Strategic Silence
Strategic silence is a deliberate choice not to respond to an argument, usually because it is irrelevant, already answered, or not worth the time. Done well, the speaker tells the judge why it is being left, instead of simply dropping it.
Strategic Silence as it appears in championship debate rounds. Each example below is a moment from a real round, with a note on why it illustrates the technique and how a debater can use it, or answer it.
Example 1
In the final rebuttal the speaker announces 'I'm gonna intentionally drop some arguments because those are all routed if we win them.' This is deliberate strategic silence: the speaker gives up subsidiary arguments to spend limited time on the arguments that decide the round. Students can borrow this when time is short, and should openly say why the dropped points don't matter so the judge doesn't count them as concessions.
Example 2: The coaches praise the 2NR for not going for substance at all
Chris goes all in on theory and still keeps two separate outs, plan flaw and meta-theory. This choice makes the 50 seconds the 1AR spent on substance a wasted investment. Students should learn to kick layers on purpose when the round will be decided elsewhere, while keeping enough independent routes to the ballot that the opponent has to answer several of them.
Sources: every example links to the YouTube video of the championship debate it comes from, at the moment described.
All techniques and fallacies