Debate Resources

I'm going into formal debate, the only problem being that I'm really bad at it. Does anybody any suggestions for books, guides, or other resources that might help?  

Books:

"Win Every Argument" by Mehdi Hasan

Also, AI is your good friend. Just let it give you sources and many arguments and advice. Also, try a little bit of gish gallop just to make the other side unable to respond to every argument due to limited space.

The book "Win Every Argument" is a best seller.

Some chapter talks of debate baits. You make a claim which looks very questionable, wait for opponent to deny it, and then you present source for your claim, thus proving your claim true, proving opponent wrong and making him look stupid while at it.

It also talks of rule of three. You should usually divide debate into 3 main points, 3 points which are strongest and get most attention from you. There can be some smaller points here and there too.

When making a counter argument, always make sure not only to negate opponent's argument, but make counter argument so it directly proves your side of topic.  These are "positive counter arguments" which arent just shooting down your opponent's claim,  but proving your side.

For example, if opponent says "A improves health", you shouldnt say "it doesnt improve health" or "health doesnt matter". You should say "it harms health",  because that directly proves your side of topic, especially if followed by some reasons and sources.

Now, when making a counter argument, if you want to sound better, dont start with "Thats not true" or anything like that. The debating standard is "your argument, then your counter argument". In other words, never start your response with counter argument. First present your new arguments, then respond to opponent's arguments.

And never dedicate too much time responding to opponent's arguments. You can never respond to it all in formal debate. Just pick about 5 or 6 of his main best most important points, and respond to those.

Also,  have many arguments and counter arguments written in advance and many sources prepared. Make sure you use facts. Dont make assumptions you cant prove, and dont make claims you dont have proof for. You can figure out which opponent's main points will be. If its junk food, its obviously going to be about health.

There are some main arguments which are very common: Health, Economy (costs vs gains), Ability to be achieved, liberty...

Now, remember, it doesnt matter what the outcome of a debate will be. 99% of debates in the world dont really matter and dont change anything at all. People who agree with you will agree with you even if you had no arguments. Its just done for fun.

I'll give this some thought, but a personal favorite resource that helped me in formal debate was this book by John Meany, a debate coach at Clarmont McKenna College. It's a very good breakdown of tactics in Parliamentary Debate, which should be broadly applicable.

That's a long is tag. Is it an affiliate link? WTF bro your trying to make 5 cents off this kid with an affiliate link?

This is too easy. I'm not even going to say it, but you know what I'm thinking.

Probably depends on what kind of debate. Policy? Lincoln-Douglas? Or something else?

I'll take a look at those books. I'm doing Policy Debate by the way. 

Learn to talk fast.

Try to be likeable. It will win you more votes.

Just by familiarizing yourself with these, you can spot them in your opponents’ arguments easier