Debate
Victory Briefs
We are committed to guiding students to master the arts of advocacy, research, and public speaking. Beyond excelling in competitive debate, our students develop skills that will propel their test scores, academic life, and career prospects.
We are committed to providing the best resources for debate. To that end, we offer summer camps, topic briefs, virtual lessons, and textbooks to help students hone their skills and expand their horizons. See our camp offerings.
Cal National Debate Institute
The California National Debate Institute is the premier summer camp on the West Coast for improving your speaking and debating skills. We have a variety of programs tailored to every experience level, whether you’re a complete novice or a nationally competitive debater with years of experience. Join us this summer and level-up your speaking and debate skills! CNDI will be in-person in Berkeley for the summer of 2025.
U Miami hurricane debate institute – Public Speaking and Argumentation
The primary goal of the Public Speaking and Argumentation program is to empower students through public expression to become better thinkers, speakers, writers, listeners, and leaders. Students in this program will explore and develop their thinking and speaking skills through games and exercises involving public speaking (impromptu and prepared), as well as group problem-solving and discussion. Students will be exposed to and learn various formal styles of debate (e.g., Lincoln-Douglas, Public Forum, and Policy Debate) as well as other communication based activities. Students will learn to cope with speaking anxieties, to organize and support their ideas, to critically evaluate and respond appropriately to the ideas of others, and to deliver effective messages. While the format and content will not directly prepare students to participate in competitive debate or forensics, it may serve as a precursor to such participation. This program is appropriate for students of all ages, but especially rising 9th-12th graders.
Also available for rising 6th-8th graders.
U Miami hurricane debate institute – Public forum
The Public Forum program will prepare students to participate and be successful in competitive debate through a combination of instruction and practice debates. Students will learn how to construct briefs, deliver the most persuasive speeches, and research effectively. Students will debate a variety of topics throughout the institute. More important than instruction, students will have the ability to debate and receive feedback from a number of experienced debate coaches. This will help students as they can work on the skills necessary to become successful debaters.
This program is appropriate for beginner or novice students of all ages, but especially rising 9th-12th graders.
The Debate Institutes at Dartmouth
The DDI is a program for experienced policy debaters with at least a full year of high school debate experience. Now in its fourth decade, the DDI has produced national champions at the high school and collegiate level. Most attendees are entering their junior or senior year; it may be appropriate for sophomores with a strong record.
Stanford National Forensic Institute (High school & middle school)
Website
Forensics is the collective term for both speech and debate. Most tournaments have both speech and debate events, and student commonly "double enter" or "cross enter" and compete in one debate event and one or two speech events at the same tournament.
Our forensics programs are designed to provide a student with an overview of both speech and debate to prepare them for a well-rounded competitive career in middle school and high school forensics. After attending one of our forensics sessions, students will be familiar with the major skills used in speech and debate, a broad overview of the different events available for competition, and will be equipped to choose which events are of the most interest to them and which they will want to focus on going forward.