Since 2011, Paras Kumar (Founder) has conducted 2500+ hours of one-on-one tutoring with 250+ students across the world, ranging from 6th to 12th grade. He has worked extensively with debaters from every background, skillset and region, ranging from lay debaters to novices trying to start circuit debate to students who have won the TOC. Every staff member on DebateDrills has spent time learning best drilling practices from Paras and is a proven debate tutor. DebateDrills Staff has conducted over 1000+ hours of tutoring since 2017.
Most successful debaters have difficulty becoming effective coaches, and even fewer effective coaches are elite tutors. High quality debate tutors must (1) have a mastery of debate strategy and time trade offs, (2) an expertise in executing the most common types of debate (i.,e. util, framework, critique, and theory debates), and (3) an ability to quickly, effectively, and enthusiastically explain complicated concepts in simple terms to students with a wide variety of learning prefereces.
Most coaches struggle to execute effective drill sessions because they can no longer "spread" and debate at the level they debated at as competitors, turning drill sessions into "do as I say" instead of "do as I do". As trends evolve, so does strategy, and good coaches must adapt to the game. We have prided ourselves on staying ahead of the curve, and students have consistently approached us because of how effective our techniques are. Read our testimonials to see for yourself.
Debate tutoring is very similar to academic subject specific tutoring. We go over and help fix specific problems the student is having, be it technical (e.g. speaking faster, more efficiently) or substantive (e.g. trouble executing a certain debate, such as util debates, framework debates, theory debates or critical debates).
All tutoring sessions are built on the following pedagogical model: we will (1) imitate a real round and read the position the student is struggling with, (2) have the student respond to that position, and then (3) go over their responses with them and help them understand how to improve the speech they gave. Homework will be giving the improved speech next time we have a session. On average, we get through 2 topics per session.
Our method is highly effective because it implements the philosophy of “do it yourself.” Tutoring sessions are structured to mimic real debate rounds, which a) increases student comfort with the topic area in question and b) improves confidence. We have noticed over the years that students improve rapidly when they implement a consistent drill schedule, and that such sessions are often more valuable than summer debate camps.
We believe practice makes perfect—too often debate teachers focus on content and lectures and not on implementation. We will rarely lecture and prefer free flowing conversations where the student feels free to speak their mind and be an equal participant in the conversation. Not only does this create rapport between instructor and student, but it also ensures the student feels comfortable making mistakes in the sessions, allowing them to progress faster. This philosophy applies not just to students, but also for our instructors. We are constantly creating new material to use for students and working on innovative teaching strategies.
Please check out any of the free resources on this website for an in depth example of what these sessions look like!
"What really sets Paras apart is his proven methods of teaching. I improved more than I ever did at camp and a year’s worth of tournaments working with Paras for a week."
"I personally found myself making leaps within single sessions."
"The best part of his coaching was drilling. He had a ton of helpful drills to do – especially with theory and util debating – and provided feedback at every step along the way."
Go to https://www.debatedrills.com/en/scheduling/tutoring/ and click on the instructor you would like to book a session with to begin!
Still have questions?
Rates vary depending on which instructor you want to work with - the exact details are available on the scheduling form below.
We don’t count down the clock waiting for the hour to end - teaching is something we are passionate about and our primary goal is to help you improve.
Accordingly, if sessions run 5-10 minutes over the scheduled hour, that is including in the hourly rate. Please fill out the application if you are interested in scheduling drill sessions and working with us.
Getting started is simple. Click here, find the instructor you are most interested in working with, and book a session! We will get in touch with you before the session to discuss any questions you may have.
If you still have questions that you would like answered prior to beginning, please contact us using this link!
