How to take a POI in BP
POIs are scored on both sides: how you ask matters, and how you handle one matters more. Take 1-2 per speech, refuse the rest cleanly, and have a one-line response ready before they finish the question.
- POIs are only legal in minutes 1-6 of a 7-minute speech (not the first or last minute).
- Take 1-2 POIs per speech. Refusing all of them costs you; taking all of them ruins your structure.
- Refuse politely: "No thank you" or a hand wave. Don't insult, don't engage, don't apologize.
- When you take one, answer it in one sentence and immediately return to your structure. Do not let it derail your speech.
The POI window
Points of Information are 15-second interruptions any opposing speaker can offer during your constructive. They are legal in minutes 1-6 of your 7-minute speech. The first minute (your protected opening) and the last minute (your protected closing) are off-limits; offering a POI in either window gets you marked down by the chair.
POIs serve two functions: they let opposing teams force a clash on a key point, and they let speakers prove they can think on their feet under pressure. Both sides of the exchange get scored. Asking good POIs raises your speaker score; handling them well raises it more.
How many to take
Take 1-2 POIs per speech. The math: taking zero signals you can't think on your feet and the bench will mark you down. Taking 4 means you've spent a minute and a half of your speech responding to other people's points, which destroys your own structure.
Take the first POI offered after about 90 seconds in. This shows you can engage, and you've gotten through the opening without being interrupted. Take a second around the 4:30 mark if one is offered. Refuse the rest.
Time your acceptance: take a POI between two of your contentions, not in the middle of one. Mid-contention interruptions break your flow and the judge's flow.
How to refuse cleanly
When you don't want to take a POI, refuse with one of: a polite "no thank you," a hand wave, or "not at this time." That's it. Do not insult the offerer ("nice try" reads as defensive). Do not apologize ("sorry, I can't" wastes a beat). Do not engage with the question even briefly.
The cleanest refusal is silent: you make eye contact, shake your head once, hand-wave the speaker down, and keep talking without breaking stride. Watch any varsity BP debater and they refuse 80% of POIs without saying a word.
How to handle the one you take
The strongest BP speakers answer a POI in one sentence and return to their structure without skipping a beat.
Pattern: pause the moment the POI ends, deliver a one-line response, then signpost back: "I'll take that. The answer is X. Returning to my second argument..."
Have responses pre-built for the obvious POIs. If you're defending a motion on carbon pricing, you know someone will ask about competitiveness effects. Have one sentence ready: "Carbon-pricing schemes in jurisdictions like British Columbia and Sweden showed no net competitiveness loss; the empirical record doesn't support that concern."
Bad answer: a 30-second rebuttal that absorbs the POI into your speech. Good answer: a 10-second knockdown that lets you keep your structure.
When you should offer one
On the asking side: offer 4-5 POIs across the round. Most will be refused. The goal isn't to land every POI; it's to demonstrate engagement and to plant questions the adjudicator notes even if they're refused.
Make the POI a question, not a speech. "On the competitiveness concern, isn't it true that British Columbia saw no GDP impact?" is a POI. A 30-second rebuttal followed by "what do you say to that?" is not, and you'll get cut by the chair.
Offer POIs at strategic moments: right after they finish a contention you want to attack, or right before a key transition where derailing them helps. Don't offer one when they're already losing. Let them keep digging.
Sample lines
Want to try this against an AI that knows the format?
Practice taking POIs →