Debate Script Formatter
The round
Script
1. Prime Minister (7:00, pro) (not drafted) Open the government case: define the motion and establish the first argument. Cue: Open the government case: define the motion and establish the first argument. 2. Leader of Opposition (7:00, con) (not drafted) Answer the definition and open the opposition case. Cue: Answer the definition and open the opposition case. 3. Deputy Prime Minister (7:00, pro) (not drafted) Rebuild the government case and extend it with a second argument. Cue: Rebuild the government case and extend it with a second argument. 4. Deputy Leader of Opposition (7:00, con) (not drafted) Rebuild the opposition case and extend it with a second argument. Cue: Rebuild the opposition case and extend it with a second argument. 5. Member of Government (7:00, pro) (not drafted) Extend the government case and answer the opposition's extension. Cue: Extend the government case and answer the opposition's extension. 6. Member of Opposition (7:00, con) (not drafted) Extend the opposition case and answer the government's extension. Cue: Extend the opposition case and answer the government's extension. 7. Government Whip (7:00, pro) (not drafted) Compare the benches, name the central clash and summarise the government's route to the win. Cue: Compare the benches, name the central clash and summarise the government's route to the win. 8. Opposition Whip (7:00, con) (not drafted) Compare the benches, name the central clash and summarise the opposition's route to the win. Cue: Compare the benches, name the central clash and summarise the opposition's route to the win.
Checks
The pro side has no case drafted at all; every format needs both sides before it can be formatted.
The pro side has no rebuttal speech drafted; a side that only repeats its case loses the exchange.
The con side has no case drafted at all; every format needs both sides before it can be formatted.
The con side has no rebuttal speech drafted; a side that only repeats its case loses the exchange.
Paste one line per speech as role | what the speech establishes.
Scope and limits
Eight speeches of seven minutes; the closing half must extend the opening half's case.
Time allocations differ by league and by round. This page uses the common published norms; your tournament invitation overrides them.
The debate script formatter places one case line per speech into a published speaking order — British Parliamentary, Asian Parliamentary, Public Forum or Lincoln–Douglas — with time allocations and the round's missing pieces named.
What is Debate Script Formatter?
The debate script formatter turns a list of case lines into a formatted round. Each line is a role and what the speech establishes, separated by a pipe, and the role is matched against the chosen format's abbreviations and full names, so PM, OG2 and Prime Minister all land on the opening government speech. The output is the script itself: numbered speeches, each with its side, its time allocation and either the case text or the cue for what that slot has to do.
The four formats carry the orders leagues actually use. British Parliamentary runs eight speeches of seven minutes, from the Prime Minister through the whips, and the page keeps the rule that the closing half must extend the opening half's case. Asian Parliamentary runs six speeches of seven minutes with the rebuttal load on the third speakers. Public Forum runs four speeches of four minutes with crossfires, and Lincoln–Douglas keeps the value structure with its constructive and rebuttal speeches. The allocations are the common published norms, and the page says plainly that a tournament invitation overrides them.
The checks are the things that make a script unusable in a round rather than merely untidy. A side with no case drafted at all is flagged first, because a one-sided script is a monologue. Empty slots are counted per side, so a half-drafted bench is visible at a glance. A side with no rebuttal speech drafted is flagged separately: a side that only repeats its case loses the exchange, however good the case is. Cases under fifteen words are called placeholders rather than arguments, crossfire slots with nothing in them are asked for their questions, and role labels the format does not contain are named rather than silently dropped.
The format also makes the shape of the round visible. Notice where the rebuttal speeches sit, and whether the line you wrote for a whip is really a summary of the clash or a third constructive speech in disguise. The whip slots are for comparing the benches and naming the central question; a whip speech that introduces a new argument is a different speech from the one the order expects.
What the tool cannot do is judge the debating. It does not know whether a case is true, whether a rebuttal answers the argument it names, or whether the extension is genuinely new. It formats the round, allocates the time and reports the gaps in the script, and the arguments remain entirely the debater's work.
A rehearsal habit worth keeping is to draft the two rebuttal speeches before the whips: the speaking order is a schedule, not a writing order. Writing the rebuttal while the case is fresh exposes the clash the round will actually turn on, and the whip speeches then have something to summarise rather than a third argument to introduce. The formatter does not enforce that way of working. It only makes the slots visible, which is usually enough to notice that a case was built before anyone read the other side's line.
How to use Debate Script Formatter
- Choose the format the round will use, since the order and times change with it.
- Write one line per speech as role and what the speech establishes.
- Read the numbered script and check that each case sits in its proper slot.
- Clear the checks: both sides, a rebuttal per side, no placeholders.
- Copy the script and keep the per slot cues for the speeches you have not drafted.
When to use Debate Script Formatter vs related tools
Use the debate script formatter once the cases are drafted and the round needs assembling: a tournament prep sheet, a practice round, a classroom debate. It is most useful when you have arguments but no speaking order in mind, because the format decides which speech carries the rebuttal and which one compares the benches. The arguments themselves are better built first. The Argument Mapping Tool keeps claim, reason, evidence and warrant together, and the Counterargument Generator rehearses the objections a good opposition will raise against each case.
Privacy & Security
This tool runs entirely in your browser — no data ever leaves your device. There is no server round-trip, no upload, no logging, and no account required. Your input is processed locally using client-side JavaScript and is never stored, transmitted, or accessible to anyone else. When you close the tab, everything disappears.