comes with). It will jump your wifi from the first box to the second losing virtually no signal strength, and give you a wired connection at the other end. You can purchase a slightly more expensive wifi-enabled version to jump the wifi signal itself in addition to having a wired option. If you absolutely have to use wifi, be as close to your router as possible, with nothing in between your computer and your router. If that’s not possible, consider a wifi range extender or mesh wifi like Nest. 3. The Mic Here is my rough recommendation: gamer headset > external mic > in-laptop mic. No Airpods. Honestly, proximity matters more than tech. If you’re using your in-laptop mic, just make sure you’re very close to it. The reason I think gamer headsets are probably the best (even better than high quality external mics) is they stabilize the mic right next to your mouth, no matter where you move. In my experience, internet and proximity to the mic over-determine audio quality. After that, I think most mics are roughly equal. However, the Assistant Director of Debate at the University of Michigan recommends one of these. I have noticed that debaters sometimes set their headset to be the audio input, but not the output. In other words, the sound comes out from the computer, but is transmitted through the mic. This is a bad setup: it creates significant reverb because the mic “hears” what the computer is outputting and transmits back to everyone again. Another issue I’ve noticed is the mic of the headset will fail (usually an issue of improperly setting your audio “output” in Zoom or Windows/Apple) but the headset itself will still work: you can hear, but not be heard. This is harder for the individual to notice. Make sure you adequately test your headset with a human on the other end to make sure it’s working. If you're not using a headset, make sure to grab at least headphones. Headphones drastically improve your ability to hear your opponent. This is also true for judges. 4. Think about Investing in an External Monitor If you’re paperless (debating on speech docs), you need your screen for evidence during a speech. But you also need your screen to see the judge (and your opponents). Let me emphasize: you need your screen to see the judge and your opponents. There’s HUGE advantages to situational awareness. Seeing the judge nodding along with your argument, seeing them shaking their head, seeing them making the “I can’t understand you face”, etc. You also want to see your opponents: did they stop flowing you? That’s an important signal about what arguments they’re going for. You can’t see your judge and your opponents if you have one monitor and you’re using it for evidence. Hence, you might want two. If you also flow on your computer, first of all: boooooo. But, you may want three monitors. If an extra monitor isn't in the cards for you, see below for some advice on screen arrangement. Do think carefully about your setup: you want to be looking at the judge, which means looking at the laptop that has Zoom running. That means stacking your monitors vertically (or in terms of depth), not horizontally (or angled). That way, when you look at your speech doc, you’re also looking at the judge. 5. Trouble-shooting IT 101: turn it off and on. This means if they’re external, turn your mic and webcam off and on. Unplug them and plug them back in. Leave and re-enter the Zoom room. Some laptops have privacy switches over the webcam. Try sliding your finger over the webcam to see if you have one on. However, nine out of ten times, the problem is your internet (see above: a wired connection is the most important thing you can do for yourself!). As an absolute last-ditch solution, you can turn your video feed off. This is bad ethos, worse for pathos, bad for communication (seeing the mouth = intuitive partial lip reading by the judge), but is ultimately better than people not understanding you -- and it’s a near-perfect fix. Not every Wyoming high school debater has solid enough wifi to sustain a debate without voice pixelation, so when that interferes with understanding someone, as a last resort we ask them to turn their video feed off. This is obviously sub-optimal but solves 99% of bad internet issues. Their internet might not be able to perfectly sustain video and audio, but it can virtually always sustain great audio alone. Like I said, access over perfection. I've yet to judge a debate where I've had to ask more than 1 person to do this, and also certainly not in every debate. FYI: other people having bad internet might drag their connection down, but not yours. Observers should turn off their video feeds to avoid being distractions, but on or off it won’t affect your performance. Best Practices (Tournaments) 1. Provide advance warning against gathering Social distancing is the priority during COVID-19. Coaches should not join debaters, partners in PF, LD, duo, etc, should not be in the same room. Coaching should occur over Zoom, Slack, even FaceTime etc (whatever your schools are okay with, of course). 