THE PRESIDING OFFICER
Introduction
While other forms of debate are moderated by the judges of the round, Congressional Debate is a completely self-sufficient event. Rather, the Representatives or Senators of a legislative chamber elect a Presiding Officer (abbreviated PO and also known as the chair) to lead them throughout the session. This position parallels that of the Speaker of the House or President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and holds many important responsibilities not enjoyed by the rest of the debaters.
Simply, the Presiding Officer is the competitor that leads the congress chamber throughout the session. They take motions and call on speakers while precluding themselves from the debate. While separate in the sense that POs cannot actively partake in the debate nor vote on motions and legislation, they are ranked alongside other debaters by judges at the conclusion of the round, and serve an equally if not more integral role in the debate.
Ultimately, the PO can be a very rewarding position if you are able to do it well. However, a poor PO can hold back a chamber from reaching its full potential. This guide will help you become the good PO every round needs.
Why PO?
PRO #1- Gavels: many tournaments offer awards (typically gavels) that you can only get if you’re a Presiding Officer
PRO #2- Preparation: since you don’t need to debate, you can skip out on all the lengthy preparation and padding that goes into a round of debate
CON #1- Perfection: while POs can rank well, you need to be nearly perfect. If you make even a few mistakes, you’ll likely be dropped by judges
CON #2- Practice: since you can’t debate, you won’t be able to practice your speeches and progress as a debater when you’re presiding
Roles and Responsibilities
As the leader of the chamber, a Presiding Officer has many duties and responsibilities which they must fulfil in order to be successful in a round. Failure to accomplish even one of these goals will likely cause judges to rank you poorly, such that you must be on top of all of every duty you have to the chamber.
Managing Decorum: in debate jargon, “decorum” simply means maintaining a level of professionalism expected of a congressional chamber. Most commonly, this comes in the form of debaters speaking out-of-turn. Debaters cannot speak unless they call a motion, are in recess, or are actively the person debating — this rule must be enforced by the PO, typically with the use of their gavel.
Tracking Speech Times: every debate speech (with some local circuit exceptions) should be 3:00 in length. However, debaters do not have a timer with them to track exactly where they are during in-person debates, instead relying on the PO to give audible time signals with their gavel.
Tracking Session Run-Time: legislative sessions don’t last forever, rather adhering to time limits set by the tournament, which may be strict or flexible depending on the host of said tournament. Regardless, it is the obligation of the PO to follow those time restraints with the lack or presence of flexibility provided. If the time limit on a round has elapsed for a tournament with strict limits, don’t call on another speaker to give an extra speech.
Handling Speech Content: some speeches may have content not suitable for everyone in the chamber. Many debaters have past traumas that can be triggered by intense rhetoric used by debaters throughout a round, which should be acted upon by the PO using content and trigger warnings to allow for those debaters to leave the chamber in that event. In other instances, the PO may have to reiterate that refutation should attack arguments, not the people who gave them.
Calling on Speakers: perhaps the primary and principle role of a PO is to fairly call on speakers in the round. The PO tells the chamber when to stand if they want to give a speech, they track the number of speeches given by each and every debater in the round, and they call on a speaker based on their precedence and recency in the round.
Take Votes on Legislation: once debate has ended on a bill, it’s the PO’s job to count the number of people who wish to affirm, negate, and abstain from voting on that legislative item. From there, they’ll determine if the legislation has passed or failed based on those totals.
Handle Motions: there are a number of motions that can be raised throughout a round, each requiring different procedure and causing a different effect on the round. A PO must handle these motions well, using the correct procedure for each of them as needed, calling for seconds and votes much like that of legislative voting, and implementing the correct effect on the round so the chamber can move forward. While there are many motions, every PO should memorize the few most common motions, while a strong PO should memorize them all for effective presiding over a round.
Listen to Alexandra Smith, 2021 NSDA Finals (House) Presiding Officer, explain the basics of being a PO.
This introductory guide will cover the most common motions, how to recognize speakers, the basics of tracking speeches, and gaveling. For a deeper look into decorum, content or trigger warnings, and some more advanced or uncommon motions, take a look at our Advanced POing resource guide.
For more information on the harms of exploiting trauma in debate, read this blog article by 2023 Yale Finals PO, Owen Casey.
Recognizing Speakers
The process for recognizing speakers and questioners is relatively simple. Instead, much of the work associated with this responsibility comes instead through the accurate and fair tracking of precedence and recency. So, as it relates to the calling of speakers, here’s the checklist any PO should go down:
(1) Precedence: is there someone standing with less speeches than everyone else?
