Spreading (; a
blend
A blend is a mixture of two or more different substances.
Blend may also refer to: Arts and entertainment
* ''Blend'' (album), a 1996 album by BoDeans
* The Blend (Sirius XM), a North American satellite radio channel
* "Blend", a 2017 song on ...
of "speed" and "reading")
is the act of speaking extremely fast during a
competitive debating
Debate is a process that involves formal discourse, discussion, and oral addresses on a particular topic or collection of topics, often with a moderator and an audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for opposing viewpoints. Historica ...
event, with the intent that one's opponent will be penalized for failing to respond to all arguments raised. The tactic relies on the fact that "failing to answer all opposing arguments" is an easy criterion for judges to award a win on, and that speaking fast and fielding an overwhelming number of distinct arguments can be a viable strategy.
Spreading grew in popularity beginning with
policy debate
Policy debate is an American form of debate competition in which teams of two usually advocate for and against a resolution that typically calls for policy change by the United States federal government. It is also referred to as cross-examinat ...
, and began to diffuse throughout the other styles of debate.
Spreading dominated the US school debate circuit in the 1990s. In the early 2000s, the style itself became a topic of many debates,
with some arguing that it was exclusionary and possibly discriminatory, as it focused on speaking fast rather than being impassioned about a subject, and some educational companies began selling debate prep materials to assist those employing the style in packing as many topics as possible into their arguments, creating an advantage for those with more money.
The
public forum debate format was introduced in the early 2000s, with the intent of slowing speakers down by rewarding deeper arguments, and in 2016 the "Big Questions" format explicitly required a "conversational speaking speed and tone".
, spreading was described as still being "de rigueur" at
Lincoln–Douglas debate format
Lincoln–Douglas debate (commonly abbreviated as LD Debate, or simply LD) is a type of one-on-one competitive debate practiced mainly in the United States at the high school level. It is sometimes also called values debate because the format t ...
events.
The 2007 documentary
Resolved (film)
''Resolved'' is a 2007 documentary film concerning the world of high school policy debate. The film was written and directed by Greg Whiteley of New York Doll fame. The film captured the "Audience Award" title at its debut on June 23, 2007 at th ...
in part focuses on the subject in American high school policy debate.
Senator
Ted Cruz
Rafael Edward Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz was the solicitor general of Texas from 2003 ...
, who was a national debating champion in his student days, described spreading as "a pernicious disease that has undermined the very essence of high school and college debate".
''The Wall Street Journal'' reports that spreading sounds like a cattle auctioneer.
See also
*
Gish gallop
The Gish gallop is a rhetorical technique in which a person in a debate attempts to overwhelm an opponent by presenting an excessive number of arguments, without regard for their accuracy or strength, with a rapidity that makes it impossible for t ...
References
External links
Video with examples of "spreading"
Debating
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