2. Participant contact info When you need to find someone at an online tournament, you need contact info. There’s no building to run through screaming their name, you’re going to have to email, call, or text. The Wyoming Online college tournament asked participants to post their emails on their wiki and their judge philosophy. For privacy considerations, we noted that this did not need to be their primary email, but should be one they planned to check over the weekend (similarly, google voice can create temporary phone numbers for texting). A high school tournament may warrant tighter control of contact info. Ensuring ZRMs (functionally tabroom staff) have contact info for participants is likely sufficient. 3. Frequent reminders about time zones If your tournament is not geographically restricted. 4. Be active about troubleshooting If you can't hear someone, speak up and pause them. Troubleshoot what's wrong until it's fixed. 5. Have a plan for how debaters will share evidence In an online debate, you can’t hand a piece of paper to your opponent if they ask to fact-check your evidence. However, there are plenty of solutions to this. First, it’s already a norm in most parts of the country to start an email chain before the round so all evidence is shared just before it’s read. In fact, there is a very good pedagogical defense of this. Sharing your evidence on an email chain with the round’s participants before your speech ensures equitable access to evidence that deters strawperson cards, fabrications, etc. It also drastically increases evidence quality. Most important, it reduces the amount of cross-x and cross-fire time spent on banal questions about evidence instead of great debates about arguments. However, if that’s not your cup of tea, Zoom also allows direct file uploads through the chat function. I find this to be far less useful, however, because if you are dropped from the room even for a second the chat history disappears. 6. Consider emergency backup options (even though you’ll likely never need them) Having students locally record a speech creates a backup in case of a call-drop, to re-play for the judge. 99 out of 100 times it won’t be used, but “extreme backups” are good praxis- just in case. 7. Have everyone fill out the appropriate forms IE recording releases, etc. 8. Regulate tech errors so the tournament can run on time The TOC suggests the following good advice in case a call drops: a] you have 15 mins of tech time for the debate to reestablish a call, so the debate basically gets paused/its dead time -- after that limit they have to keep the debate moving along so the tourney isn't delayed. b] if the call drops when you're in a speech, if you're reasonably close to the beginning of your speech (<15 seconds in) then just regive the entire speech; if not then figure out the last part everyone else heard and resume from then. 9. Consider adjusting prep I’d say 10 for policy, 5 for LD, 4 for PF. Build in extra time because this is a format that’s new to everyone. 10. Coin flips Three options: 1) The judge or ZRM flips at room check (neutral party). 2) Tab flips for everyone. Heads means even seeds are aff, tails means even seeds are neg. 3) Find an external app that can function as an honest mediator. I endorse the first. 11. Public space One could consider enabling a public space equivalent to a cafeteria by hosting a “general” Zoom room for all tournament participants (and/or by event); however, I’d be worried about Zoombombing (inappropriate trolling) at a high school tournament. Smaller rooms create accountability and lower incentives. Best Practices (Debaters) 1. Be aware of household bandwidth usage and potential tradeoffs Know who in your household is going to be doing what online. Obviously you can’t and shouldn’t tell your parents to not have a business meeting on Zoom, but plan for what that looks like. What’s your work set-up situation? Your proximity to your router? Your Ethernet connection set-up? Is there going to be competition for any of that? Are your siblings going to play League of Legends or watch Netflix? Consider negotiating sibling internet use with them. You can download Netflix and Disney+ episodes in advance. Test your tech under your real world worst-case scenario of bandwidth use. Also, make sure the folks in your house know what you are up to. If your parent understands you’re in a competition (a state championship!), they probably won’t interrupt to ask you to take out the trash. Also, make sure siblings know not to come running screaming into your room. 2. Close out of things that suck up bandwidth Game clients (Steam, Epic, Blizzard, League of Legends). Tons of tabs (especially YouTube/Twitch/Netflix/other streaming services). Consider the Chrome add-in The Great Suspender. If you have a VPN, you should consider turning it off. 3. Your Zoom username should be your name, and maybe your school This is important for the ZRM placing you in the right breakout room. 4. Don’t be late for room check! Right after pairings come out, check into your Zoom room so the ZRM can confirm everyone’s tech is working. Many online tournaments enforce a forfeit rule for missing the Room Check-in Time. Remember to mute yourself after AV check so you don't give away all your strategy discussions. 