Ex. if Rep. Smith has 1 speech and Rep. Jones has 2 speeches, call on Rep. Smith.
(2) Recency: of everyone standing with an equal number of speeches, who spoke the earliest?
Ex. if Rep. Smith gave the 3rd negation speech and Rep. Jones gave the sponsorship on the last bill, call on Rep. Jones.
(3) Randomness: if everyone standing has zero speeches, who do you choose?
Ex. if Rep. Smith and Rep. Jones both have 0 speeches, call on either of them.
Once you’ve gone through the above checklist and decided who you will call on to speak or give a questioning block, the rest is pretty simple. Just call on the Representative to give a speech! As for the rest of the process, you can begin calling for a speech with the following phrase:
“I call on any authorship speeches, speakers please rise.” Briefly pause for speakers — call on them as usual if any rise.
“Seeing none, I now call on any sponsorship speeches, speakers please rise.”
When calling on speeches past the first affirmation speech, replace that phrase with the following:
“Seeing as that was a speech on the [affirmation/negation], I now call on any and all speakers in the [negation/affirmation]. Speakers please rise.”
Listen to Joseph Maucieri, 2020 NSDA House finalist in congressional debate, explain how to preside over a round of congress.
Depending on the tournament, you may be able to skip over the “recency” step when calling on questioners
For more information on Sponsorship and Authorship speeches, check out our guide on those speeches here.
Tracking Precedence and Recency
Perhaps the greatest obligation of any presiding officer is the tracking of precedence and recency. After all, one cannot call on speakers and questioners using the necessary criteria if such qualifiers are not tracked correctly. While there are a number of online resources that can be used to make this process easier, the most accessible form of recording this information is on the same legal pad you might use to write your speeches. With that being said, here are a few formats the NSDA Guide suggests POs use to record precedence and recency throughout a round.
Equality in Forensics provides a free PO Cheat Sheet to be used in rounds, including a chart for precedence and recency, alongside an explanation of all the roles and responsibilities that come with being a Presiding Officer. Just print it out before a round. It uses the Recency-Focused PO Sheet, which is explained both on this resource page and on the first page of the cheat sheet. Enjoy!
To learn more about other Online PO Sheets and automatic precedence/recency tracking, check out our guide on Advanced POing.
PO Cheat Sheet.pdfRecency Focused
This PO sheet is recency-focused, meaning that it’s very easy to tell who went most recently and who went the latest. Since names are recorded in the order in which they speak, it makes determining recency a quick ordeal. This is the PO sheet Equality in Forensics recommends, and is the industry standard (if such a thing exists) for national circuit POing.
Begin by writing down the speaker’s name and order in which they spoke (2N for 2nd speech, negation). If they’ve spoken multiple times, put that information in the ‘2’ column, and the ‘3’ column for their 3rd speech, blacking out the earlier column speech. The top-left speech (which has not yet been blacked out) should be called on first, assuming everyone stands and has at least 1 speech.
Precedence Focused
This PO sheet is precedence-focused, meaning that it’s very easy to tell who has more speeches than another Representative. Since speeches are recorded alongside the same name, it makes looking at someone’s total number of speeches as a very quick process. This is an uncommon PO sheet, although it can still work if you prefer its formatting.
It’s main issue is that, compared to the recency-focused sheet, there is no uniform way of knowing who to call on next. Rather, you have to search for whoever has the earliest speaking number which hasn’t given another speech since. This can take time, and when you’re a PO trying to get through as many speeches as possible, every little bit matters.
Gaveling
The most obvious part of being a PO, especially from an outsiders perspective, is the gaveling. Its the award exclusive to a PO, the loudest part of the job, and the responsibility which most directly interacts with speakers throughout the round. Ultimately, it is up to the PO when and how to gavel, so long as such expectations are clearly set forth at the beginning of the round when going over your procedure.
If you want to gavel 7 times at 1 second and once more at 3:00, there’s (usually) nothing in that procedure which would violate a tournament’s rules and is completely within your ability as the PO of the round. However, such procedure wouldn’t be productive to the chamber and would serve more as an annoyance rather than a timer for speakers. Instead, the NSDA outlines a set of non-mandatory yet standard gaveling times that are generally followed across the circuit. That NSDA Standard procedure can be found in the callout to the left. Timing is conducted using a phone stopwatch to avoid alarms.
In an online setting, gavel taps can be replaced with time cards of equivalent values (i.e. an index card with “2:00” written in large, bold font).
