Yale Summer Debate Instructor & NY State Champion | Coaching to Win

Madison K.

I’m a New York State Congressional Debate Champion, National Congressional Finalist, and former instructor at Yale’s Debate Summer Program. I specialize in helping middle and high school students become stronger debaters, public speakers, and critical thinkers.

Over the past two years, I’ve coached students ranging from complete beginners to nationally competitive debaters. My students have gone on to become two-time state champions, final at the NSDA National Championships, reach finals at major national tournaments including Harvard, Princeton, UPenn, and NCFL/Catholic Nationals, and win national championships in speech events.

I work primarily with students in Congressional Debate, Lincoln-Douglas Debate, SPAR, impromptu speaking, informative speaking and public speaking in general. My coaching focuses on the skills that consistently separate average competitors from finalists: clear argument structure, strong warrants, strategic refutation, impact weighing, crystallization, cross-examination, judge adaptation, and controlled delivery under pressure.

My approach is structured, personalized, and results-oriented. After the first session, I create a customized multi-week lesson plan based on the student’s current level, goals, strengths, and competitive needs. For ongoing students, I also provide weekly lesson summaries and analysis so families can clearly track what we worked on, what improved, and what we are prioritizing next.

I help students with:
• Congressional Debate: legislation analysis, authorship and sponsorship speeches, half-ref speeches, CWDAI structure, impact calculus, questioning styles, crystallization, delivery and chamber strategy, refutation
• Lincoln-Douglas Debate: case writing, framework, rebuttals, weighing, and round strategy
• SPAR: prep, clash, organization, delivery, and adaptation
• Speech Events: structure, confidence, clarity, pacing, and audience engagement