is
decision is made the next duty of each of these second speakers is to
advance his side according to the plan laid down by his first
colleague. He must make good the advance notice given of his team.

Each position of a debater has its peculiar tasks. The middle speaker
must not allow the interest aroused by the first to lag. If anything,
his material and manner must indicate a rise over the opening speech.

He must start at the place where the first speaker stopped and carry
on the contention to the place at which it has been agreed he will
deliver it to the concluding speaker for his side. If this connection
among all the speeches of one side is quite plain to the audience an
impression of unity and coherence will be made upon them. This will
contribute to the effect of cogent reasoning. They will realize that
instead of listening to a group of detached utterances they have been
following a chain of reasoning every link of which is closely
connected with all that precedes and follows.

The Concluding Affirmative Speaker. The concluding affirmative speaker
must not devote his entire speech to a conclusion by giving an
extensive summary or recapitulation. He must present arguments.
Realizing that this is the last chance for original argument from his
side he may be assigned the very strongest argument of all to deliver,
for the effect of what he says must last beyond the concluding speech
of the negative. It would likewise be a mistake for him to do nothing
more than argue in his concluding speech. Several persons have
intervened since his first colleague outlined their side and announced
what they would prove. It is his duty to show that the affirmative has
actually done what it set out to do. By amplifying and diminishing he
may also show how the negative had not carried out its avowed
intention of disproving the affirmative's position and proving
conclusively its own. The concluding speech for the affirmative is an
excellent test of a debater's ability to adapt himself to conditions
which may have been entirely unforeseen when the debate began, of his
keenness in analyzing the strength of the affirmative and exposing
the weakness of the negative, of his power in impressing the arguments
of his colleagues as well as his own upon the audience, and of his
skill in bringing to a well-rounded, impressive conclusion his side's
part in the debate.

The Concluding Negative Speaker. The concluding negative speaker mus