This is part of a series on team speaker dynamics. Read the other articles here:

Team Dynamics 1: General Considerations

In the last article, we explored some general tips on parli speaking roles. Today, we get to the most important one.

Decision-Making

In your 15 minutes of prep, the two of you need to cover a lot of ground. You'll inevitably have moments when you disagree. Both partners should have a say, and if you have time, it's worthwhile to discuss all sides before making a decision. But you do have to make a decision, and in parli, you often have to make it very quickly. 

Time is of the Essence

Suppose you're working on a policy resolution. You've hit minute 4 and you still don't know what case you're running. At this point, any decision is better than continuing to deliberate and find the best one. It's time for someone to make a decision so you can move on to specific case prep.

Parli teams are most effective when they have a team leader, whose primary responsibility is to make a judgment call when time is limited.

So Who Decides?

It's a natural fit to give the team leader position to the PM/LO. They're doing most of the speaking, so they have to carry most of the weight of their decisions. They are going to understand and execute their decisions best. 

A good leader is not domineering and only uses this power when needed. The mark of a good leader is the ability to be convinced by his partner and make the tough call to go with his idea instead.

Now comes the fun part: optimizing specific speaking styles to specific speeches. In the next few articles, we’ll go through an American parli round speech by speech and analyze which personas shine best.

Stay tuned!