Explainer #2: Introduction to SPAR

If you think quickly on your toes, or want to think quickly on your toes, SPAR, Spontaneous Argument is right up your alley. Or if you’re looking for a gateway event to other types of debate, SPAR might be for you.

SPAR pits two competitors against one another to argue one of three provided topics. A judge decides who is arguing for and who is arguing against the topic, and it’s up to the competitors to decide which topic is argued.

There is some strategy in choosing a topic. Consider the following prompts:

Criticism is more effective than praise.

Pokeman is better than Spongebob.

It is easy to make friends in school.   

Strategy

When you review the prompts, it’s important to think about not only what prompt you do and don’t want, but also which topic you do and don’t want your competitor to argue. If you’ve only come across Spongebob through memes but notice that your fellow competitor has a Poke ball on a shelf in their room, you probably don’t want to argue Pokeman is better than Spongebob. Similarly, if you were homeschooled for a few years, you’re going to be pulling from a variety of experiences when it comes to making friends in school that could make that topic more difficult for your opponent to anticipate your arguments.

Once your prompt is chosen, you have two minutes to prep and create your arguments. Think about everything you know about your topic, and try to anticipate the arguments your opponent might come up with.

Preparation

SPAR topics can come from anywhere, pop culture, education, or the news. There are too many areas to cover to effectively prepare for SPAR – instead, it’s important to prepare how to think. Consider the good things and bad things about what you encounter in life – is a car good or bad? Why? What about your school dress code? Or homeless encampments?

Example

If you’d like to check out a SPAR debate, here are two students arguing if Donald Trump or Kayne West would make a better president.

Ready to try?

Many local tournaments as well as NOF offer SPAR as an event, talk to your speech or debate coach about entering you in a tournament. If you know of any great SPAR resources, e-mail them to info@nationalonlineforensics.org and we will add them here.