These rules were created to add value to live, online debates that create a structure whilst also allowing for fast back-and-forth debate, and punishing bad-faith Debaters.
Participants: Debaters (2+).
Equipment: Each Debater must have control of a one-minute timer, constantly visible - can be physical or virtual. It is each Debater’s responsibility to track their own time.
The Topic
Any Debater introduces a topic in <2 minutes.
Any other Debater confirms or rejects the topic in <1 minute.
The debate can only start once the topic is confirmed by all other Debaters.
The Debate
Starting with the Debater who proposed the topic, when it is their turn to speak each Debater announces if they will:
Introduce new information, in which can they can speak for <2 minutes, or
Respond to the last statement made by any previous statement, in which case they can speak for <1 minutes
Concluding
A Debater can announce at any time they are speaking that they are making concluding remarks by saying “In conclusion” or ‘Concluding’ or ‘I will conclude’.
If any subsequent Debater does not respond to a conclusion, then when all subsequent Debaters have spoken the debate is concluded.
If any subsequent Debater does respond to a conclusion, then the Debater who was responded to can interrupt with ‘Respond’ and can deliver a Response. The debate is then Concluded.
Penalties
If the speaking Debater responds to any other Debater’s previous statement outside of a ‘Response’, and the responded to Debator interrupts with ‘Illegal Response’, then the speaking Debator cede their next turn at speaking. Do not Respond without first announcing that you will Respond.
If any Debater interrupts the current Debater, the current Debater’s speaking time is extended by +1 minute for every minute-or-part-thereof of interruption. Multiple interruptions are penalised separately. Do not interrupt the speaker.
The only interruption that does not incur an interruption penalty is the first time that any Debater announces ‘Will Respond’ or ‘Response’ or ‘Going to Respond’ when the current Debater is speaking, to signal in real-time that they plan to Respond. They do not have to Respond when it is their turn to speak. You can announce that you will Respond ahead of your turn.
If a Debater speaks when their Timer is not running then they end their turn speaking. If allowed to speak for more than one minute then it can be useful to let the timer run out and pause, before restarting it.