CANTON, MO. -- Navigating through election coverage can be tricky.

That's why Culver-Stockton College hosted a series of lectures to prepare their young voters.

Thursday's speaker tied in the historical significance of the Lincoln-Douglas debates to present day presidential debates.

"Debates now days are sound bites. Debates back then would last 3-6 hours, each man taking an hour and half, the next man taking an hour and a half and a rebuttal and then another rebuttal so the length of the debate was no object. Thousands would attend, today millions are watching television screens," Executive Director of the Quincy and Adams County Historical Society Reg Ankrom said.

Young voters, like college students, need to learn how to make educated decisions based on debate coverage. That means knowing what to look for. Communications Instructor Christine Tracy organized the lecture to help her students.

"Look for the issues. Are they talking about the issues or are they talking about one another? Are they talking about how they're going to solve the issues? So are they making a claim and then showing how they back it up with the way they're going to solve it, the reasoning. We need to watch for the different fallacies they use. Are they calling each other names? Are they talking about personalities, instead of what's really going on and what's important to the public," Tracy said.

Debates can be a turning point for undecided voters. Even for those who think they have made a decision, these students have some words of advice.

"I try to ignore pretty much everyone except the people involved in it," Student Ryan DeGraw said. Another student, Dorian Hobbs said, "Pay attention and look and listen closely to what they're saying and not just go on whoever your favorite candidate is or who your favorite party is, but actually listen to what they're saying."

The first presidential debate is Wednesday, October 3rd at 8 p.m. It will focus on Domestic Policy.