Public Forum is the said to be the largest and fastest growing debate event. Yet, there are few good resources that exist to provide coaches and students with a strong introduction to not just the structure and rules of the activity, but also to the strategy of the event. This book is an effort at doing just that. However, while the overall thrust of the text is introductory, many readers will find that the content in the strategy sections of the book contains concepts that are new to them and quite useful. This book contains information that ought to be useful for all members of the Public Forum community, from the brand-new coach or competitor to the most seasoned veteran.

Public Forum is unique in that it is approached in very different ways depending on region, state, league, or even school. Partly due to its youth and partly due to the lack of a strong, developed national community, Public Forum lacks a cohesive sense of self. For the writer, this provides a challenge. Ought a book on the event assume that one approach is superior and instruct from that perspective? Ought it instead offer a survey of the different approaches to each and every question? The former (being elitist and presumptive) and the latter (being hopelessly devoid of direction) are both likely to be unhelpful to the average reader.

This book instead will approach the event under the guiding principle that “good debate is good debate.” Personal and ideological preferences aside, there is a set of core principles that all can agree constitute good debate technique. In focusing on these principles, this book will cover concepts that will be helpful for all coaches and students, regardless of location or debate philosophy. Certainly, there will be a reflection of this author’s bias in some of the concepts in the book. This is unavoidable. However, a serious effort has been put forth to minimize the influence of those biases and provide as objective an analysis of the activity as possible. There will be some points throughout the book where a focus on widely-accepted principles will not provide a complete picture. In such situations, references will be made to applying one’s local standards and/or a survey of different approaches will be provided.