Speed-and-spread

Speed-and-spread is the strategy of talking extremely quickly in order to run a very large number of arguments, in an attempt to overwhelm one's opponent and force drops. It is common in the NFL and collegiate policy debate, but officially discouraged by the NCFCA and Stoa.

True speed-and-spread involves speeds upwards of 350 words per minute - a delivery rate of at least six words per second. This often renders debates completely unintelligible to outsiders, and even experienced coaches may have difficulty following them if the debaters' enunciation is poor. The presence of community judges, who are unlikely to understand fast debate, makes speed-and-spread a substantially less useful tactic in the NCFCA and Stoa.

Some regard the terms "speed" and "spread" as distinct concepts. For them, 'speed' is measured in words per minute spoken, while 'spread' refers to argument density aimed at putting time pressure on an opponent. A debater might speak at four hundred words per minute while talking about a single argument; the speech might be difficult to understand, depending on the debater's enunciation, but the opponent would still only be responsible for answering that individual argument, even if extensively described and explained. Conversely, a debater might 'spread' while speaking at an easily understood conversational speed by making very short, word-economical arguments: the debater might make ten answers to an opponent's position, each only a few words long, which would put pressure on the following speaker to allot speaking time to each of the ten.