Private Online Speech and Debate Tutoring
LD, PF, Policy, Worlds School, Congress, Extemp, and More!

DebateDrills is the leading speech and debate tutoring service in the United States. Hundreds of students, from brand new debaters to national champions, have benefited from our structured tutoring from world-class instructors.

What we offer:

1-on-1 Attention

Tutoring sessions are private and individualized, ensuring every learner gets customized help. Scheduled at your convenience, your child will improve rapidly from the comfort of home.

Structured Curriculum

Written directly by our Content Directors, all tutors have exclusive access to hundreds of detailed tutoring lesson plans that use our proven coaching methodology covering a wide range of topics.

Proven Track Record

Having provided 6000+ hours of online debate tutoring, DebateDrills has impacted hundreds of families across over the world, from 1st graders to adults.

Award-Winning Tutors

Our instructors are screened and quality controlled by Paras Kumar, the founder of DD and one of the world's leading online debate tutors.

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Parker Whitfill's headshot

"As someone who came from a school without extensive competitive debate resources, I really can’t highly recommend enough grabbing ahold of an opportunity to tutor with instructor’s in the DebateDrills Network if you are serious about improving."

Parker Whitfill

2017 National Champion (TOC)
B.A. University of Chicago

Chloe Brown's headshot

"I would definitely recommend tutoring with the instructors in the DebateDrills network—it’s worth it no matter what skill level you’re at. They are great at building upon skills or helping you develop new ones. Even if you’re like me and no longer have much time for debate, the lessons you learn especially from the fast-paced LD debate help you in all areas of life."

Chloe Brown

Columbia University, Class of 2022

Matt Chen's headshot

"Tutoring with DebateDrills was incredibly helpful because they are perfectionists in a lot of ways. The instructors want to see speeches that leave no doors open for opponents but also are as efficient as possible. At first that standard was frustratingly hard to meet but eventually I began to expect it of myself when I debated too."

Matthew Chen

2018 Texas State Debate Champion
University of Chicago, Class of 2022

Anthony Ma's headshot

"I would 10/10 recommend tutoring with DebateDrills to any debater no matter the skill level. They are able to teach extremely well no matter what your current debate level is and will contextualize instruction to suit your needs. They are world class debaters and coaches, and being able to pick their brains for ideas, arguments, and strategy for 4 years made me the debater I am. There’s nothing quite like it."

Anthony Ma

2017 California State Champion
Colombia University, Class of 2022

Brennan Caruther's headshot

"Paras changed my debate career. We tutored together the summer leading into my senior year, and the results speak for themselves."


Brennan Caruthers

Cal Round Robin Champion
5th Place, 2013 UC Berkeley Invitational
B.A. Northeastern University

Arnav Garg's headshot

I strongly recommend tutoring with the DebateDrills instructors. They all have tremendous knowledge in the areas that they specialize in, which allows for higher quality tutoring than any other instructors I had worked with in the past. The fact that they devote a majority of time to intensive drills and very little time towards lecturing, and instead choose to teach by drilling, makes for a much more efficient learning experience and has helped me improve leaps and bounds in a very short period of time.

Arnav Garg

National Championship Qualifiers
Saratoga High School, Class of 2023

Private, Targeted and Elite Debate Tutoring

LD, PF, Policy, Congress, Extemp, and More!

Buy a Tutoring Package Here
DebateDrills Founder Paras Kumar tutors a student at a tournament.

DebateDrills is the leading speech and debate tutoring service in the United States. All of our students, from brand new debaters to national champions, have benefited from our structured tutoring from world-class instructors. DebateDrills Tutors have helped over 500 students win countless tournaments, including local, national, and international competitions. We have completed 6000+ hours of online 1-on-1 speech and debate tutoring using proven teaching methods and in-house materials.

“I honestly thought that I improved more in 5 hours of tutoring than I had at all the debate camps I had been to in previous summers (combined).”
- Nirmal Balachundar | B.S. Northwestern University
9th Place, 2017 Varsity Harvard Invitational

Every DebateDrills Tutor has exclusive access to extensive curriculum and training developed by our founder, Paras Kumar, who is one of the most successful coaches in the history of competitive debate. Paras has personally completed over 5,000 hours of 1-on-1 debate tutoring since 2011, and he has developed an in-house methodology that is both rigorous and accessible to students from every background, format, skillset, event and region.

