Top Ten NITOC Prep Tips
In the most recent StoaByte, Ty Harding and I wrote a piece on the top tips to prepare for NITOC. We wanted to give you an expanded version of our list, as well as an additional few points!
1- Judge Adaptation
It's important to consider how judges judge outside of your regions. The more you can prepare your strategy to appeal to judges with different backgrounds, political ideologies, and debate theory, the higher your odds of success will be. To make it as simple as possible, the three biggest things you should consider are: 1) the region, 2) the politics, 3) the theory. You can add insight to these areas by asking your judge where they are from and what their background in debate is. Pay attention and know that if your judge is from Northern California or Colorado, vs Southern California or Texas, they are different types of judges. NorCal and Colorado tend to operate under a much more traditional stock issue paradigm approach to debate, whereas SoCal and Texas take a more net benefit/impact calculus view. You should also consider judges' political ideology, especially the conservative v libertarian split. Arguments that impact back to government overreach, police state, and Orwellian philosophy will be more popular with your libertarian judges from Texas and NorCal. Colorado and SoCal judges are more pro-intervention (especially in matters of foreign policy), Reagan conservatives. The biggest thing to remember is that it's easier for you to sell what the judge is already buying.
2- NITOC Bootcamp
Attending or creating a bootcamp is the ultimate way to maximize your prep for NITOC. A bootcamp would look something like three 8hr days that focus on: 1) strategizing against the top cases, 2) researching and cutting evidence to increase your response briefs, and 3) practice rounds - with almost a month off from your last tournament, it's important to keep your timing and skill set sharp. It's not too late to sign up for the NIHD online boot camp with LD on May 16th & 17th, and TP on the 18th and 19th both from 10:00am - 2:00pm PST! For more information visit NITOC Bootcamp '22
3- Don't adjudicate
One of the most common misconceptions students have at NITOC is that any rules violation warrants adjudication. But this is simply not true, as the standard is much MUCH higher than most think. In fact, over 90% of the issues we see at NITOC do not qualify for adjudication as only the most extreme issues i.e. fraud/evidence manipulation etc. (see rule “H. 2.”) warrant the process. Instead, if you see that someone's evidence is not up to snuff or another violation, make it a voting issue in the round! Impact the violation for the judge in the room like you would topicality and you or more likely to find success.
4- Avoid adjudication
Speaking of adjudication, here are 3 ways to avoid being adjudicated: 1) read the rules, 2) have a second set of eyes check your evidence compliance, and 3) print and highlight the original source for all your evidence that is cited in round.
5- Strategic reconnaissance
Strategic reconnaissance has a lot to do with understanding the environment and who your typical community judge will be. Looking at the demographics of the surrounding location will be imperative to analyzing to your average judge. In Arkansas, we gathered strategic intelligence about the region surrounding John Brown University. We found that it had a high unemployment rate, and a very high rate of churches per people ratio. This meant we had a very strong and religiously active crowd, and that arguments that related to the economy and job loss would be particularly sympathetic to our judges. Likewise, you should make similar conclusions about the Dallas area which tends to be affluent, and in line with Texas as a whole in that while it is very conservative, there is a greater libertarian leaning that you may find in other areas. Afterall, they are the lone star state.
6- Network
Hopefully you’ve made a bevy of friends during the year with whom you can prepare for NITOC. If not, get started now. No man is an island, and no debater can reach the apotheosis of his or her potential without enrichment from fellow competitors and coaches. Cooperation is a two way street, so be prepared to share your case, briefs, flows, and maybe even some of your rhetoric in return for the same. Reaching out to other students to trade briefs/research, and gain intel about popular case strategies in other regions is vital to strategizing for NITOC!
7- Start with sleep
In round you are only as good as your brain. Make sure it's in peak condition by showing up well rested for each day of NITOC.
8- Prepare Verbiage
Start and end on a high note by drafting the first and last lines of your speeches in prep time. Presumably by the time NITOC rolls around, you have strategies against most affs and your own aff is well thought out. So, you might as well invest your prep time in polishing your rhetorical bona fides.
9- Hone your theory
NITOC is the tournament of champions for a reason. The typical top competitors excel on issue level arguments, strategy, speaking, and theory. Theory arguments allow you to tilt the playing field back in your favor when your opponent’s unbalance it. Do not lose rounds by conceding the theoretical titling yard. Instead, pre-prep some theory blocks and drill them, so they come off smoothly in-round.
10- Impact Calculus
Impact calculus in the rebuttals is your friend. However, good impact calculus requires that you set up your links and impacts well in the constructive. Focus final rebuttal time on outweighing your opponent’s impacts to achieve victory, even in close rounds. Don't just tell the judge what you're winning, but why what you're winning is more important than what your opponent is potentially winning (i.e. even if our plan costs jobs, we outweigh with lives saved).