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In what order do the speakers speak in, in a 3 a-side debate?

Hello,My name is Mark Roberts, and I was wondering if you could please answer me a simple question, In what order do the speakers speak in, in a 3 a-side debate,It is confusing me because I have heard so many different orders,If you wouldn't mind, could you please send the order to me. Thankyou very much, and I hope to be a good debater one day too.Your Fatithfully, Mark Roberts.

I'm sorry you've heard a confusing order, because there really is one answer for three-a-side debating. (The right of reply can confuse things a little). The order is, not surprisingly:

1st speaker, 2nd speaker, 3rd speaker

Where the confusion may arises is when people try to explain how the two teams alternate, so we have

1st speaker from the affirmative, 1st speaker from the negative, 2nd speaker from the affirmative, 2nd speaker from the negative, 3rd speaker from the affirmative, 3rd speaker from the negative.

If someone then comments that the 1st speaker negative gives the second speech, or the 2nd speaker affirmative speakes third, then that could be confusing too. That's true in terms of the whole debate, but for the team, it just follows the orders of the speakers.

Now as for the reply. If the reply is given the NEGATIVE gives the reply before the affirmative. The affirmative team has the FIRST and LAST speech.

1. Some competitions don't have a right of reply, so there are just 6 speeches.
2. Most competitions require the first speaker of the team (the "leader") to give the reply. So the order will be 1A, 1N, 2A, 2N, 3A, 3N, 1N, 1A. Yes, the negative reply follows on after the 3rd negative speech. THIS IS THE CLASSICAL STANDARD FORMAT.
3. Some competitions allow either the 1st or 2nd speaker to be leader and give the reply. Normally, this has to be announced or disclosed to the chair and/or adjudicator before the debate begins - this would be stated in the rules. The two teams do not have to be symmetrical. A 1st speaker can give the affirmative reply and a 2nd speaker give the negative reply in the same debate. So there are four possible combinations, including the one in 2. above. Another combination would be: 1A, 1N, 2A, 2N, 3A, 3N, 2N, 1A.
4. A few competitions allow any of the three speakers to give the reply. This is like 3, except you now have 9 combinations. Three are of especial interest: 1A, 1N, 2A, 2N, 3A, 3N, 3N, [1,2,or 3]A. That is, what happens when the third speaker negative gives the reply. Generally one of two things happen: the third speaker negative gives their main, speech (the sixth speech of the debate), sits down, and then whne introduced to give the reply, gets back up again and gives another speech - the reply. The other option is that the speaker speaks once, for the length of their first speech plus the length of time given for the reply. This should be covered in the rules. Note

   that in all four cases the order of the first six speechese is the same.

   The classical format is favoured because otherwise you can see that the first speaker affirmative can give a prepared speech, and never has to respond to the other debaters. This means a weak speaker can memorise a speech. If the first speaker affirmative has to give a reply, then it shows they have the wider skills of a debater, than just a public speaker.

   For more information on the role of each of the speakers, in their order of speaking Click here

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   Have you got any general tips to help us win and go through to the finals?

5. Keep up with current events. Watch the news on television, and read the newspaper - at least the front page, the editorials and the main items in the world section. You want to be able to respond to any topical event referred to by your opposition, and to refer to any relevant topical events yourselves.
6. Watch other debates. If the audience is allowed to interject, make an effort to do so. Participate in other debates if you have the time and opportunity to do so. Don't get 'cold'.
7. Read through our list of typical adjudicator comments and think whether any apply to you or your team mates. Think of ways to avoid recurring problems with your techniques.