The Atlanta Urban Debate League is committed to providing excellent debate education programs, services, and opportunities to diverse students, educators, and members of the community!
Public Forum FAQs
An Introduction
Beginning in SY 2021 – 2022, the Atlanta Urban Debate League will offer Public Forum (PF), a new event for High School competitors. The goal is to provide an accessible, audience-friendly alternative to policy debate!
What is Public Forum?
Public Forum is an audience-friendly, partner event where participants debate a series of month(s)-long topics (resolutions) focused on current events. Unlike Policy Debate, where competitors debate the merits of a plan, Public Forum debates whether the resolution is on-balance a good or bad idea.
Competitors in Public Forum should expect:
Month(s)-Long Topics (Resolutions)
Partner Debate (2 v. 2)
Shorter Speech Times
Audience-Friendly Style
Lay (Less Experienced) Judging
Who Should Debate in Public Forum?
Any high school student participating in a high school debate tournament can debate in Public Forum! Since Public Forum has monthly topics and lay (less experienced) judging, it is an ideal event for students who:
Want To Try Debate
Are Novices / Learning Debate
Have Seasonal / Outside Commitments (e.g. Student Athletes)
Prefer An Audience-Friendly Public Speaking Style
Prefer A Less Formal Argument Structure
Which is better: Public Forum or Policy?
Neither! All debate is good debate. Public Forum and Policy Debate are different events with different goals.
Public Forum mimics a public debate on current events. The goal is to persuade an average person to support (or not support) a given topic.
Policy Debate mimics the technical, evidence-based approach of government decision-making. The goal is to persuade a policy expert to support (or not support) a government policy.