The Coolidge Foundation offers one of two formats of debate at our tournaments: 1v1 “singles” style, or 2v2 “doubles” style. This page provides an overview of our 1v1 format, which is used at most tournaments in our national series and the Coolidge Cup. The structure of a round is similar to Lincoln-Douglas debate, but the timing and order of speeches will differ from other formats you have participated in throughout your debate career. Debates in this format proceed as follows, which has been slightly updated for 2025-2026:
1. Affirmative Constructive: 5 minutes
2. Cross-examination: 2 minutes
3. Negative Constructive: 5 minutes
4. Cross-examination: 2 minutes
5. Affirmative Rebuttal: 4 minutes
6. Negative Rebuttal: 4 minutes
7. Affirmative Rationale: 4 minutes
8. Negative Rationale: 4 minutes
The constructive speeches may consist of both constructive material and rebuttal material. Each debater should not raise new arguments after their constructive speech. Both sides will receive five minutes of prep time, which can be used when desired between speeches. Notice that, unlike some other formats, in this format the negative side gets the last speech. Download a reference sheet with time limits and additional information about the tasks of each speech.
To learn more, we encourage you to watch our five-minute video by Dr. Ben Voth, Coolidge Debate Fellow, explaining this format.