Persuasive Policy Speech Guidelines

Affirmative Policy Speech Guidelines

Policy debate is a debate over current laws and regulations. Remember that the Affirmative side in Policy Debate is arguing for a change in status quo You may not support the continuation of the policy as it now stands—you must propose a change to the status quo.

Your proposition must be a change in current United States policy. You cannot have the same proposition as another student in this class.

Your speech must include a discussion of:

Inherency: What is the status quo (the existing policy) and why does it exist?
Harm: How does the current policy produce SIGNIFICANT HARMS for someone or something?
Solvency: How do you plan on FIXING these harms?
[This is the CORE of your Policy Speech – You must make a formal PROPOSAL of how to change the status quo].
Significance: How will your proposed policy be more advantageous than the status quo?

All of these elements must be backed up with VALID RESEARCH.

Your Speech will have five steps:

Step 1: Find a proposition

Step 2: Complete the Persuasive Policy Brainstorming worksheet

Step 3: Research and complete 6 Debate Evidence Sheets

Step 4: Compose your Persuasive Policy Outline

Step 5: Deliver your speech.

Research:

You will find a proposition of policy by using CQ Researcher, one of the library databases. Before getting too far into your preparation, make sure your chosen report is complete enough to give you the amount of information you will need. You should begin by reading about your topic so that you have a solid understanding of the issues involved. You should be able to answer in detail the following questions:

What is the current situation?

What policies currently govern the situation?

Whatproblems are there currently?

What role do current policies play in these problems?

What aspects of the current policies are positive and need to be retained?

How will the change I am proposing improve the situation?

Once you can answer these questions, began to gather data to support your proposal. You need a minimum ofsix excellent pieces of data to support your proposal. Complete a Debate Evidence Worksheet for each piece of evidence.

***Remember: if you are using a CQ report, the person who researched and wrote it is a researcher rather than a reliable expert on the topic and should not be used as a source. You never should use the words, “According to CQ Researcher....” However, you may certainly use the sources that the researcher cites in the report: the studies referenced and the sources quoted.

Persuasive Policy Speech Brainstorming Worksheet

Once you have a proposition of policy, respond to the following questions in complete sentences, explaining HOW and WHY. You must show me this page to me before you move on to the next step.

I. A policy I would like to see changed is: ______

Does the status quo produce HARMS for someone or something? What are the harms?

Are these harms produced in the status quo SIGNIFICANT enough for a change? Why?

II. Great! I hope you answered “Yes” to the first two questions. Now it’s time to construct a proposition.

Proposition – RESOLVED: The United States government ______

______

3. Will adoption of the proposition reallySOLVE the problems?

III. What is your detailed plan?

4. Will the plan be free from serious workability problems and disadvantages?

After considering your responses to these questions concerning STOCK ISSUES, you are now ready to construct your CLAIMS. Claims are like arguments. They are reasons supporting your need for a change in the status quo. Think of this analogy – claims in a debate are like your 2 or 3 reasons supporting your thesis (body paragraphs) in a typical analysis essay.

Persuasive Policy Speech Debate Evidence Worksheets

To use CQ Researcher from home:

PASSWORD:broncos

Debate Evidence Sheet Name

Write, type or paste all information onto the form. Use one sheet for each piece of data.

1. Proposition: (New Policy You Are Suggesting) This policy should be the same on each evidence sheet.

2. Supporting Claim: In your own words, state the claim you are making to develop your argument. This claim must be specifically supported by data you are citing here. (You may have multiple pieces of data supporting the same claim; however, you must have at least four different claims in your speech.)

3. Data: Examples, statistics, or testimony from your research that support the above claim.

4. Warrant: Explain the connection between the claim and data. This step is critical in the development of your argument!

5. Source: Who is responsible for this data? (What is the name of the person or group who did the study, gave the quote, etc.)

6. Expertise/Reliability of the source: Why is this source reliable? Credentials?

7. What Organization backs this report? (Name, not URL) Where did the database researcher find this information? A newspaper? journal? an organization? Check the citations/footnotes.

How did you find this information? Search technique, database used, and URL: (For this speech, most evidence sheets will have the database name.)

You must complete 6 debate evidence worksheets!

Name: ______

Persuasive Policy Speech Outline Format

Directions: You will follow this format for presenting your persuasive policy speech. To complete the outline, save the format to your P-Drive and then insert your own information under the appropriate section of the outline. Your delivery for this speech will be EXTEMPORANEOUS. This means, that you do not need to write out word-for-word what you are saying. However, each section on the outline must be completed in some way, whether it is with sentences or just key words.If you have only 2 supporting claims, that is okay,

The language in quotations is just a SUGGESTION of how to lead into each section. You can alter the language if you would like.

INTRODUCTION

A. Attention Getter:

“Did you know that” OR "Imagine this"….(attention grabber)

B. Justification of the existing HARMS:

“The problem is”….(here you concisely justify the problem – you will go more in depth later)

C. Major Claim/Proposition:

"I PROPOSE that"…(here you state how you want to fix the problem)

D. Preview of Supporting Claims:

"There are three main reasons why we need to change this policy. They are"… (here give a preview of your 2-3 claims)

BODY

A. First Supporting Claim:

"My first CONTENTION to this policy is…" (here you restate your first claim)

1. First piece of supporting Evidence:

“So what, you say? Why should I care? I’ll explain” ……… (here you give a piece of evidence)

If it is a quote, say “according to Mrs. Lovi, English teacher at BarringtonHigh school,…”

(note: it is more effective to give the source before the quote)

Speak the quotation marks….say quote“……………”end quote
Explain the source of statistics. Example: “BarringtonHigh School did a survey of graduating seniors in 2009 and found the following:…”
If using an example, explain the source of the example: “I, myself, experienced this when…” or “In the CQ Researcher article, “Title” from April, 2008, they included the following example:…” etc.
If you are using multiple pieces of data for one claim, make clear transitions between them to help the listener follow the development of the argument.

2. Warrant (Explanation of your Evidence):

"This information demonstrates that"…(Make and explain the connection between the data and the claim, and then also tie it back to the actual proposal. You cannot assume the listeners will draw the conclusions that you want them to! You need to clearly explain HOW and WHY your argument is valid. This step is critically important for a strong speech!

3. Second piece of supporting evidence

“So what, you say? Why should I care? I’ll explain” ………

4. Warrant