Debating 101
What’s the deal?
 3v3
 Affirmative team and Negative team
 30 minutes prep
 Each team comes up with arguments to support
or oppose the motion and rebuttal
 Each speaker speaks for 6-8 minutes, alternating
between affirmative and negative
Things debating is not
 It is not a general knowledge test
 It is not a public speaking contest
 It is not a feasibility study
Speaking
Being persuasive
 Matter
 Method
 Manner
Matter
 Come up with interesting ideas
 Try to frame arguments as “outcomes” (harms or
benefits)
 Use analysis
 What’s going to happen?
 Who cares
Matter
 Eg. On the motion of making voting compulsory, from
affirmative
 “Making voting compulsory will improve political
engagement. When people are forced to vote, they are
incentivized to go out and research the policies of those
whom they are voting for. This is because people often
feel like they do not want their actions (in this case, votes)
to be wasted, especially when they are forced to go out
of their way to make them. We think improving
engagement is also extremely important, because a more
informed society is going to allow the quality of political
discourse (and therefore the quality of policies that are
made) to improve.
Matter
 Use rebuttal
 Why is it factually wrong?
 Why is it logically wrong?
 Why is it irrelevant? Be practical and comparative
 All of the above!
Matter
 Eg. On the motion of banning prostitution, from
negative
 “When we banned prostitution in the UK, rates of
people having toothache went immediately
afterwards, implying that this motion will cause
more toothaches to occur”
Method
 Structure
 Structure (seriously)
 Figure out what the major ideas of the debate
are and then organise your speech
accordinglyIntroduce and conclude
 Timing
Method
 List multiple reasons for everything you are trying
to prove, and use numbers
 Label as clearly as possible
First Speakers
Affirmative
 Clarify the debate (~2mins)
 Context
 Model
 Don’t squirrel or
overcomplicate
 Present key arguments for
your case (~6 mins)
Negative
 Clarify your stance on the
debate (~1 minute)
 Don’t challenge definition
 Present rebuttal (~3
minutes)
 Present substantive
arguments (~4 minutes)
Second Speakers
 Start speech off with a smartass comment
 Rebut arguments presented by preceding
opposing speakers (~5 minutes)
 Present additional substantive arguments (~3
minutes)
Third Speakers
 Start speech off with a smartass comment
 Listen to the whole debate
 Figure out what the debate is about or the issues
in the debate
 Address these issues individually and as evenly as
possible
 Come to favourable conclusions about them
 Make use of rebuttal and substantive
Manner
 Everyone is different
 Be confident!
 General tips
 Eye contact
 Avoid flippancy
 Mix it up
General Tips
Helpful Stuff
 Use prep wisely – spend the first 3-5 minutes
brainstorming quietly!
 Identify the “clash” in prep as soon as possible –
anticipate the opposition’s arguments
 Give your best arguments to the first speaker
 From neg, don’t just deny the affirmative’s
arguments – prove that there are harms!
How to improve
 Read stuff (The Economist!)
 Participate! Go to stuff!
 Listen to feedback from adjudicators; they are
wise
 Relax and have fun