Spreading


 * See also speed-and-spread, a more extreme form of spreading that involves talking very quickly.

Spreading is the strategy of running as many arguments as possible, in an attempt to overwhelm one's opponent and force them to undercover or drop arguments. It is most commonly used by Negative teams in an attempt to fluster and overload the 1AR. Spreading is reasonably common in the NCFCA and Stoa, although most teams do not use it on a consistent basis.

Potential risks and rewards
There are several reasons a team might spread:


 * Opponents will likely drop or undercover some of the arguments, which the spreading team can use to their advantage.
 * Because of the sheer volume of arguments, the judge may be more likely to find something that convinces them.

Spreading also carries a number of serious risks:


 * Often, many of the arguments run are virtually identical, just with different tags; a skilled opponent may be able to clump them together and respond to them more quickly than anticipated.
 * It is easy to confuse and overwhelm the judge; going in-depth on a few major points is often more persuasive than briefly covering dozens of minor points.
 * It is easy to waste speech time running pointless arguments.
 * Many debaters consider spreading to be a "cheap" strategy that is bad for the quality of debate.

These do not always occur. If done correctly, these issues can be avoided and spreading can be a successful strategy.