A Paper Presented at the Annual Convention of the National Communication Association, November 16–19, 2023 – National Harbor, MD Debate in the Introductory Course: Teaching invention and Audience in an Age of Post-truth John Banister, University of Georgia Abstract: Participation in competitive debate activities was a formative influence in the professional development of many communication teachers and scholars. However, debate pedagogies are typically reserved for upper-division elective courses or students participating in intercollegiate debate. Integrating academic debate as a capstone unit can enable students in an introductory course to accrue many of these same benefits. This essay describes and reflects upon my experience incorporating an academic debate unit in an introductory public speaking course. Using a format that slightly modifies the National Speech and Debate Association’s Public Forum Debate, teams of students are assigned to argue the affirmative or negative on a public policy proposition of mutual interest. Students completing the unit demonstrate their abilities to conduct research, argue policy stock issues, listen critically, and engage in substance-oriented, civil disagreement. I contend that, despite difficulties in scaling this approach at the programmatic level, debate remains a viable pedagogical tool that militates against the post-truth tendencies that plague contemporary public discourse. Keywords: Argumentation, Civic engagement, post-truth, classical rhetoric