5. Plan how you’re going to prep after room check-in and how you’ll communicate to your partner during the debate Slack or any messaging client is great. Even better if it easily stores messages. If you want an audio connection, consider a separate video chat on a different program (ex: FaceTime) that is not connected to the wifi and therefore not draining your bandwidth. Of course stay within your schools guidelines for tech use, especially between coaches and students. 6. Email chains > Zoom file upload Email chains create memory, making it possible to look up files and arguments to prep against long after the debate has ended. More rigorous interrogation of evidence makes us all better debaters. Also, if you get dropped from the room, even for a second, the chat history disappears. 7. Call drops and when to intervene Don’t interrupt for 1 second of voice pixelation. Do interrupt if you consistently cannot hear someone because of a tech issue. 8. Gallery vs speaker view In the top right of Zoom, there’s a button that either says Gallery View or Speaker View. I prefer to call these “Brady Bunch view” and “track the speaker view.” There is a right answer, it’s Brady Bunch view. You want to be able to see your judge and your opponent. There’s HUGE advantages to situational awareness. Seeing the judge nodding along with your argument, seeing them shaking their head, seeing them making the “I can’t understand you face”, etc. You also want to see your opponents: did they stop flowing you? That’s an important signal about what arguments they’re going for. 9. Physical Set-up The more tasks you do on your computer, the more monitors you might want to consider using. Generally, I’d suggest everyone acquire one external monitor, if possible. If you’re paperless (debating on speech docs), you need your screen for evidence during a speech. But you also need your screen to see the judge (and your opponents). You can’t see your judge and your opponents if you have one monitor and you’re using it for evidence. If you also flow on your computer: booo. But, you may want three monitors. Do think carefully about your setup: you want to be looking at the judge, which means looking at the laptop that has Zoom running. That means stacking your monitors vertically (or in terms of depth), not horizontally (or angled). That way, when you look at your speech doc, you’re also looking at the judge. Two University of Wyoming debaters are featured in this online debate against UMN, with MSU's Will Repko and Carly Watson judging. If an extra monitor isn't in the cards for you, this quick tip screen capture from MSU's Spartan Debate Institute is helpful. If you only have one screen, you can use split left and right screen and then stack the Zoom videos streams narrowly on one side of your screen. This allows you to receive continuous non-verbals from the judge and see if anyone loses a connection during the debate. The only change I would make is trading the Zoom chat for a doc map / nav pane in word. 10. Mute your mic when you’re not speaking
“Is anyone not ready” should become “does everyone have their mic off?” You as the debater should check to make sure everyone’s mic is off before your speech, and ask them to turn it off if it’s not. Otherwise, when they start clacking away typing on their keyboard, it’s your speech they’ll be interrupting. Don’t forget to unmute your mic when you need to talk. 11. Check in with the judge to make sure they’re ready Speaking of “is anyone not ready”… It’s great for brick-and-mortar. Far better than the other ways folks begin their speeches. But ditch it for online debating. You need to specifically ask your judge if they are ready. It’s best if you get a positive confirmation from each participant directly. If the judge has an AV issue and can’t hear you, they can’t tell you they’re not ready if you ask “is anyone not ready?” Also, this is a huge moment for signaling excellence with online debate. If you ask your judge if they’re ready, then they give you a thumbs up (either with the Zoom symbol or their actual thumb), and you ask “are you ready” again because you have your speech doc up and not Zoom, the judge now knows you weren’t looking at them. In fact, they know you won’t be looking at them your entire speech. And that means they know you’re not following best practices. This bears repeating: make sure your judge (and opponents) are there and ready, and not grabbing a snack or using the restroom. 