Lincoln-Douglas (LD)

Lincoln-Douglas debate (more commonly referred to as LD) is a competitive speaking activity involves two debaters arguing for and against a resolution that is selected by the NFL (National Forensics League) and voted on by coaches. Today, somewhat like the old debates, LD focuses on the conflicting values of social and philosophical issues, for example, by examining questions of morality, justice, democracy, etc. Typically, LD debates concern themselves with deciding whether or not certain actions, or states of affairs, are good or bad, right or wrong, moral or immoral.

Public Forum (PF)

Teams of two competitors debate whether or not to adopt a resolution, typically on domestic or foreign policy. Resolutions are released a month in advance, and teams prepare cases for both sides. Debates are usually based on a practical cost-benefit viewpoint rather than a moralistic analysis.

Parliamentary (Parli)

Parliamentary Debate, or Parli, is a partner debate event with a focus on quick thinking, logical reasoning, and general knowledge. Parli is the most popular form of debate for colleges and rapidly growing at the high school level. Unlike other debate events, the topic of debate for each Parli round is different and is announced 20 minutes before debating begins. Then, debaters use digital resources and their own general knowledge to prepare arguments - the short preparation period creates an emphasis on practical, real world, logical arguments, as opposed to solely statistical evidence. Topics vary but are generally related to current events.