Overviews

Lets be honest – K debaters love to rant especially in overviews. Unfortunately often times dedicating your time to an extensive overview filled with poorly executed quotes from movies, accusations of Hitler-ism, and words that no one really understands are not getting K debaters very far. I would like to outline when and how to have a good K overview.

WHEN TO OVERVIEW – not every 2NC/1NR needs an overview – especially when all the relevant work can be done on the line-by-line. I think there are only a few situations that warrant an overview:

1)   YOUR CRITICISM WARRANTS EXPLANATION – if you’re running the classic cap k you probably don’t have to spend too much time explanation the general thesis of your K; however, if you are running an argument people might not be familiar with or if you play with debate norms in a way that needs explaining then an overview is entirely justifiable. 

2)    THE AFFIRMATIVE DROPS AN IMPORTANT COMPONENT OF THE K – if the aff makes a strategic blunder and doesn’t respond to an important part of the K (maybe an epistemology argument or root cause maybe the alt etc) then an overview makes sense because you want to make sure to frame that debate early.

3)    YOUR JUDGE PREFERS OVERVIEWS – some judges like every K to have an overview to “explain” your argument. If this is the case a short efficient overview could be helpful in the neg block.

4)    THE 2NR – a well structured and thought out overview in the 2NR can win K debates. They are essential to having an efficient and well-structured 2NR. The 2NR overview gives you the opportunity to frame the debate and write a ballot for the judge.

HOW TO CONSTRUCT AN OVERVIEW – once you decided you need an overview its time to start thinking about how to construct the overview – here’s some tips:

1)    STRUCTURE IS IMPORTANT – clearly label and structure your overview – no ones got time for a long rambling overview and judges want to know what to flow. Start each section with a clearly articulated 2 to 4 word label so judges know what to listen for and what to write down.

2)    EFFICIENCY – In order to maximize efficiency you should do the explanatory work on the overview (explain the thesis of the arguments you’re highlighting in the overview) and say the specific application for the line by line. This assures that you are not saying too much in the overview and not repeating too much when you get to the line by line.

3)    PICK YOUR FRAMING ARGUMENTS – the overview should help guide a judge in making their decision. Instead of including all the arguments in the debate in an overview (we will win this debate for 60,000 reasons!) make sure to narrow the debate and pick the central framing arguments you’d like the judge to considering first and foremost when making their decision. Controlling the framing of the ballot is essential to “writing the ballot” for the judge.

4)    GOLDILOCKS APPROACH – Striking the perfect balance is essential to a good overview. Make sure your overview sufficiently explains necessary arguments but that it doesn’t ramble on for minutes. Dedicate a short amount of time to your overview and efficiently explain your arguments to make sure you are not going overboard. But also remember that you should only include arguments you can sufficiently explain in the overview. 2 well explained points of reference in an overview are always more helpful than 6 tag line extensions of things you think you’re winning.