How it works

Formats, turns, the vote and moving the room

How does a debate work?

Two people argue one statement: one For, the other Against.
The challenger writes the statement and picks a side; the accepter takes the other. The challenger goes first, and the accepter always has the last word.
Only the speaker’s microphone is on, so nobody can talk over anyone.
Listeners vote before and after. Whoever changes the most minds moves the room.

About 10 minutes · the default

Five minutes each, on a chess clock. The challenger starts.
Tap Pass to hand over the floor. A turn lasts 2 minutes at most, then it passes on its own.
Out of time? You’re done, and your opponent can use what’s left on theirs.
Then a 30-second closing each, the accepter last.

About 13 minutes

Opening: 2 minutes each.
Rebuttal: 90 seconds each.
Cross-examination: 90 seconds each to ask questions. The accepter asks first.
Closing: 1 minute each. The accepter has the last word.
The challenger goes first in the other rounds, and there’s a short break between rounds.

The questioner has 90 seconds to ask, and it only runs while they’re asking.
Each answer gets up to 20 seconds. The first 10 are the answerer’s; after that, the questioner can tap Next Question.
Answering doesn’t use the questioner’s time.

When the floor passes to you, your microphone comes on and your time starts a moment later.
The timer turns orange at 0:15 and red for the last 5 seconds. A bell rings once at 0:15 and twice at 0:05.
Tap Done to finish early. Time you don’t use is lost, not saved for later.
Every turn gets at least 5 seconds, even when your clock is nearly out.

Before it starts, listeners vote For, Undecided or Against.
While it’s on, they can change their lean as they listen. The debaters never see it.
When the closings end, listeners have 60 seconds to vote again. The result shows when that closes.
Only listeners who voted both before and after count. Debaters can’t vote in their own debate, and nobody sees how anyone else voted.

We compare each side’s share of the counted voters, before and after.
Say For goes from 30% to 47%: that’s +17. Against goes from 30% to 27%: that’s −3.
The side that grew the most moved the room, and its debater wins. Here, For moved the room +17.
A side has to gain support to win. If neither does, or both gain the same, it’s Even.
With only a few voters, each one counts for a lot: one listener changing their mind can be +100. The results say how many voters counted.

The clock pauses while they reconnect, for up to 5 minutes, then carries on where it stopped.
If they don’t make it back, the other debater gets a final minute and the debate ends early, with no winner.
Leaving on purpose forfeits: the other debater wins.

A moderator introduces it, asks a question between rounds and wraps up after the vote.
Their time doesn’t come out of the debaters’, and the debate never waits for them.
Debatable runs the clock: hosts and moderators can’t change it.