Going with the Flow
Flowing
Overview
Explanation
Flowing is one of the most important parts of debating.
What is flowing?
Flowing is taking notes during your opponent’s speech. You are writing down what they say. Debaters flow to organize the debate and record which arguments they need to answer in their speech. After the debate, the judge will look at their own flow and decide who won based on what both sides have said in the debate.
What do I need to flow?
You need at least one pen (preferably two of different colors for pro/aff and con/neg) and 3-10 sheets of white paper (some debaters use longer paper, but regular printer paper is fine too).
How do I structure my flow?
Make sure you flow top down and write your notes of the debate down vertically, not horizontally. Try to line up your responses with their arguments. On your flow, you should separate the different speeches of the debate into different columns. Here is an example of a flow.
LD Debate Flow from Maine Forensic Association
PF Debate Flow from Maine Forensic Association
Tips
You should watch as many YouTube rounds as possible and flow all of them on paper. Even though computer flowing is an option, it is much more helpful to start with paper to understand how flowing works.
Rounds to Practice With
