Persisting: Ending Spooky Szn: Scary Things in Debate and How to Overcome Them

By Claire Conner, HW ‘23

It’s the end of spooky season! As someone who frequently gets scared by ghost decorations hanging in my neighbors’ trees when I go on walks, I’m very excited to move into the holiday months. I can finally listen to tons of Christmas music, make Christmas-themed desserts and watch a bunch of Christmas movies. There’s no better time for me to be a secular Jew obsessed with holiday-themed everything, and I think part of what makes November so much fun is watching the world transform from spooky October to the festive and joyful holiday season. This change happens almost overnight on November first when we can forget about scary movies and half-melted Almond Joys and take out our pumpkin pie recipes.

While the scenery around us changes instantly, the spirit of the holiday season sometimes masks fears or worries that accumulated during the rest of the year. As a pretty anxious person, I usually attempt to push aside my worries for two months as I eat an enormous amount of pumpkin foods and listen to Christmas pop on full volume.

While this outlook might alleviate stress in daily life, it certainly won’t help us overcome scary elements of debate. That is why I try to treat my fears like halloween decorations and attempt to take them down so I can start fresh in the holiday season and hopefully overcome debate fears for the November/December topic.

Here is a list of common debate fears, and some tips I have for crushing them:

Debating someone intimidating

My scariest moments in debate have easily been rounds against older and more experienced debaters. It makes sense to panic before a round you think you will lose, so it’s important to change your mindset to avoid this feeling and think clearly during the round. One of the best ways to feel ready for these debates is to prep before tournament weekends and read a lot about your aff or off-case positions. Knowing more than your opponent about an issue will always give you the upper hand, which will be easiest to accomplish at the beginning of a topic. I also like to listen to music before rounds to get in the zone. Some of my friends mock me for having 3 levels of hype playlists, but however you organize your music, energizing songs will distract you from feeling scared.

Tech issues

In the online debate world, tech issues are scarier than ever. It’s impossible to know if Verbatim, Gmail or your entire computer will suddenly stop working. While many tech issues are unavoidable, I try to do everything I can to ensure that they won’t have a big impact on the debate. Recording speeches in case your internet cuts out is a good way to prevent the bad scenario of needing to re-join the Zoom call and redo your speech. It is also helpful to practice recording speeches and sending docs via email to make sure everything is working properly.

Getting sick

If you’re like me, getting sick after tournaments is unfortunately a frequent problem. The high-pressure tournament environment is not conducive to sleeping or eating well, which can take a quick toll on your health. In my experience, online debate has made sickness more rare because I don’t have to travel or surround myself with a crowd of other students. However, it’s still important to take care of yourself and not get worn out. I had to learn the hard way that you can’t just skip sleep and meals for a weekend and avoid sickness (shocking!). Debaters have a habit of thinking we’re invincible, but our bodies have limits that we need to respect. The easiest way to avoid sickness is to try to eat and sleep well. Making food during online tournaments can be difficult, so I find it helpful to make all of my meals the night before so that I can grab them from the refrigerator the next day. Before COVID-19, I always brought Emergen-C with me to tournaments, and it is a great way to avoid getting sick or save you from the brink of a cold at the last minute.

Asking for help

Asking for help or answers to questions from coaches and older teammates has always been a bit scary for me. It’s easy to be intimidated by people who have seemingly endless knowledge about debate and are very busy. I’ve learned, though, that asking for help is crucial to becoming a better debater. Coaches and older debaters were once in our shoes, and they remember what it is like to feel as if you’re the only one who doesn’t know about something. Overcoming imposter syndrome by realizing that everyone has things they struggle with is an important first step in recognizing how you can improve as a debater.

Everything else

Debate can be a scary activity, so it’s important to recognize that the only way to defeat our fears is by facing them with courage, preparedness and a positive attitude. Debaters are some of the most intelligent, creative and resourceful people I know. We spend most of our time talking about solutions to problems in the world, so we have the skills we need to confront problems in our mindset. Approaching fears like an impact that needs to be solved and planning ways to make a situation less scary are helpful ways to leave spooky season behind and make the most of the activity and the season.