Schools' Junior level: 5 minutes, a reply of 3 minutes, and a bell one minute before the end of time.
Schools' Senior level: 6 minutes, a reply of 4 minutes, and a bell two minutes before the end of time.
School's Advanced level: 8 minutes, a reply of 5 minutes, and a bell two minutes before the end of time.
Interjections, Points of Order, Points of Information
Interjections are permitted between the teams if agreed before the debate starts by BOTH teams.
Interjections are permitted from the audience at school advanced level if agreed before the debate starts by BOTH teams.
There are to be NO points of order or information. Any complaints can be raised during the speeches. The adjudicators should be sufficiently skilled to pick up any significant breach.
Complaints
All complaints should be made in writing to the Auckland Debating Association Complaints Panel. Complaints from schools must be on school letterhead.
Right of Reply
The right of reply must not introduce any new material except for the purpose of rebuttal.
The right of reply in school debating must be given by the first speaker. The reason for this is that otherwise, particularly the first speaker, a student can give a prepared speech and have little need to develop skills in rebuttal and summarisation. As these are the key elements that distinguish debating from public speaking, we believe there should not be an "escape clause" for a first speaker.
Chair and Timekeeper
The affirmative is responsible for providing a Chair, and the negative is responsible for providing a timekeeper. This is true for all levels of debates including advanced schools. These people should not be selected at the last minute. The Chair should be coached on their responsibilities, which are:
to welcome the audience
to identify the teams and the moots (it is not necessary to identify the speakers by name)
to announce whether interjections are permitted
to announce that there are no points of order or points of information
to announce the speaking times, and to have the timekeeper demonstrate both signals
to introduce each speaker, after waiting for the adjudicator to signal their readiness
to remind the teams that there are no interjections during the right of reply
to invite the adjudicator to deliver the result
The timekeeper should have a digital watch (ideally) or a watch with a second hand, as well as a bell or some device to make a clear signal.
Resources Last updated: Monday, 2 March 1998 at 10:27pm Copyright 2002 Wayne McDougall.
ADA, PO Box 3233, Auckland Central, New Zealand Ph +64-9-6252847 Fax +64-9-6252851 Mobile +64-21-962783 Email to president@ada.org.nz