Whether you are a novice looking to learn the basics of academic debate or a top competitor in contention to champion major tournaments, our track record of helping debaters rapidly improve is unparalleled. DebateDrills has helped over 150 debaters win countless tournaments, including local, national, and international competitions. We have completed 2500+ hours of 1 on 1 tutoring using proven teaching methods and in-house materials.
“I honestly thought that I improved more in 5 hours of tutoring than I had at all the debate camps I had been to in previous summers (combined).”
- Nirmal Balachundar | 9th Place, 2017 Varsity Harvard Invitational | Northwestern University Class of 2021
Every DebateDrills instructor has been trained by the company’s founder, Paras Kumar, who has established himself as one of the most successful coaches in the history of competitive debate. He has extensively worked 1-on-1 with 250+ students from every background, format, skillset and region. Every DebateDrills Instructor is a successful former debater and checks in quarterly with Paras about their performance.
“I personally found myself making leaps within single sessions.”
- Ishan Timalsena | B.S., University of California, San Diego
Debate education is most effective when it’s iterative and consistent. If you are training to be an Olympic athlete, you don’t train only when it is convenient. Similarly, the benefits from participating in academic debate are impactful only when students and instructors are dedicated to excellence, have the time to build strong argumentative bases, and develop skill-sets over time. Accordingly, we offer subscription based tutoring to students who want to improve at academic debate.
“I had already had a very successful debate season, but was astounded by how much I learned in 3 short months. I wish I had started working with DebateDrills earlier.”
- Jackson Lallas | B.S. Stanford | 2014 Glenbrooks Finalist, 2015 TOC Quarterfinalist
Debate education too often focuses on content and lectures instead of implementation. Our approach is the opposite. We rarely lecture and prefer free flowing conversations where students feel free to speak their mind and be equal participants in the conversation. This creates rapport between instructor and student and also ensures students feel comfortable making mistakes in the sessions, allowing faster progress. As trends evolve, so does strategy, and good coaches must adapt to the game. We pride ourselves on staying ahead of the curve and students consistently approach us because of how effective our teaching techniques are. Read our testimonials to see for yourself.
Our approach to tutoring is uniquely individualized and detailed. We initially assess and determine each students’ weaknesses while onboarding them into our program. We help decide the best tutor, and work with our tutors to create custom lesson plans using our in-house teaching philosophy and methods. We use a professional suite of software to provide seamless and effective online education that allows for flexible learning and scheduling. Click below to view our offering in more detail:
Each student has an assessment consisting of a written component and a recorded speech to determine their current strengths and weaknesses. If we are uncertain about the assessment results, we continue with a 1:1 phone call to help determine the best plan of attack
We help each student decide on the best tutor for their specific needs and budget ensuring administrative oversight into the design of each students’ learning program
Based on the results of the ILA and package purchased, each student will do intensive, structured 1-on-1 tutoring. Our tutors work with students to create individualized tutoring plans. Plans are flexible and often modified based on progress but the up-front work helps both instructors and students set clear expectations
We constantly create new mini-lectures, tutorials, and materials we provide to our students. Joining our program gets you unlimited access to these resources as long as you are enrolled in tutoring sessions
Given our status as the industry leaders in private academic debate education, we have heavily invested in professional software to provide high quality virtual debate education. This allows us to effectively teach our students virtually and provide seamless user experience
Our tutors have all been trained personally by Paras, the founder and lead tutor of DebateDrills. We also conduct quarterly performance check-ins to ensure the quality of our instruction remains elite
"What really sets Paras apart is his proven methods of teaching. I improved more than I ever did at camp and a year’s worth of tournaments working with Paras for a week."
"I personally found myself making leaps within single sessions."
"Anyone who wants to be competitive on the LD national circuit would be silly to waste an opportunity to work with someone who has a unique talent and knowledge base in teaching and working with debaters from all types of backgrounds."
Katherine Fennell
Berkeley University | Class of 2021
New York State Champion, 3rd at Glenbrooks, 5th at Harvard
"I would definitely recommend doing drill sessions with any of the instructors in the Debatedrills network—it’s worth it no matter what skill level you’re at. "
Chloe Brown
"Paras changed my debate career. We drilled together the summer leading into my senior year, and the results speak for themselves."
Brennan Caruthers
Northeastern University | Class of 2017
Cal Round Robin Champion, Berkeley Quarterfinalist
"I had already had a very successful debate season, but was astounded by how much he taught me in 3 short months. I wish I had started working with him earlier."
Jackson Lallas
Stanford University | Class of 2019
Glenbrooks Finalist, TOC Quarterfinalist
"No one was happier when I finally reached elimination rounds at a tournament than my coach Paras was"
Pranav Reddy
UPenn | Class of 2019
TOC Champion, Glenbrooks Champion, Berkeley Champion
We do not offer single, one-off tutoring sessions. We use a subscription tier model to ensure students are getting the most impactful debate education.
*Applications open in March of every year for the following season.
All our instructors go through training and we regularly track instructor performance and growth. Accordingly, we tier our instructors based on 3 levels of experience to inform pricing:
*Due to high volume and demand, expert tutors do not offer discounts.
DebateDrills Instructors are classified into tiers of experience which informs their rates.
Click on any of the profiles below to learn in depth about each Instructors debate resume!
We do not currently offer single, one-off tutoring sessions. We have transitioned to a subscription model to ensure our students are getting the most impactful debate education.
Due to high demand and volume, we do not offer trials. We encourage you to explore our testimonials & results to get more insight into our teaching record. We also offer free resources that you can view to get a better sense of the types of material we teach.
You can cancel a booked session up until 24 hours before the beginning of the session and receive a full refund.
Please reach out to us immediate and we will be happy to discuss your concerns and find an agreeable solution. This has never happened before and we are confident you will be satisfied and impressed by the quality of our work.
We prefer using Zoom or Google Hangouts for calls, though we will occasionally opt to use phone calls if our students have poor wireless signal.
Please contact us directly if you would like to discuss in-person tutoring arrangements.
Probably not. We regularly work with students as young as 6th grade.
Absolutely! Please contact us directly if you’d like to schedule group-classes.
Yes! We have helped students who live all over the world, including Japan, Taiwan, China, India, the UK, etc. As long as you have a strong internet connection, we can work with you from anywhere. Please contact us to discuss further if you are an international student.
Absolutely! In fact, many of our students are “traditional”debaters who compete locally. As competitors, we were incredibly successful at “traditional” debate as well, and we have worked closely with students who have won some of the most prestigious and difficult traditional tournaments such as the California State Championships in Lincoln-Douglas Debate.
We use the results of your ILA to create a lesson plan, and accommodate your requests on topics you are struggling with.
We do not view our services as a replacement for school teams. You have to get permission from your school coach to do drills with us - this has historically not been an issue as we've done drills regularly with students from established programs such as Strake Jesuit Preparatory School and Lake Highland Preparatory School. We are happy to sit and talk with your school administrators about their concerns about tutoring with us.
If students have preferences for teachers, we will field requests and subject to mutual scheduling availability we will pair students’ with their preferred instructors.
This depends on your ILA and mutual scheduling availability. We will pair you with instructors best suited to your growth and unique needs which could result in working with multiple instructors. All instructors you work with will be at the same experience level and will not affect your pricing.
Still have questions?
Getting started is simple. Fill out the application and pick the instructor you are most interested in working with! We will get in touch with you shortly with our decision and to discuss any questions you may have.
If you still have questions that you would like answered prior to beginning, please contact us using this link!
