Lincoln-Douglas debate
How cross-examination actually works
Cross-examination is a timed period, three minutes in Lincoln-Douglas, where one debater questions the other directly, right after that debater's constructive speech. It happens twice in a round: the negative questions the affirmative after the AC, and the affirmative questions the negative after the NC.
What is cross-examination actually for?
New debaters often treat it as a chance to attack the other side's case directly, but the questioner isn't making arguments during cross-ex, they're gathering material to use in their next speech. A good question does one of two jobs:
Clarify
Pin down a definition or claim precisely enough that it can't be reinterpreted later. Used when something in the other side's case was left vague.
Set up
Get the other debater to concede two small points that, combined, box them into a contradiction to exploit in a later speech. Used when you already know what you want to say in rebuttal.
A useful test: after asking a question, you should be able to say exactly what you'll do with the answer in your next speech. If you can't, the question probably wasn't purposeful, even if it sounded sharp in the moment.
Why fewer, sharper questions usually beat more of them
Cross-ex is three minutes. A debater who asks eight scattered questions gets eight shallow answers and no real material to work with. A debater who asks two or three sharp questions and actually follows up on the answer walks away with something usable. This is one of the more counterintuitive things for beginners: it feels like more questions means more control over the exchange, but depth is what actually produces something you can use later.
Practice this directly
Our free Two-Question Cross-Ex Drill is a short, repeatable exercise for building the habit of asking exactly this kind of purposeful question instead of stalling for time.
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