What is Flowing in a debate round?

You use flowing to...

Record of your opponents’ arguments and evidence so that you know what you have to refute.
Visual record of which arguments have been beaten, which arguments are still being contested, and which arguments have flowed through the round without being attacked.
Notes from which you speak.

Here is a video explaining the basics and fundamental principles of flowing in debate. Utilize these skills in your next round, as it will take practice to master all of this note taking.

Before the round starts make sure to:

Take your piece of paper and use lines to split it into five columns. You probably want to orient things horizontally ("landscape" style), because that gives you more room per section. You'll use the first section for the PMC speech, the second for the LOC, third for MGC, fourth for MOC, and the fifth to prepare a rebuttal speech (if you're making one). Eventually, if you are a member of government or opposition (i.e., you're not giving a rebuttal), you can stop flowing after your speech, but for now you really need all the practice you can get.

During the action of the round:

Start writing down what the speaker is saying in the first column. Label every major point on a new line with a keyword that will remind you what they were saying. Any evidence or logical arguments used to support that general point go underneath, indented. A good speaker will be well organized (curiously enough, a strong speech uses just this outline-style structure), so this will be easy. A mediocre speaker may be all over the place, but it is your job to figure out what they're trying to say and put it in some semblance of order. Make sure to leave some vertical space between points, because you'll need it later.

If you're the first speaker, you obviously won't be able to do all this as you're giving your speech. The best solution to this problem is to take the time before the round to write down your own arguments in the first column. This is called pre-flowing, and allows you to sit down when you're done speaking and immediately be ready to flow the next speech. That, and it makes sure that you actually know what you're going to say.

Preflows:

Another important aspect of flowing is being able to preflow. Preflowing is the process of flowing your own case, as if you were listening to someone read your speech, before the round begins. The reason preflowing is important is because it helps with your organization. Just like you need to keep track of your opponent's arguments so you can appropriately respond, you also need to keep track of your opponent's responses to your argument. Preflowing thus creates the same grid-like pattern that makes organization easy.

Shorthand:

Because you have so many things to take note of and remember, writing in full sentences or even full words is not advised. Instead, when flowing each person should do their best to develop a shorthand that can make your notes more efficient yet still decipherable. While there is no best way to develop a shorthand, there are several different strategies that people use.

One good practice is to use symbols for commonly used words. For example, concepts like morality or justice are very likely to show up frequently. The way that I personally annotate them is by writing either an 'm' or a 'j' in a circle. Further making use of characters like '$' or '=' is a great way to cut down on the amount you have to write down.

Further, another strategy that people use is to omit all of the vowels from words and to similarly omit words that don't convey content. So a way of writing the previous in shorthand could be: "nthr strtgy ppl s s mt ll vwls frm wrds & smlrly mt wrds dnt cnvy cntnt". Obviously this strategy has its problems when words, such as "use" are predominantly composed of vowels, but the key to developing a good shorthand is to practice and experiment.

Examples:

Justice=J
Equality is =
Unequal is = with a slash through it
Quality of life= QOL
Sanctity of Life= SOL
Not Justified= J with a slash through it
Safety=S with a circle around it
At=@
Contradiction= ><
My Opponent is an idiot that makes NO sense= ?
Affirmative=Aff.
Negative=Neg.
Value=V
Criteria=C
Contention=Con.

Preflows:

Another important aspect of flowing is being able to preflow. Preflowing is the process of flowing your own case, as if you were listening to someone read your speech, before the round begins. The reason preflowing is important is because it helps with your organization. Just like you need to keep track of your opponent's arguments so you can appropriately respond, you also need to keep track of your opponent's responses to your argument. Preflowing thus creates the same grid-like pattern that makes organization easy.

Here is a video explaining the basics and fundamental principles of flowing in debate. Utilize these skills in your next round, as it will take practice to master all of this note taking.