Ask a teammate to hunt defects in the debate case

A case review is a defect hunt, not a pep talk. Tell your teammate which argument to break, cap the time, and keep the model's praise out of the brief.

2 min read

A debate teammate who likes you will tell you the case is solid. That sentence is worthless on a Saturday. You need someone to break it on Thursday, while you can still cut a card.

Ask for a review. Name the argument. Ask for defects. Do not ask whether they are proud of you.

Review means hunt, not cheer

A review is a list of problems, ideally ordered by how much they matter. That is the same shape as asking for a technical design review: the object, the kind of attack, a time cap, a date.

"Read contention 1 only. I want links you can break and evidence that does not say what the tag says. Forty minutes. I will lock the case Friday at 6." That is a complete request. "Thoughts on the case?" is a pep-talk invitation.

Tell them silence is fine. A teammate with their own rounds should be able to decline without a paragraph.

Keep the model's confidence off the page

Your assistant will like the case. Fluent, certain, ready to invent a warrant you did not research. That opinion is not yours until you adopt it. If you paste the pep talk into the briefing, your teammate will waste the first ten minutes arguing with a paragraph nobody meant.

Label assumptions. "I have not read past the abstract on this source" is a gift to the person hunting cards. A sentence that sounds like you read the study is how you lose on a cross-examination you deserved.

You draft. You read. You confirm the send. The case that goes out under your name should not contain a citation you cannot defend.

Send it like a brief, not a folder

No attachments. Point at the shared case file. The briefing is the ask: which contention, what kind of break, by when.

Teammates without accounts get email and a link. Teammates who already have accounts need an accepted contact.

Nicknames stay private unless you share them. Write the name they use at tournaments, not the group-chat joke.

If they block you, the block is silent. Run the version you have at the deadline you named.

A sufficient reply is a list of defects. "Looks good" is a failed review. Say that in the ask so they know a short cheer is not what you wanted.

When the contention is small enough to break in the time you offered, connect your assistant and send the hunt, not the pep talk.

Frequently asked questions

Why not just ask if the case is good?
Because 'good' is an opinion with no closing condition. A review names the argument and asks for defects. Praise does not change what you run on Saturday.
Does my teammate need an account?
No. Email and a link are enough. If they already have a RelayLink account, you need an accepted contact.
What if the assistant already said the case is strong?
That is the model's opinion, not a judge's. [Your AI has opinions — not you](/learn/your-ai-has-opinions-not-you). Send the case for a human defect hunt and keep the pep talk off the page.