12. The judge wants to see more than your forehead Test the angle of the camera before you start speaking to make sure your mouth is visible. Based on repeated test runs, I assure you this is worth repeating: test the angle of the camera before you start speaking to make sure your mouth is visible. Far too many debaters appear as just a forehead in online debates. This isn’t just about ethos, partial intuitive lip reading is a thing and makes communication easier. This is also a reason to use the Brady Bunch view: so you can see yourself. 13. Light source Avoid having a super bright one directly behind you. 14. Proximity to your mic matters For those using the laptop built-in mic, it was noted by several people that proximity to the laptop mattered a lot. Folks that spoke a ways back from their computer had worse audio quality. 15. ABT (always be timing) While this is always true, in online debate you should turn mic on to let your timer go off at the end of your opponent’s speech. While the judge should ideally be the timekeeper, they don’t always keep track of time, and you shouldn’t let your opponent be the sole timekeeper for their speeches. 16. Backgrounds Think about your background. Avoid debating in a messy room, avoid posters on the wall that would be K links. A plain background is fine. Don’t use zooms virtual backgrounds, at least not during the debate. If you want to throw up a splash page of your school’s logo in the pre-round or pre-RFD, that seems fine to me. Keep it professional. 17. Screen shares Screen-sharing, if enabled for participants, allows you to show a card during your speech. That’s pretty cool, and seems legit. Screen-sharing during your opponent’s speech hijacks their performance and is not cool. I would be willing to vote on a theory argument that that is illegit (equivalent or worse to talking over your opponent). During CX? More complicated because it's split time. It could easily become the brick-and-mortar equivalent of a shouting match. You should definitely practice this ten times before you do it in a debate. All this is moot if the tournament host disables screen-sharing. 18. Be aware of what the judge is looking at Up to three things could demand real estate on the judge’s monitor: you, their flow (if they flow on their computer), and the speech doc (if they follow-along). My ideal judge has an external monitor if they flow on their computer, and another if they read docs during the debate. TL;DR: Assume your judge is looking at you, but don’t bank on it. 19. Cross-x I like what the TOC guidelines say about this: “It can go awry easily. I think it’s pretty important that early on into this process people agree to be respectful in cross-x; give concise and direct answers and avoid filibustering and interrupting as much as possible. If you have a tendency to interrupt or add on to things in cross-x, you will need to be conscious of that and scale it back, as it could easily throw off the whole cross-x.” 20. Don’t gather With your coaches, or with your partner (policy, PF, etc). Find other ways to communicate. During COVID-19, your health -- and the rest of society’s health -- comes first. Concerns about cheating? I don’t think online adds any potential that that didn’t previously exist. I think that if a coach and a debater both want to cheat now, they can. One could place a recording device in a room hidden in/by a backpack, listen remotely, and gchat the debater arguments. I don’t think we could stop a clever person committed to cheating who planned how to get away with it at a brick and mortar tournament. During COVID-19, if the options are allow our students to have an option to debate, or tell them we don’t trust them enough to debate, I think the decision is clear. We need to have faith in our community. Those that deserve to be exiled because they’d forsake themselves will do so regardless. Other Resources If you somehow haven’t read enough about online debate, there’s plenty of other people writing about it. Like Wyoming, the MSU debate team and their Spartan Debate Institute have been thinking about online debate long before COVID-19. We've drawn heavily on their smart ideas for this post and some of our practices. Find some of their video discussions and writing here and here. The eTOC has laid out some of the most clear best practices here. Find more from them on their Tabroom page here. HS Impact is a solid debate resource, and has several posts about online debate worth reading here, here, here, and here. Stefan Bauschard is doing online debate stuff, and wrote about it very well from an admin perspective here.
2 Comments
Jim Hanson
4/5/2020 12:43:33 pm
excellent article. excellent advice.
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6/30/2021 09:44:32 am
My little sister wants to try out speech and debate when she is in High School. I think she'd be better at it if she started practicing now. I had never heard that it is a game of inches not miles so I doubt she has. Hopefully, I can find her a coach that can help her out before the school year starts.
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