“I personally found myself making leaps within single sessions.”
- Ishan Timalsina | B.S. University of California, San Diego
DebateDrills former students discussing at a tournament
DebateDrills former students discussing at a tournament

Debate education is most effective when it’s iterative and consistent. If you are training to be an Olympic athlete, you don’t train only when it is convenient. Similarly, the benefits from participating in academic debate are most impactful when students and instructors have the time to build strong argumentative bases and develop skill-sets over time. Accordingly, we offer subscription based tutoring to students interested in improving at academic debate.

“I had already had a very successful debate season, but was astounded by how much I learned in 3 short months. I wish I had started working with DebateDrills earlier.”
- Jackson Lallas | B.S. Stanford
5th Place, 2015 LD National Championship (TOC)
2nd Place, 2014 Glenbrooks

In our experience, many debate educators often focus on content and lectures instead of implementation. Our approach is the opposite.We rarely lecture and prefer free flowing conversations where students feel free to speak their mind and be equal participants in the conversation. This creates trust between student and instructor and ensures students feel comfortable making mistakes in the sessions, allowing faster progress. As trends evolve, so does strategy, and elite coaches must adapt to the game. We pride ourselves on staying ahead of the curve and students consistently approach us because of how effective our teaching techniques are.

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Offerings

Our approach to tutoring is uniquely individualized and detailed. We initially assess and determine each students’ weaknesses while onboarding them into our program. We help decide the best tutor, and work with our tutors to create custom lesson plans using our in-house teaching philosophy and methods. We use a professional suite of software to provide seamless and effective online education that allows for flexible learning and scheduling. Click below to view our offering in more detail:

Individualized Learning Assessment (ILA)

Each student has the option to take an assessment consisting of a written component and a recorded speech to determine their current strengths and weaknesses. If we are uncertain about the assessment results, we continue with a 1:1 phone call to help determine the best plan of attack.

Tutor Matching

We work with each family to game plan the best tutor for their specific needs and budget ensuring administrative oversight into the design of each students’ learning program.

Intensive 1-on-1 Tutoring in Structured Learning Progressions

Based on the results of the ILA and package purchased, each student does intensive, structured 1-on-1 tutoring with our elite instructional staff. We work with tutors and students to create individualized tutoring plans. Plans are flexible and often modified based on progress but the up-front work helps both instructors and students set clear goals.

Instructor Quality Control

Our tutors are screened and assessed for quality of education provided. They also all undergo an asynchronous in-house training recorded by Paras, the founder and most sought after tutor with DebateDrills. We also conduct performance check-ins with our coaches to ensure the quality of our instruction remains elite.

Access to Exclusive DebateDrills Video Library

Our in-house Video Library contains over 500 hours of do-it-yourself resources, spanning Lectures, Round Analyses, Rebuttal Redo Packets, and Tutoring Lesson Plans. All tutoring students get unlimited access to these resources for the duration of their time in our tutoring program.

Professional Online Software and Seamless User Experience

Given we are industry leaders in online private academic debate education in the United States, we have heavily invested in professional software to provide high quality virtual debate education. This software stack has been revised over the years based on the user feedback of hundreds of previous families, and has helped us deliver thousands of hours of services since 2016. Our commitment to high-quality service allows us to effectively teach our students virtually and provide seamless user experience for both parents and students.
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"As someone who came from a school without extensive competitive debate resources, I really can’t highly recommend enough grabbing ahold of an opportunity to tutor with instructor’s in the DebateDrills Network if you are serious about improving."

Parker Whitfill
2017 National Champion (TOC)
B.A. University of Chicago

Parker Whitfill's headshot

"I would definitely recommend tutoring with the instructors in the DebateDrills network—it’s worth it no matter what skill level you’re at. They are great at building upon skills or helping you develop new ones. Even if you’re like me and no longer have much time for debate, the lessons you learn especially from the fast-paced LD debate help you in all areas of life."

