How it works
A typical week, from your placement session to your first tournament.
Never just lecture slides, never just a passive group call. Every part of the program is built around live, drilled repetition, the thing that actually moves a debater from nervous to competitive and builds real speaking skills along the way.
Every week, one live cohort. Every session, a real round. Every note, written by hand. Every question, answered before next week.
Every week
One 90-minute live cohort, capped at 6–8 students and grouped by skill level from your placement session. Ninety minutes because a single round segment (constructive, cross-examination, rebuttal) takes 15–20 minutes on its own. Sixty wouldn't leave room for real reps.
Every session
Drilled, not lectured. Built around live rounds and structured feedback, not a coach talking at a screen. Every student debates, every session.
Every note
Written after every session: full and personal for 1:1s, a shorter per-student note for cohorts. Never a copy-pasted recap sent to the whole group.
Every question
Always-on. Students and parents get a direct messaging channel to our coaching staff for quick strategy checks and case questions, so a stuck rebuttal on a Tuesday doesn't sit until the next session.
Inside a 90-minute session.
“Drilled, not lectured” is a claim until you can see the minute-by-minute shape of it. Here's a representative agenda for a group cohort session.
- Skill warm-up10 min
- Demo & guided practice15 min
- Live round segment30 min
- Feedback & redos20 min
- Goals & live Q&A15 min
Skill warm-up
Quick drills that target whatever the cohort needs most that week.
Demonstration & guided practice
The coach models the skill, then walks students through it together.
Live speech or round segment
Real reps: a constructive, a cross-ex, a rebuttal, run live, not simulated.
Feedback & redos
Immediate coaching, then a second live attempt applying it, not just notes for next time.
Goals, case assignment & live Q&A
Each student leaves with a specific next target and what to prep before next week.
The six-level ladder
The ladder is entirely merit-based. A strong 5th grader can sit above an older beginner, and nobody moves up for age or tenure, only for readiness. That's what lets one cohort structure serve a genuine novice and a two-tournament veteran without either being bored or lost. It also means "how is my kid doing" has a real answer at any point in the season, not just at a semester review.
Placed by trial. Promoted by readiness.
A level-3 student can sit in a level 2–4 cohort. The ladder tracks each student's own progress; it's not the same thing as a cohort's target range. Publishing exactly what each level means is deliberate: you should be able to see what you're paying for without waiting on a results page.
Foundations
Delivers a 3-minute prepared speech. States a claim, gives a reason, cites evidence. Knows the speech order and timing of a round.
Case Construction
Writes an original affirmative case with a values framework and criterion. Flows a full round (tracks every argument on paper as it happens) without missing structure. Asks two clean cross-examination questions.
Refutation
Responds line-by-line off the flow. Extends an argument across two speeches. Identifies and exploits a dropped argument.
Competitive
Ready for regional tournament competition. Adapts to both first-time parent judges and trained flow judges who track arguments in shorthand. Researches and cuts evidence independently on a new topic.
Circuit
Runs and answers theory, kritiks, and framework (the more advanced argument styles used at competitive tournaments). Actively preparing for bid-eligible tournaments.
Bid
Competing at a level aimed at Tournament of Champions qualification.
What's included with Core.
The skill ladder
Six levels, from a first round to elimination-round readiness. Your placement session sets the starting rung, and students move up as they're actually ready, not on a fixed calendar.
Internal tournaments
Practice tournaments are part of the standard program from day one: real competitive reps a solo tutor can't replicate. Travel to external circuit tournaments can be supported, but those costs stay with the family.
Member prep files, plus custom work on request
Internally produced topic and case files come free with membership. Need something specific beyond that, a case built, a file researched? Request it directly from the portal and we'll quote it.
Keep your school team
Podium Debate is explicitly non-exclusive. Stay on your school team or in other programs at the same time. There's no conflict.