Outline a document to perfect its structure.

I’ve talked a lot about my dad around here (and will again). Maybe I should just add him to my About page….

Anyway, he put himself through college on a debate scholarship, and he felt like the lessons learned from that program helped him in a lot more ways than just paying for his education. He learned how to win arguments, but more than that he learned how to really understand what someone else was saying, and how to help other people understand ideas he wanted to communicate.

He learned how to critically examine an idea or belief, to consider it from every angle and subject it to the rigorous demands of pure logic. He learned to think on his feet, to manage the stresses of performance and competition, to memorize and research and take notes like a professional.

I know all this, because he and I argued the topic again and again and again when I was in high school and he insisted that I enroll in at least one semester of debate.

I was arguing, in the first place, because I had no interest in public speaking. By my Freshman year I’d already dedicated my life to writing, and I liked writing. I liked having time to build a well-worded argument, to dictate the shape and pace of the conversation, to review my errors and fix my mistakes before sharing them with the world.

Dad’s philosophy was always that education is all about stretching beyond your comfort zone, and he won that debate (of course). And, of course, he was right. I got better at sound logic, strong research, and quick thinking. I picked up all those skills he’d mentioned — learned them so deeply that I never really had to try again — and among them one he’d never brought up. I learned how to write an outline.

Boy howdy.

I already knew how to take notes, to sketch an overview, but I didn’t usually “outline” per se. I didn’t even really learn the difference until I got to my first competition. I gave my big speech — carefully and beautifully structured — and then my counterpart on the other team stood up to respond. He took a deep breath, and launched into attack.

“Roman one, you talked about immigration controls, but your case focuses exclusively on emigration…. Big B, your cited source refers to a policy the U. S. has considered, but it has since been rejected…. Number 2 establishes a possible solution but it’s totally at odds with your assumptions in Roman three, big B, number 2, little C.”

I just stared at him, stunned. I didn’t have any big Bs or little Cs. I didn’t know what he was talking about!

Visualizing Underlying Structure

Of course, he was referring to the standard outline format, and I’ll get into that Tuesday. Outside of debate, though, nobody really uses the outline format as a reference structure (calling out points by their labels). That means you don’t need to worry too much about getting yours perfect.

The value of a well-made outline, though, is keeping you on topic. An outline isn’t just a summary, it’s a structure, a map of the relationships between ideas. Come back tomorrow, and I’ll help you understand what a document outline really does for you (and why it’s worth the effort).

Photo credit Julie V. Photography.