Chloe Brown
Columbia University, Class of 2022

Chloe Brown's headshot

"Tutoring with DebateDrills was incredibly helpful because they are perfectionists in a lot of ways. The instructors want to see speeches that leave no doors open for opponents but also are as efficient as possible. At first that standard was frustratingly hard to meet but eventually I began to expect it of myself when I debated too."

Matthew Chen
2018 Texas State Debate Champion
University of Chicago, Class of 2022

Matt Chen's headshot

"I would 10/10 recommend tutoring with DebateDrills to any debater no matter the skill level. They are able to teach extremely well no matter what your current debate level is and will contextualize instruction to suit your needs. They are world class debaters and coaches, and being able to pick their brains for ideas, arguments, and strategy for 4 years made me the debater I am. There’s nothing quite like it."

Anthony Ma
2017 California State Champion
Colombia University, Class of 2022

Anthony Ma's headshot

"Paras changed my debate career. We tutored together the summer leading into my senior year, and the results speak for themselves."

Brennan Caruthers
Cal Round Robin Champion
5th Place, 2013 UC Berkeley Invitational
B.A. Northeastern University

Brennan Caruther's headshot

I strongly recommend tutoring with the DebateDrills instructors. They all have tremendous knowledge in the areas that they specialize in, which allows for higher quality tutoring than any other instructors I had worked with in the past. The fact that they devote a majority of time to intensive drills and very little time towards lecturing, and instead choose to teach by drilling, makes for a much more efficient learning experience and has helped me improve leaps and bounds in a very short period of time.

Arnav Garg
National Championship Qualifiers
Saratoga High School, Class of 2023

Arnav Garg's headshot

Pricing

Debate education is most effective when it’s iterative and consistent. If you are training to be an Olympic athlete, you don’t train only when it is convenient. Similarly, the benefits from participating in academic debate are most impactful when students and instructors have the time to build strong argumentative bases and develop skill-sets over time. Accordingly, we offer subscription based tutoring to students interested in improving at the art of debate. Our approach to tutoring is uniquely individualized and detailed.

Families can work with our champion instructors at the following three (3) price points:

Instructor Tiers

Rate Per Hour

Tier 1 - Associate Tutor

$90 per Session

Tier 2 - Lead Tutor

$120 per Session

Tier 3 - Expert Tutor

$150 per Session

We tier our tutors as "Associate", "Lead", and "Expert" based on the number of hours they have tutored with us. We do not offer pay-as-you-go tutoring. All families tutoring with DebateDrills must purchase a subscription package. Click on a tab below to see detailed pricing for subscriptions:

Monthly  Subscription

Details

# Hours In Package

Four (4) Hours

Associate Tutor Cost

$360

Lead Tutor Cost

$480

Expert Tutor Cost

$600

Monthly

# Hours In Package-Four (4) Hours
Associate Tutor Cost
$360
Lead Tutor Cost
$480
Expert Tutor Cost
$600

Paras is one of the most accomplished private debate coaches in history. Since 2011, he has completed more than 5,000 hours of 1-on-1 debate tutoring online. Over that time, Paras has developed dynamic programs for all ages and skill levels that take students from novices to national champions. As Managing Partner of DebateDrills, Paras has limited availability and requests families commit to minimum 10 hours of 1-on-1 tutoring if they want to work with him. He charges $300/session. You can purchase a package below.

Credit Card (Processing Fees Included)($3,089.91)
Bank Transfer ($3,000)

Select Testimonials of Past Students Paras Tutored

“In a matter of months, Paras turned me into one of the most technical and strategically thinking debaters in the United States. He has mastered coaching the game of Lincoln-Douglas debate and it was incredible to get to know him and work with him.”

Rex Evans | Most Successful 10th Grade Debate Season in Competitive 1-on-1 Debate History

“Paras is a world class debater and coach. Being able to pick his brains for ideas, arguments, and strategy for 4 years has made me the debater I am today.  There’s nothing quite like it. You have to work with him once to understand.”

Anthony Ma | 2017 California State Champion (1st out of 3000+ competitors)

“I think Paras understands competitive debate at a deeper level than anyone else in the United States. He is a subject matter expert at cost-benefit analysis, debate theory/strategym and technical execution. He made sure I was persuasive, coherent, strategic and word efficient. He was a friend, mentor, coach, and big brother to me. The work I did with Paras was instrumental to my success. If you get the opportunity to tutor 1-on-1 with him, do it seriously and work hard—you will improve, rapidly.”

