The Ultimate Guide for Finding the Right Debate Partner
The Ultimate Guide for Finding the Right Debate Partner
Coach Griffith's top six criteria for creating a dynamic partnership that maximizes potential and success.
By Griffith Vertican, Esq.
Who should I partner with? Over my fifteen years of coaching this is easily one of the most popular questions (and struggles) that pops up among my TP/Parli students prior to each new season. It is of utmost importance for those looking to reach a new level of success, and given the serious ramifications that a bad partnership could lead to throughout the season, it requires careful thought and serious consideration.
A number of my students have been struggling with this very question as they vacillate over who to partner with. In an effort to help them and you, I wrote the following guide for those looking to improve their likelihood of overall tournament success. While this guide is geared towards maximizing team success in terms of the ballot, there are indeed other factors, goals, and objectives that may come into play as well, which we will discuss briefly under number 2 on talent.
Dear student,
Before we can determine the right partner, we need to take a step back and determine what your overall goal is for the season. Once you have determined your goal, finding someone with a similar goal will be a critical first step. The next step is to try the partnership out in practice rounds to help determine whether or not the two of you click. But whatever you do, don't take it personally if it turns out the two of you are just not a good fit. Like with real relationships, just because you go on a first date doesn't mean you have to get married!
\With that in mind, the goal of this guide is to help you pick the right partner, so with no further ado here are my top 6 criteria for creating a dynamic partnership that will maximize team success:
1. Similar dedication/work ethic
Similar dedication means that your potential partner is going to work at least as hard as you. Nobody wants to backpack somebody who's not carrying their weight. One of the major sources of angst in a partnership is when one partner seems to be carrying the vast majority of the workload especially in the terms of research and brief writing. Where such conflict exists it will impair the partnership's ability to thrive.
So an ounce of prevention to set the right expectations is a critical preseason step. It is important to have an open and honest discussion about how committed to the activity you both are and discover if you’re on the same page. Ask how many tournaments you will go to, how many briefs you will commit to writing each week, how many practice rounds you will do, what camps you will go to, and what commitment to coaching you have made. It's important to have an upfront discussion about what the workload is going to look like as a team.
In the event that your potential partner does not have the same commitment, or you are unable to commit to the same level of workload they are, recognize that this is a potential dealbreaker. However, it's far better to discover this incompatibility in the preseason than to face constant frustration throughout the year.
2. Level of talent & potential
By talent I simply mean the God given natural ability, communication skills, likability, drive, and overall skill set. Top debaters are a lot like top athletes in that they are often born with a certain level of natural talent which gives them the edge to win consistently and against higher levels of competition.
Thus, asking how much talent the potential partner has is an important question, though as we’ll discuss below, it's not the only factor.
By talent I don't just mean the level that's been demonstrated. I'd also consider potential talent, which means asking the question is this inexperienced person potentially a diamond in the rough? Do they have a natural charisma and speaking talent that is engaging, interesting, or persuasive? Are they naturally funny or passionate and effective in communicating their ideas? In other words, are there signs that they have a natural talent for this activity?
A few years ago, I remember seeing a student compete in LD for the first time at my NIHD Speech and Debate Camp. He was very new and inexperienced, yet it was undeniable that the signs of raw talent were there. He was a natural at cracking jokes, self-assured, willing to even poke fun at himself; he had a high degree of emotional intelligence to connect his arguments with the judge, and perhaps most important of all, a fierce competitive drive. I think anyone who saw this student would agree that the talent was there. Whether he would develop it or not was yet to be determined.
From the very beginning of our coaching relationship, the goal was to get this young man in a position to win at the highest level. Our long-term goal was nothing short of winning the national title. While the talent alone was not enough for such a monumental goal, it was a critical foundation.
In just two short years, not only did he quickly close the gap to the most experienced/successful competitors, but by the spring of his junior year, he won nearly every tournament including the 2021 NITOC National title in Lincoln Douglas Debate. For an encore his senior year, he won the 2022 NITOC Overall Tournament Champion award. That student of course was Logan Whitcher. And without a doubt, he is among the most talented students I’ve coached. Your odds of winning with someone like him of course will be much higher.
However, talent alone is not enough. It's also drive, hard work, coaching, and being teachable/flexible. Among the students I've coached that have won the national title (including the last 4 NITOC LD Champions), the chief similarity among all of them was a great work ethic. Our current LD National Champion, Benjamin Arroyave, competed in more tournament rounds than just about anyone last season, but he also wrote a ton of briefs, attended both summer camp and bootcamp, and was one of the hardest working students I’ve coached. There’s no doubt that hard work helped him to win not only the LD title, but the Parliamentary National Championship as well. So whatever you do, don't underestimate the willingness of your partner to work hard as hard work is a great equalizer!
