Finalist Interviews

Danielle Dosch (Immaculate Heart DD) defeated Frances Zhuang (Palo Alto FZ) in finals to win the Presentation Invitational! Premier Debate has exclusive interviews with both these debaters!

Frances Zhuang (Palo Alto FZ), Finalist

Question: How was the weekend? What was your experience? How do you feel?
Frances Zhuang: Last weekend was super fun and the tournament was great—for one, Presentation was local, so I didn’t have to miss school to travel. I also learned a lot from my first round robin, thanks to the great feedback from most of my judges. The only downside is that I got sick after the RR, so I guess you could say I lost my voice to Voices.

Q: Last year, you went 4-2 and lost in Octas. This year, you surged through the tournament, making it all the way to finals. What do you owe the improvement to? What do you remember being different in your strategy from last year’s tournament?
FZ: I’ve gotten much more flexible as a debater, and I think that made a huge difference. I just allocated my time a little better to form well-rounded strategies.

Q: You participated in the round robin, tell us a bit about it.
FZ: Funnily enough, since it was my first RR, my goal was to not DFL. It was super educational since I had to adapt to a bunch of different judging styles and got in-depth feedback from everyone.

Q: You lost to Danielle in finals of the main tournament, but pulled off a win in the Round Robin finals rematch the next day. What changed? Were there strategic adjustments?
FZ: I made two major fixes: I swapped out most of the defensive args for more offensive reasons to reject T, and I tried to focus more on big-picture framing instead of getting bogged down in the line by line.

Q: As we wrap up, do you have any concerns that you’d like to vocalize?
FZ: I love all the female representation we’ve been seeing this year, and I hope it continues! I think groups like Girls Debate are helping turn the tide toward more inclusivity. Along these lines, I also think we should include small-school debaters in our dialogues about inclusivity—most are doing great in terms of accessibility, though we’ve still got a ways to go. As an independent and a woman in debate, I want to put myself out there as a resource—if anyone has questions or needs support, please don’t hesitate to contact me (Facebook or franceszhuang7(at)gmail.com).

Danielle Dosch (Immaculate Heart DD), Champion

Question: At Presentation last year, you went 5-1 and lost in Doubles. This year, you found yourself undefeated and championing the tournament (your third one this year!). What differences do you think have played into your improvement? What do you remember from last year that’s different this year?
Danielle Dosch: I spent a lot of time over the summer working on debate. Camp really helped fill in any gaps in my understanding of different arguments and strategies. On top of overall skill refinement, I experienced a shift in outlook as well. This year I promised myself that I’d be much more process-oriented. In my opinion, you have to take tournaments round by round. You can’t think about what implications an individual win or loss will have on your success at the rest of the tournament or even future tournaments. I was once told that a debate tournament is a marathon, not a sprint. I think that’s honestly a really apt metaphor. It’s all about having consistency, endurance, and laser- sharp focus.

Q: The next topic has been released for almost two weeks. Have you put any research into it yet? What’re your first impressions? For Reference: Resolved: Wealthy nations have an obligation to provide development assistance to other nations.
DD: I was surprised that this topic was chosen for November/December. In all the years I’ve debated, Nov/Dec topics were small and related to the legal system. This topic is the exact opposite. “Wealthy nations” and “development assistance” are such broad terms; there are so many different directions debaters can go, which will be particularly interesting given the few amount of tournaments during November and December. I think given the wording of the topic, Nebel T and truth testing will be popular arguments.

Q: Before we go, any shout-outs or thank-you’s that you have?
DD: I want to thank my brother, David Dosch. He is the most devoted and helpful coach I could ever ask for. I am really grateful that we have such a strong dynamic. I also want to congratulate my teammates on their performances; it’s only a matter of time until they start dominating the circuit!