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[Coop and Dino singing]

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Sure, debating might not look as hard as, say, football or cross-country or wrestling. [Man running cross-country and wrestling]

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After all, the debaters are just standing behind a podium the whole time.

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How hard could it be?

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Well, a lot harder than you might think. Lots of preparation and protein powder goes into [Guy drinking a protein shake]

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a good debate.

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Okay, maybe not the protein. Once the topic of a debate has been called

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and you know which side you'll be arguing, you'll need to do your favorite thing in the

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world…

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Eat a burrito! [Girl finds a burrito]

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…Okay, maybe it's actually your second favorite thing in the world…

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You'll need to research!

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To win a debate, you're going to need lots of points to support your side, and that means

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finding lots of facts, opinions, and statistics from different sources to help you make your

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case.

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But just reading the most books isn’t going to be enough for you to win. [Girl sitting with a stack of books]

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Once you find all the information you need to support your side, you'll want to take

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notes that you can refer to during the debate.

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Nobody likes a debater who’s furiously flipping through the pages of an encyclopedia, wasting [Encyclopedia pages turning]

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everybody’s time.

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And, last but not least, it's a good idea to imagine the kinds of objections the other

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side might bring against you in the debate. If you do that, you can do more research and

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come prepared to block those objections…

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…and that's a lot easier to do in a quiet library than on stage with sweat running down [Girl on stage sweating]

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your forehead. You're pretty much going to have to know how to debate yourself in the debate...Okay so that's all you do ahead

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of time, but what about game day? [Man on a football pitch]

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Well, much like in football, or baseball, or whatever sportsball you happen to be into,

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debates have their own set of rules.

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The debate opens with the pro-side giving their arguments. [Girl on pro side and guy on con side of debate]

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After that, the con-side gets a chance to hit back.

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This cycle happens one more time with the con-side starting and each team gets a chance

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to rebut the speaker's arguments.

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In the end, the judge decides which team argued the issue better. [Judge points to girl on pro-side]

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And although debating might get you a little fired up, it's important to remember that

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interrupting, heckling, and general rudeness are all prohibited. So keep it civil, folks.

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We still want to be able to look each other in the eyes come Monday morning in P.E. [Basketball hits girls head in P.E]

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Also, this isn't exactly a rule, but when you're in a debate, remember to listen. Yes,

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you put a lot of work into preparing what you have to say, but a debate is partly a [Girl falls off her chair]

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conversation going back and forth. The better you listen to your opponents, the better your

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replies will be.

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Follow these guidelines, and you're well on your way to being named the Grand Champion

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of Debating in the Entire Universe.

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…What? It's totally a thing. You should see the kid from Neptune. She's crazy good. [Girl from Neptune walking on the moon]

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