At the conclusion of a speech, their time should be announced to the judges. For example, “thank you Representative Smith for that speech in the affirmation of 3 minutes and 2 seconds. I repeat, 3 minutes and 2 seconds. All questioners may rise.” This format can be replicated for all speeches throughout a debate.
1 Gavel tap at 2:00
2 Gavel taps at 2:30
3 Gavel taps at 2:55
Gavel down until the speaker stops at either 3:10 or 3:15, depending on the PO and tournament
Motions
As a PO, one of the most important parts of your position is to field motions from the chamber. Unlike other events, Congressional Debate is unique in that the natural continuation of a chamber’s proceedings do not occur automatically. Instead, a number of motions can be raised, each requiring their own voting process and causing a different action within the chamber. As a PO, it is your job to know these motions and take them correctly.
For a more comprehensive list of motions and what they do, check out our other resource guides!
The NSDA’s Guide gives a full list of two dozen motions that can be raised in a round, but here’s an introductory guide to a few of the most important ones.
Previous Question
When raised, this vote will end debate on a piece of legislation. Typically, it will be called once everyone has debated on a bill or when the time in a round has elapsed. It requires a second and a 2/3 majority vote, although in select circumstances the chair can automatically force this motion without a vote.
Table
Laying a bill on the table means to postpone its debate. This may happen if the chamber changes its mind on its originally-set docket or if the split on a bill is incredibly uneven. It requires a second and a simple majority vote from the chamber, at which point the next bill on the docket will begin debate.
Untable
Taking a bill off the table does the opposite of tabling the bill. It can only happen to a bill that has been tabled, and requires the same procedure as tabling a bill: a second and simple majority. At that point, the debate on said legislation will resume where it had been paused.
Recess / Adjourn
When raised, this vote will pause the chamber’s proceedings either temporarily or permanently. This happens in between bills and at the end of a session. A recess, which includes the desired time length, requires a second and a simple majority. Adjourning requires a second and 2/3 majority.
Point of Order
Calling a Point of Order means you, as the PO, will be called out on a mistake a debater believes you made, such as calling on the wrong person for a speech. This is a PO-decision motion, so you will ask the debater to state their point, where you can then work to fix said mistake (if there was one).
Point of Personal Privilege
A point of personal privilege is simply a debater asking to do something which doesn’t follow the normal flow of debate. If you run a closed chamber (as is sometimes required by tournaments), this will often occur for those who wish to use the bathroom or just exit and enter the chamber as they need.
When a motion is called, the PO should respond in one of two ways, depending on whether it’s a PO-decision motion or a majority-required motion. While the specifics past that point vary (a supermajority compared to a simple majority), the basics are covered in these two categories:
Majority-Required Motions
Rep. A : “I move for a 10-minute recess”
PO : “Any seconds?”
Rep. B : "Second!"
PO : "All in favor"
A majority (i.e. 15) of Representatives raise their placard in favor of the motion
PO : "Any opposed?"
A minority (i.e. 3) of Representatives raise their placards in opposition of the motion
PO : "On a vote of 15-3, this motion does pass, please come back at 10:53 a.m.”
PO-Decision Motions
Rep. A : “Point of personal privilege”
PO : “State that”
Rep. A : "Exit the chamber"
PO : "Granted"
Rep. A exits the chamber
Winning an Election
Before any of the POs responsibilities are given and fulfilled by the Presiding Officer, they must first win an election of the debaters in the chamber. Before they gavel, accept a motion, recognize a speaker, or even call the chamber to order, they must first be elected. This process, while simple, has a few tips and tricks along the way that can help you.
It begins by writing your name on the board below a designated “PO” indicator. If it is not already written, you can be the one to do so. After all, coming early to a round (before much of the docket and whiteboard has been set or used) is one of the better ways of establishing round presence, especially if you’re not already established on the circuit you’re debating on.
From there, and assuming you’ve politicked well and established yourself as someone who can control the chamber, it’s time to run for PO. The Parliamentarian or Protemp will call on PO nominations, you’ll be nominated, and eventually you’ll be called on to give a quick PO speech.
This PO speech should include a few things:
An explanation of your goals in the chamber (efficiency, equity, etc.)
Past experience and success as a PO
Some remark about your name (oftentimes funny, but can be serious)
Watch the PO election speeches from the Final Round of the 2022 Harvard Invitational. Note the distinctive styles between how Zachary Wu and Steven Teh market themselves as potential POs.