Kira Waldhalm Leads Debate Weighing Workshop at Outreach Debate
c/o Eloquence Academy
Earlier this year, Eloquence Academy hosted a debate workshop for 25 middle and high school students at Outreach Debate!
Founded in 2022, Outreach is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to making public speaking communities and learning resources globally accessible while fostering productive public discourse that transcends divides. Outreach’s signature program is their weekly online workshops and lectures, delivered live on Sunday and later posted on YouTube. Outreach invited Director of the Charitable Fund Kira Waldhalm to lead a workshop about weighing, or the comparison of arguments and their impacts in a debate round.
Weighing is often considered key to success in a debate round: technically, it determines the order in which judges evaluate and prioritize competing arguments that hold equal logical merit and evidence. Students learned about the different types of weighing, weighing mechanisms, and metaweighing. Kira provided examples of each concept drawn from her final round in Lincoln Douglas Debate at the National Speech & Debate Tournament, in which she placed fourth. She supplemented her lecture with a question-and-answer segment and interactive activities that encouraged students to weigh two random arguments on the spot. Students left with a clearer understanding of weighing and developed an enthusiasm for continuing to learn debate technicalities.
Students and debate team leaders that were unable to attend can reach out to Kira at kwaldhalm@eloquenceacademy.org to claim a free copy of her slideshow! Additionally, a full-length recording will be posted in the public Outreach Community Discord server, located at https://discord.gg/54cmp9Q9rE, and eventually uploaded to the password-protected Eloquence Academy Resources Hub.
We are grateful to the Outreach team and Partnerships Program Coordinator Sam Chen and are proud of what their students accomplished.
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Eloquence Academy, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and 509(a)(2) public charity dedicated to increasing equitable academic debate opportunities for rural and historically underserved students. The Academy offers debate classes, summer camps, workshops, tournaments, in-school programs, and online resources for 2,200+ students across 35 states and 15 countries. Ultimately, EA aims to prepare youth for college readiness, career engagement, and community impact through the transferable skills gained from debate. Follow EA on Instagram and YouTube at @eloquenceacademy.
