Prepare
well for ‘Debate Topic’. Do research on the topic, write notes for important points. memorise
important topics, do counter preparation, and don’t take
the stress. If you feel nervousness, then take a mock debate with your friends so that you
can overcome the anxiety.
2. Introduction
a) The first
affirmative speaker does
not have to talk about any arguments from the other team. They can focus on
presenting their team’s case in a way that gets attention. The first speaker
should have the skills of an actor.
b) The second speaker, on the other hand, should be more of an “arguer”. They
should enjoy finding weaknesses in opposing arguments and coming up with strong
counter-arguments. The final speakers, or “closers”, should have excellent
logical thinking and be able to think of rebuttals (answers to the other team’s
arguments) on the spot, as it’s difficult to know beforehand what the opposition
will say.
c) The third speaker needs to advance the team’s stance while countering
the main points made by the first speaker of the other team. They need to be
cool and clear, almost like a teacher.
3. Know Your Audience
You should know that the audience includes a
panel of judges, school students, and participating students as well as other
teachers. Therefore, you need to maintain your posture, gestures
and interaction with your audience.
4. Respect and Self-Control
While you are doing a debate, you will be
required to discuss in favour or against the
topic, so you need to
maintain that you are part of a formal discussion. You must not take anything personally. Just be calm and put forth your points about the
debate. If you do not maintain your calm and firmness in front of
an audience then you may lose scores from the judges.
5. Facts and Theory
Even though your own arguments are the
most important, far too many debaters discount the importance of referring to
evidence, especially that read in the early speeches. Delivering evidence can
help you seek the attention of the judges as well as
the audience. Also, the data should be authentic so that your opponent can not raise doubts about it.
Using theories and numbers can help your win brownie points.
6. Praise Your Opponents
Pay attention to your opponent’s view and theories during the
debate. Moreover, whenever they make a good and valid point during the debate
then, you should be affirmative about it and should agree with them. Agreeing to their
valid points can be affirmative of your view too and judges will appreciate that you have knowledge of the topic.
7. Time Management
Each speaker has a time limit of three
minutes. They must find the balance between speaking quickly and expressing
points clearly. The best way to manage your time in a debate is to
practice a lot. Find out if you’re speaking too slowly or too quickly, and fix
it.
8. Remember
that Debate is a Team Activity
Even if you are stronger than your
partner, you shouldn’t take over their speech or answer all of their questions
in cross-examination. Make sure that you and your partner are going
over arguments together so that you can teach each other the best arguments to
make.
