How to Flow a Round: A Template and Walkthrough

Flowing, taking organized notes during a live round, is the single skill that separates a debater who can respond to what actually happened from one responding to what they think happened. Here is a template you can rebuild on any piece of paper.

The column layout

Divide your page into six columns, one per speech: AC (Affirmative Constructive), CX1, NC (Negative Constructive), CX2, 1AR (First Affirmative Rebuttal), NR (Negative Rebuttal), 2AR (Second Affirmative Rebuttal). Draw the columns before the round starts, not during your opponent's first speech.

During the AC and NC

Write each argument as a short tag (5-8 words) at the top of a row, then leave the rest of that row's space in every later column empty until that argument gets addressed again. Do not write full sentences, you will fall behind. Abbreviate constantly: "v/c" for value/criterion, "T" for theory, an arrow for "therefore."

During every speech after that

For each argument your opponent responds to, write their response in the row next to the original tag, in the correct column. If they extend an argument without adding anything new, just draw a line down through that row into the new column, that is your visual signal this is still alive.

Reading it back

At the end of the round, scan each row left to right. Any row where the line stops partway across, no response in a later column, is a dropped argument, exactly what the Line-by-Line Refutation Drill and the Extension Tracker Worksheet (both in our Refutation section) are built to help you catch and use.