Parker Whitfill | 2017 United States National Champion (1st out of 3000+ competitors)

Debate tutoring with Paras improved my technical debating far beyond anything I had done before. His meticulous insistence on repeating speeches till perfection is particularly commendable. Before my senior year, my confidence in executing high-stakes procedural debates was shaky, but Paras helped me develop a new area of strategy that I felt confident staking big debates on. Tutoring with Paras also improved my broad understanding of debate strategy. My skill in structuring final rebuttals, recognizing explicit argument interaction, and effectively instructing judges on argument resolution vastly improved.”

Ishan Bhatt | 2019 United States National Champion (1st out of 3000+ competitors)

“Paras is, without a doubt, the best debate tutor in the United States. He taught me lasting debate skills I still use today in my everyday life. You should tutor with Paras if you want to learn lasting debate skills and are willing to work hard.

Brennan Caruthers | 5th Place (out of 400+ competitors) at 2013 UC Berkeley Invitational

“I tutored extensively with Paras as a top competitor vying for the National Championship during the 2011-2012 season. The time he put in with me was game-changing, helping me finish the 2011-2012 debate season as a consensus top-5 debater in the United States and 3rd place at the 2012 National Championship. Though I learned from Paras over a decade ago, what I remember most vividly is that Paras had a uniquely exceptional ability to teach difficult concepts in a clear and intuitive manner.”

Regan Grishaber | 2012 Top-5 Consensus Nationally Ranked Debater

“I did hundreds of hours of debate tutoring with Paras. I think it’s pretty safe to say that anyone who has worked with Paras has noticed huge improvements in short periods of time. Anyone who wants to be nationally competitive would be silly to waste an opportunity to work with someone who has a unique talent and knowledge base in teaching and working with debaters from all types of backgrounds.”

Katherine Fennell 2016 New York State Champion

Instructors

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DebateDrills is proud to have a highly accomplished tutoring staff. Our coaches have championed every major regular season and postseason national championship in the United States and represent a collection of the most successful debaters in history. Families can pick specific instructors to work with, subject to availability. All of our available instructors are listed below along with their current experience level. Click on any instructors photo to read their bio and background.

DebateDrills is proud to have a highly accomplished tutoring staff. Our coaches have championed every major regular season and postseason national championship in the United States and represent a collection of the most successful debaters in history. Families can pick specific instructors to work with, subject to availability. All of our available instructors are listed below along with their current experience level. Click on any instructors photo to read their bio and background.

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DebateDrills is proud to have a highly accomplished tutoring staff. Our coaches have championed every major regular season and postseason national championship in the United States and represent a collection of the most successful debaters in history. Families can pick specific instructors to work with, subject to availability. All of our available instructors are listed below along with their current experience level. Click on any instructors photo to read their bio and background.

DebateDrills is proud to have a highly accomplished tutoring staff. Our coaches have championed every major regular season and postseason national championship in the United States and represent a collection of the most successful debaters in history. Families can pick specific instructors to work with, subject to availability. All of our available instructors are listed below along with their current experience level. Click on any instructors photo to read their bio and background.

Show moreLess more

DebateDrills is proud to have a highly accomplished tutoring staff. Our coaches have championed every major regular season and postseason national championship in the United States and represent a collection of the most successful debaters in history. Families can pick specific instructors to work with, subject to availability. All of our available instructors are listed below along with their current experience level. Click on any instructors photo to read their bio and background.

DebateDrills is proud to have a highly accomplished tutoring staff. Our coaches have championed every major regular season and postseason national championship in the United States and represent a collection of the most successful debaters in history. Families can pick specific instructors to work with, subject to availability. All of our available instructors are listed below along with their current experience level. Click on any instructors photo to read their bio and background.

DebateDrills is proud to have a highly accomplished tutoring staff. Our coaches have championed every major regular season and postseason national championship in the United States and represent a collection of the most successful debaters in history. Families can pick specific instructors to work with, subject to availability. All of our available instructors are listed below along with their current experience level. Click on any instructors photo to read their bio and background.

