3. The Presiding Officer

By the Equality in Forensics Contributor Team

Learn more about Equality in Forensics and our mission.

Table of Contents:

What is the Presiding Officer

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.

<aside> <img src="/icons/star-outline_red.svg" alt="/icons/star-outline_red.svg" width="40px" /> Why PO? There are many benefits and drawbacks of presiding over a round:

Gavels: many tournaments offer awards (typically gavels) that you can only get if you’re a Presiding Officer
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
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
Practice: since you can’t debate, you won’t be able to practice your speeches and progress as a debater when you’re presiding </aside>

This resource page has an accompanying slideshow by Equality in Forensics Directors Athena Tian and C.J. Getting, who have both presided over rounds at national tournaments for Congressional Debate.

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.

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.

Listen to Alexandra Smith, 2021 NSDA Finals (House) Presiding Officer, explain the basics of being a PO.

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 employed 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.

<aside> <img src="/icons/star-outline_red.svg" alt="/icons/star-outline_red.svg" width="40px" /> For more information on the harms of exploiting trauma in debate, read this blog article by 2023 Yale Finals PO, Owen Casey.

</aside>

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.

<aside> <img src="/icons/star-outline_red.svg" alt="/icons/star-outline_red.svg" width="40px" /> 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.

</aside>

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:

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.
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.
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.

<aside> <img src="/icons/star-outline_red.svg" alt="/icons/star-outline_red.svg" width="40px" /> Note: depending on the tournament, you may be able to skip over the “recency” step when calling on questioners

</aside>

Listen to Joseph Maucieri, 2020 NSDA House finalist in congressional debate, explain how to preside over a round of congress.