NSDA Resources
Some of the most useful links & resources provided by the NSDA.
Independent Resources
These include debate blogs, websites and other helpful platforms.
Beyond Resolved is a website dedicated to addressing the problems of inequity in the Speech and Debate community. They have created dozens of initiatives, including low cost camps, free coaching services, a coaching directory and more. Check out Beyond Resolved, HERE!
Coolidge debate offers a national tournament, The Coolidge Cup, that offers up to $10,000 in scholarships. They also offer a scholarship for HS juniors that compete in debate, as well as online qualifying tournaments. To learn more, visit Coolidge HERE!
Debate US is an organization that frequently produces free resources, including a free bibliography and evidence packet for PF and LD as well as blog posts. Check it out HERE!
Ethos Debate offers a blog portion of their website where they will break down topics and offer free topic analysis as well as commentary on the Speech and Debate community in general. Take a look at Ethos Debate HERE!
Everyday Debate is a blog for PF, LD and Policy debate that offers topic analysis and arguments on either side for debaters. Check it out HERE!
Girls Debate is an organization that offers multiple different kinds of resources, ranging from blog posts to topic analysis' and card files. You can check them out HERE!
Lawyer Skills offers a list of external debate resources, similar to this list. Their outline includes resources for learning debate, the types of debate, how to teach debate, podcasts and more. You can check them out HERE!
Open Access Debate is a database of academic sources, mostly professors, that debaters can refer to when doing research on specific topics. Take a look at Open Access HERE!
Premier Debate is an organization that frequently produces free resources, including a free brief for PF and LD as well as blog posts. Check it out HERE!
Shattered Lens Academy is an online coaching service that also offers a debate camp. Shattered Lens Academy offers scholarships to juniors and seniors who are members of the Speech and Debate Community that are educationally underserved. Take a look at Shattered Lens, HERE!
The Open Evidence Project strives to get HS Debate Camps (Policy only) to publish all the work they do over the course of the topic they debate, such as cards and cases. They’re entirely free and strive to minimize the gap between debaters able to attend camp. Take a look at the Open Evidence Project HERE!
W.in Debate is an organization that offers multiple different kinds of resources, ranging from a mentorship program to free resources such as card files, lectures, and more. You can check them out HERE!
Women's Debate Institute is an organization that offers different resources primarily geared at Policy Debate, including a free summer camp, mentorship program, anti-bias training, seminars, and more. Check it out HERE!
Debate Breaker is an app for your mobile device that can generate statistical hypotheticals of the number of people who are likely to advance and/or place with certain records. For example, I can input the number of rounds, tournaments, and people advancing or placing and see what records will get there.
Check Your App Store
Debate Cards is a database of Policy backfiles that debaters can use to search for cards that say specific things. For example, I could search “Global warming bad” and a bunch of related cards will come up on that issue to support my point. It makes searching for specific evidence much easier. Visit debate.cards HERE!
Learn Public Forum is a website that offers resources to teach debaters about Public Forum Debate specifically, such as how to be successful in PF, coaching and debate basics. Take a look at Learn Public Forum HERE!
The NDCA Wiki allows debaters to view disclosed cases from teams who compete across the country in PF, LD and Policy. Its purpose is to equalize debate by creating a social norm to disclose so debaters don’t have to rely on going to a big school to get flows and/or having connections. Review the NDCA Wiki HERE!
This novice handbook was made by a community member, Lauren Kim, and posted to the Debate Subreddit. It offers basic advice on how to act and dress for tournaments, as well as what events are and drills for new debaters. You can check out handbook HERE!
Paperless debate includes Verbatim, which is a specific Word program engineered to make case writing and cutting cards easier for debaters. It also includes Stratus which is a customizable cloud storage that allows co-authoring. Take a look at Paperless Debate HERE!
Pep Talk is an organization that offers a free Speech & Debate mentorship program. Additionally, Pep Talk also hosts a lecture series for their students. You can check them out HERE!
Prep Timer is an app specifically for debate that lets you count down the particular speech happening in any round. Essentially, it is a customized stopwatch for debate times.
Check your app store!
The Debate Watch is a search engine that allows you to access the competitive records of any partnership. The database currently includes every bid tournament hosted on Tabroom in the 2019-2020 season. Check it out HERE!
The Debate Group is an organization that offers a free debate mentorship program. In addition, they also host a lecture series. Check it out HERE!
The Value Criterion is a website (for LD) that offers free (and cheap) resources to debaters and coaches. These include: 40 complete value criteria frameworks, 200 cards that are framework evidence and 300 LD debate topic files. Review the Value Criterion HERE!
Speech & Debate Rankings
While we do have an Elo project, we want to emphasize other Debate Ranking resources that debaters can also utilize.
Debate Rankings is a website that currently offers rankings in Congressional Debate, Lincoln Douglas Debate and Public Forum Debate. They only look at TOC bid tournaments and national championship tournaments, so it is a good indicator of who is doing well on the national circuit. Take a look at Debate Rankings HERE!
Currently, NSD only offers rankings for Public Forum Debate. This is a useful resource to see where debaters stand on the national circuit, according to their methodology. Check them out HERE!
YouTube Channels
This is a list of helpful debate-related YouTube channels that offer educational content, demo rounds, etc.
Check out Debate Stream's YouTube Channel HERE!
Check out Houston Urban Debate League's YouTube Channel HERE!
Check out Premier Debate America's YouTube Channel HERE!
Check out The Great Debate's YouTube Channel HERE!
Check out Kevin Klyman's YouTube Channel HERE!
Check out South Dakota Public Broadcasting's YouTube Channel HERE!
Check out Debate Clash's YouTube Channel HERE!
