Recently I've been trying to sharpen my debate skills a bit more and stumbled upon a book by Steven L. Johnson (https://debate.uvm.edu/dcpdf/Steven_Johnson_Winning_Debates_2009.pdf) which gives a lot of good debating tips. If you don't have enough time to read it all, here is a nice summary with parts that were most relevant to me:
ARGUMENTS
Description: Differentiate (nature of thing), examples, analogies, authority
^Refuting: how intrinsic the characteristic, thoroughness
Relation: reduction (examination of behavior), analogies, authority
^Refuting: Capability (causation vs correlation), necessary & sufficient, absence test, alternativity
Evaluative: Use value to assign good or bad, comparing to standard
^Refuting: challenge definition (focus on wrong thing), challenge standard, challenge measurement (ex. other factors at play)
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CONSTRUCTIVE
Analyzing (why? Depth, breadth, etc.); Synthesis (logical progression)-> Problem/Solution, Principle/Application, Cause/Effect, General/Specific
DECONSTRUCTIVE
Acceptability (grounds with unstated assumptions; untrue evidence; lack of validation), Relevance (I love this one), Sufficiency (is burden of proof met?)
> Refutation: Identify argument, critique, explain significance
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ADVANCED TACTICS
Offense: Presumption (Frameworks, Precedence, Values), Urgency ("is there a better way?" -- more timely and relevant), Objectivity (Principle, Casual connections, Analytic)
Defensive: Balance interests (identify stakeholders, notice imbalance, provide better balance), Goal analysis (find primary, ancillary-> Mitigate, contravention, consequences, counter-plan, alternate goal)
Feel free to ask any questions and provide feedback.
