Change Agents Debate 101Conducted by your Seniors: Ben, Sharifah, E Hueen, Vanessa, Madeline and Dana

What am I going teach you today? •The 11 rules of what to do before, during

and after a debate

What you will be able to do

•Know what it takes to be a debater•The basics of debating

What you will NOT be able to do •Win every debate you attend •Be a really good debater without

practicing and asking questions

Before the debate

Let’s Start…

•What do you understand by the term ‘Debate’?

Define

•Identify the keywords in the motion •Look up the dictionary for the direct

definition•Combine everything together to make a

short and simple definition

THW ban Facebook

•‘Ban’ and ‘Facebook’ •How would you define it?

• ‘Ban’= Abolish/Do away by Government ruling

• ‘Facebook’= Social media

Build A Case

•In order to build a case, you must understand what a motion requires first.

•To do this, you will first need an understanding of the different type of motions

Types of motions

•Policy (Eg. THW ban cosmetic surgery) •Value-Judgment (THBT caning is bad)

What Value-Judgment (VJ) Motions require?(THBT caning is bad)

•‘Draw a line in the sand’- establish criteria of bad. Eg. How bad is bad?

•Use this criteria to build on your arguments

•Demonstrate the similarities between caning and why it is bad

What Policy motions require? (THW ban cosmetic surgery)•Establish the problem that cosmetic

surgery have/does not have on our society •Implement a plan to solve this problem •The plan AKA Policy does not need to be

perfect, but it must make an improvement to the status quo

Build A Case (Policy motions)

•Establish if a problem is present/about to surface

•Identify the key parties involved in the problem

•Cover the problems the key parties will face if the motion stands

Build A Case (VJ Motions)

•Establish criteria (Opposition to either accept or challenge the criteria)

•Identify the key parties involved and cover how the motion will affect them

Case-Line

•Your case line is a summary of what you will prove as a team

•It’s just one sentence

•“And together as a team, we will prove that…..”

Argument• All arguments need the following- Reasoning - Evidence - Significance

• Your arguments must be solid and it must make sense

• One way of ensuring this is by asking your friends/family to walk in halfway through your argument, if they understand your argument, you’re good.

Speech-writing(Proposition) •1st speaker- Define the motion - Give 1 or 2 arguments

•2nd Speaker- Rebuttal - Give 1 or 2 arguments

•3rd Speaker- Rebuttals all the way

Speech-writing (Opposition) • 1st speaker- Rebuttal and Definition Challenge (if necessary)- Define the motion - Give 1 or 2 arguments

• 2nd Speaker- Rebuttal - Give 1 or 2 arguments

• 3rd Speaker- Rebuttals all the way

Speech Writing (Reply Speaker)

•For both sides, the Reply Speaker (either the 1st or 2nd Speaker) is required to:

- Sum up their team’s case - Prove why their team should win/Why the

motion should stand

During the debate

Listen and Think

•For the flaws in the other team’s arguments, than use those flaws in the reply speech/rebuttals

Rebuttals

•Also known as Counter-Arguments, rebuttals allow you the opportunity to attack the other team’s case

•Rebuttals can be either offensive or defensive, however, the purpose of the rebuttal is to settle an issue once and for all.

POI

•It is a must for every speaker to offer at least 1 POI and to take at least 1 POI

•POIs are like missiles, if used at the right time, it will land a devastating effect on the other team

•If used wrongly, the missile will land on your team

Calm down

•For you to think carefully, you need to calm down

•So even when you are getting destroyed in the debate, always remain calm and listen for loopholes

•Opportunity comes when there is danger involved

Teamwork

•Not everyone is good enough to be all 3 speakers

•Work together to win a debate

•Strategy of dream team - Ben: Work on reply speech - Sharifah: Help Ben with reply speech , E

Hueen with POIs and Rebuttals- Keeps us calmed down :D

- E Hueen: Throw POIs and rebuttals

Take notes

•As a debate progresses, it is important to take down notes on what the speakers are talking about

•The notes you take should be concise and direct

•These notes will allow you to be able to directly quote the speaker and land a damaging attack on their team.

After the debate

Debrief ≠ Scolding session

•What you did well•What you did not do well •What you can improve on •Did you do your best?

File your notes

•You never know when a similar motion may appear

Enjoy the experience of debating

ARE YOU READY?

Motion for debate next week

THBT piracy represents a serious threat to the future of the entertainment industry

Proposition

•1st Speaker: Nithya•2nd Speaker: Sarah•3rd Speaker: Azriyanne•Reply: Nithya

•Mentors: Ben, Sharifah and E Hueen

Opposition

•1st Speaker: Sharizman•2nd Speaker: Sofea•3rd Speaker: Ayuni •Reply: Sharizman

•Mentors: Dana, Madeline and Vanessa

All the best :D

Copyright © 2012- Benjamin Goh. All rights Reserved