DebateDrills is proud to have a highly accomplished tutoring staff. Our coaches have championed every major regular season and postseason national championship in the United States and represent a collection of the most successful debaters in history. Families can pick specific instructors to work with, subject to availability. All of our available instructors are listed below along with their current experience level. Click on any instructors photo to read their bio and background.

DebateDrills is proud to have a highly accomplished tutoring staff. Our coaches have championed every major regular season and postseason national championship in the United States and represent a collection of the most successful debaters in history. Families can pick specific instructors to work with, subject to availability. All of our available instructors are listed below along with their current experience level. Click on any instructors photo to read their bio and background.

DebateDrills is proud to have a highly accomplished tutoring staff. Our coaches have championed every major regular season and postseason national championship in the United States and represent a collection of the most successful debaters in history. Families can pick specific instructors to work with, subject to availability. All of our available instructors are listed below along with their current experience level. Click on any instructors photo to read their bio and background.

FAQs

Do you provide single, individual tutoring sessions?

We do not offer pay-as-you-go tutoring sessions. After providing thousands of hours of tutoring, we have found that a subscription model ensures our students receive more impactful debate education.

Do you offer a trial?

Due to high demand and volume, we do not offer trials. We encourage you to explore our testimonials & results to get more insight into our teaching record. We also offer free resources that you can view to get a better sense of the types of material we teach.

What is your cancellation policy?

You can cancel a booked session up until 24 hours before the beginning of the session and receive credit for the session.

What if I am dissatisfied with my tutoring experience?

This has never happened before and we are confident you will be satisfied and impressed by the quality of our work. Please reach out to us and we will discuss your concerns to find an agreeable solution.

What medium do we work through?

We prefer using Zoom for calls, though we will occasionally opt to use phone calls or Google Hangouts/Skype/FaceTime if there is poor wireless signal.

Do you offer in-person tutoring?

99% of our tutoring has been done online. On occasion, if a student and coach happen to live in the same location, we can discuss custom solutions. Please email us directly if you would like to discuss in-person tutoring arrangements.

Am I too young to get value out of these sessions?

We have helped students as young as 1st grade and routinely help students in 6th-8th grade. We are happy to discuss any concerns you have regarding the age of your child!

Can my friends and I do joint group drill sessions?

Absolutely! Please contact us directly if you’d like to schedule group-classes.

Do you help students that do not live in the United States?

Yes! We have helped students who live all over the world, including Japan, Taiwan, China, India and the UK. As long as you have a strong internet connection, we can work with you from anywhere. Please contact us to discuss further if you are an international student.

Do you teach traditional debate styles?

Absolutely! In fact, many of our students are “traditional” debaters who compete only on their traditional circuits. As competitors, we were incredibly successful at “traditional” debate as well, and we have worked closely with students who have won some of the most prestigious and difficult traditional tournaments in the United States, such as the California State Championships.

How do you decide what lessons to cover?

We use the results of your Individual Learning Assessment to create a lesson plan, and accommodate your requests on topics you are struggling with.

My team doesn't allow private coaching. Can you keep our drill sessions confidential?

We do not view private debate education as a replacement for school teams. We've regularly tutored with students from long-established Speech and Debate Programs such as Strake Jesuit Preparatory School (TX), Loyola High School (CA), and Lake Highland Preparatory School (FL). We are happy to sit and talk with your school administrators about their concerns with private debate education.

Do I get to choose who my instructors are?

We field requests and subject to mutual scheduling availability, we strive to pair students’ with their preferred instructors.

How many instructors do I work with if I select the semester or year-long package?

This depends on your Individual Learning Assessment and mutual scheduling availability. We will pair you with instructors best suited to your growth and unique needs which could result in working with multiple instructors. All instructors you work with will be at the same experience level and will not affect your pricing.

Can I purchase tutoring without my partner?

Yes! The same rates apply.

Can you split the subscription invoice cost between my family and my partner’s family?

No. We ask families to coordinate payment splits amongst each other and ask for one point of contact for payment reconciliation.

Still have questions or don't see a specific service that fits your needs?
Please reach out! We're happy to help.