How to implement the talent criteria:
If you had to choose between a young version of Logan or Benjamin, say as only a freshman or sophomore, versus a more experienced but less driven and less talented senior competitor, then you likely would be better off choosing talent and drive over experience in terms of season long success.
*Please note, under this criteria there's often growing pains in the early part of the season, but by late spring those pains usually work themselves out. That's when the talent really begins to shine through.
While yes, it may seem unfair that some students are born with far more natural talent than others, such is life. To some the Lord has given more talent than others (see the parable of the talents).The good news is we all have the ability to improve dramatically, as hard work is the great equalizer. But talent plus hard work is likely going to achieve a high level of success.
**Wait, what about an alternative criteria!
Now with that said, there certainly are other factors that may supersede talent. In fact, you may say to me "Coach Griffith, I hear what you're saying, but this other potential partner (who is not as talented) is my sibling or my close friend or is someone I could take under my wing this season and help cultivate their talent and skill set. So what I may be sacrificing in talent, I'm gaining in terms of life experience/relationships and that matters far more to me than seeking to win the most ballots possible."
To which I would say bravo! Those factors are a fantastic counter-criteria, especially when there are other objectives that you (or your parents) may be seeking to achieve. I, for one, commend you for considering those factors as more important. And as a coach, I work with plenty of students who are not trying to win nationals per se, but simply trying to get better and maximize the potential that they do have. I am especially proud of senior students who willingly sacrifice their potential for the highest success in order to shepherd a younger sibling/student. Those factors are a valid criteria as well.
3. Chemistry
How well do you guys connect together? Do you at least relatively enjoy hanging out? I don't think it's necessary for you to be best friends, but there needs to be at least a level of mutual respect.
To that end, if one of you is walking with Christ and the other one isn't, that's likely to create conflict in ways that are difficult to predict. Theology and worldview matters especially when it comes to truth claims, strategy, and work ethic. Finding someone equally committed to Christ would be a high value for me.
4. Travel
Will you and your partner travel to the same tournaments? Hopefully you’ll be able to reach somewhere in the ballpark of six or more tournaments together as you need this time in the trenches to become a cohesive unit. My partner Tim and I had to work through some serious rough patches in order for us to reach a point where we could really be on the same page. It was after the 40th round that we finally started to really click, and by the spring we won nearly every tournament together, including the biggest national tournament in the nation. There is no way we would’ve had that spring tournament success had we not already done so many rounds and tournaments together.
See, tournaments are a critical time for learning how to work together, discovering how each other think, how you each handle stress, and it's where you learn the best way to communicate to each other during the round (ie. read each other's handwriting, etc..) There's just no substitute for tournament experience, because that is where you both gain the necessary feedback for individual and partnership growth (ie. strategies, non-verbals, communication, etc.). So make sure you and your potential partner discuss in advance what your tournament schedule looks like and which tournaments you are committed to going to.
5. Same coach
Well of course I prefer it to be me :-) but the point here is that you guys are able to have a cohesive strategy because you're open to getting coached by the same person, even if you are from different clubs and different states. NIHD has a variety of coaches in every form of debate who are here to help you both get on the same page and same strategy. Go here to find out more about our private coaching.
6. Gender
Gender is probably the most controversial criteria to consider, however based on my experience it is a real factor to consider. Fair or not, guy-girl and guy-guy teams tend to do better than girl-girl teams. This isn’t just true of our current Parli and Team Policy champions, a perusal of past national champions over the past ten years will show this gender configuration to nearly always be the case (yes I know a girl-girl team won Parli once in the last decade - Go Texas). Over the past decade I discovered that there is just something judges find attractive about the guy-girl partnership, especially where they click well and are a compliment to one another.
However, gender is less important than the five factors listed above. I would say that talent, drive, and work ethic all easily trump gender. Ladies, if another female is your best option based on the above criteria, don't let gender stand in the way. But, if all other things are relatively equal and you're looking for a tiebreaker, gender is worthy of consideration.
Well, that's my top six anyways. These are my time tested factors that should at least point you in the right direction towards a dynamic partnership that will maximize potential and success for you both, and in turn, ideally increase your impact for the most high God.
A great partnership is a beautiful thing that will teach you great life lessons and help you to grow and develop as a communicator. But remember, that if you want a great partner you must be a great partner. So if nothing else, focus on improving yourself and you’ll be in the best position for attracting a great partnership.
Much love,
Coach Griffith
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How would you like Coach Griffith to help you and your partner’s this season? Now is a great time to get in touch with Griffith as he still has private coaching slots available. Supplies of Coach Griffith are extremely limited! :P
Also, if you are looking to take your skills to the next level this season, NIHD has the proven resources to help you do just that from our New 2022-23 TP/LD casebooks, to private coaching, to out Advance LD, Team Policy, Novice LD, and Speech classes. And whatever you do don’t miss out on NIHD’s four tournaments this season! The first tournament is The Provendial Prologue which will run Oct. 13 - 14 in Pasadena, California.
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