Resources · Cheat sheet
Third Speaker cheat sheet
The whip does not build new material. Your job is to reorganize a messy debate into two or three clashes, show the judge why your side wins each one, and weigh the round shut. One rule above all: no new arguments. New examples and new responses are fine; new substantive material is a role violation judges punish.
Third Speaker / Whip
wsdcacademy.comWorld Schools Debate · clarify the clashes, win each one, weigh the round
Introductionone rhetorical device: historical example · emotional appeal · logical link
Opening frame: what has this debate really been about?
Clash 1name the clash as a question the judge must answer
The clash (e.g. “Does the policy actually reduce harm?”)
Their side
Their strongest remaining material: what do they say?
Why it does not stand
Our side
Internal weighing: why is our case still standing while theirs is not?
External weighing: why does our worst case beat their best case?
Clash 2name the clash as a question the judge must answer
The clash (e.g. “Does the policy actually reduce harm?”)
Their side
Their strongest remaining material: what do they say?
Why it does not stand
Our side
Internal weighing: why is our case still standing while theirs is not?
External weighing: why does our worst case beat their best case?
Clash 3name the clash as a question the judge must answer
The clash (e.g. “Does the policy actually reduce harm?”)
Their side
Their strongest remaining material: what do they say?
Why it does not stand
Our side
Internal weighing: why is our case still standing while theirs is not?
External weighing: why does our worst case beat their best case?
Metrics
Why should the judge decide the round on our metric?
Conclusion
Summary of the round as we have won it
Final framing / caseline
How to use this sheet
- 1
Pick clashes, not arguments. Do not walk through the debate speech by speech. Group everything said into 2–3 questions that decide the round, and spend your time only on those.
- 2
Track material all round. The whip speech is written during the debate, not before it. Keep this sheet in front of you from the first proposition speech and fill the "they say" boxes live.
- 3
Weigh twice. Internal weighing proves your case survived and theirs did not. External weighing proves that even in their best world, your impacts matter more. Judges reward whips who do both, explicitly.
- 4
Concede strategically. You will not win every clash. Position the ones you win as decisive and the ones you lose as marginal. That framing is what the Strategy score rewards.
Complete the set: first speaker and second speaker. Weighing decides close rounds. See how it is scored in our judging guide, and read the full third speaker guide.
Whip speeches are judgment under pressure.
The only way to learn clash selection is live rounds with honest adjudication. That is exactly what our program runs every week.
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