The Victory Briefs Institute is the largest Lincoln-Douglas Debate Camp in the country. For more than a decade we have been helping students reach their full potential at every level of competition, including many winners of the NFL National Championship, the Tournament of Champions, the National Debate Coaches Association Championship, and the CFL National Championship, along with countless invitationals at both a local and national level. We pride ourselves on maintaining an innovative curriculum and seeking out a top-tier instructional staff every summer.
With this volume we are excited to be able to bring you some of our most popular curriculum components in written form. The articles presented are adapted from lectures, seminars, labs, skill workshops, and drill sessions attended by students at VBI. Each of the authors has been an outstanding camp instructor and has a distinguished debate resume, including high-level success in high school competition, college competition, or as a coach (and in several cases, all of the above).
The essays that follow cover a range of topics for people on all circuits and at all experience levels. It includes explanations of everything from foundational concepts to advanced strategies. Because there are helpful tips for students of all skill levels, the book will continue to be useful as you develop your debate talents. It is packed with great information from cover to cover, so you’ll be picking up new insights the second and third times you read it.
In addition to conveying the conceptual basis for different skill and knowledge sets, our goal is to give you practical, implementation-oriented steps to help you improve right away. With that in mind, we encourage you to not only read the book but also take advantage of the drills and other exercises suggested by the authors. It is one thing to know what you’re supposed to do; it’s another to be able to execute it. Getting the most out of this book will require you to put time and effort into practicing these skills and concepts before you use them in competition.
This book is not meant to provide a comprehensive debate curriculum. Instead, our goal is to give you a sampling of insights on various core topics from some of the top coaches and judges in the activity. There are some suggestions about which some of our authors would undoubtedly disagree. As debaters we know that there is nothing wrong with difference of opinion. If you find our authors recommending a different approach to a given topic, use that as an opportunity to think more about what best fits your style and experience. Like most things, there is more than one way to debate well, and we believe the opportunity to hear different viewpoints will help you to develop the style that is most comfortable for you.