The amount of tournament competition in American forensics should be reduced and replaced with community-centered, audience-involving, service-oriented activities. Many forensics educators are distressed with the direction tournament debate has taken. It is increasingly insular, particularized, and isolated from the mainstream of campus life. Taking debate into the community can help students learn approaches appropriate to the great public forums of democracy, engender support for the activity, and strengthen the position of the Director of Forensics. Three action proposals are that: (1) participation in community-centered events be built into the national and regional system of rewards and recognitions; (2) a national program be established to formulate and disseminate approaches to community debate; and (3) directors and programs be evaluated partially on the quality and extent of community debate generated by that program. Examples of community debate formats include parliamentary debate, televised debate, classroom debate, community debates on issues on the local agenda, and debates on campus issues. (RS)