J. Whately was a debating champion at school and a debating champion at university, and maintains — as his standing first-affirmative case, open to challenge at any podium, on any topic, at any time — that he is the best debater in the world. In the finest traditions of the activity, the claim has been vigorously asserted, repeatedly tested, and never successfully rebutted. The adjudication, he notes, speaks for itself.
These days he argues less and coaches more. The 2027 Handbook grew out of a simple observation: the hardest part of school debating isn’t teaching children to speak — it’s giving the adults around them a clear picture of how the whole thing runs. What the bells mean. Who speaks when. What the adjudicator is actually scoring when the scoresheet says Matter, Manner, Method. How nine rounds, ten teams and one trophy fit into a school term without chaos.
So he wrote it down — all of it, in order, in plain language, built around a real season of scaffolded debating for young speakers. The result is a book you can hand to a first-year coach, a nervous parent, a volunteer chairperson or a brand-new adjudicator, and know they will walk into debate day ready.
J. Whately is a pen name, borrowed with due respect from a great rhetorician. The arguments, however, are entirely original — and, in the author’s submission, entirely correct.
“A debate is won in the preparation room and confirmed at the podium. The Handbook is about both rooms.” — J. Whately