Public Forum (PF) NSDA National Runners-up Interview

Debating for America's Youth

Evan Pan and Bradley Tidwell, the 2019 NSDA National Runners-up in Public Forum debate, share their advice for succeeding in the debate! Bradley debated at All Saints Episcopal School for two years and was Public Forum Captain his senior year. During his time he qualified to the Texas State tournament, and to the NSDA national tournament both years. He also broke at nearly every TOC tournament he attended this year and broke deep at tournaments such as Bellaire, Plano West, University of Texas, Hockaday, the TFA state tournament, and many more. He also won speaker awards at Bellaire and Colleyville. Finally, outside of PF, he qualified to the tournament of champions in extemporaneous speaking. He attended VBI before his senior season. Public forum debate (PF) is a type of current events debate which is a widespread form of high school debate in the U.S. Individuals give short (2-4 minute) speeches that are interspersed with 3 minute "crossfire" sections, questions and answers between opposed debaters. The winner is determined by a judge who also serves as a referee (timing sections, penalizing incivility, etc). The debate centers around advocating or rejecting a position, or "resolution", which is a proposal of a potential solution to a current events issue. Public forum is designed to be accessible to the average citizen. Nathan Fair has interviewed many National Champions. He has qualified for NSDA Nationals, qualified to NCFL Nationals and served as the presiding officer, and he broke to semifinals at a TOC qualifying tournament. He has placed 2nd at three separate varsity Congressional Debate tournaments. Finally, he served as a Presiding Officer for the Urban Debate League's tournament. His success was garnered after using the skills that are shared in this video.