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Debate Skills

This document provides an overview of debate skills. It defines a debate as a formal method of presenting arguments for and against an issue according to explicit rules. Debates involve an affirmative and negative team, with each presenting reasons and evidence to persuade judges. Key debate skills include public speaking, critical thinking, research, listening, and teamwork. Supporting arguments requires providing examples, common sense reasoning, expert opinions, and statistics. Rebuttals require restating and refuting the opposing team's arguments while reaffirming your own. Practicing debates helps develop these important skills while increasing self-esteem and academic abilities.

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Saren Enna
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21 views

Debate Skills

This document provides an overview of debate skills. It defines a debate as a formal method of presenting arguments for and against an issue according to explicit rules. Debates involve an affirmative and negative team, with each presenting reasons and evidence to persuade judges. Key debate skills include public speaking, critical thinking, research, listening, and teamwork. Supporting arguments requires providing examples, common sense reasoning, expert opinions, and statistics. Rebuttals require restating and refuting the opposing team's arguments while reaffirming your own. Practicing debates helps develop these important skills while increasing self-esteem and academic abilities.

Uploaded by

Saren Enna
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Debate

Skills
Main Points

 What is a debate?
 Why debate?
 What skills are

needed?

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What is Debate?

 A formalmethod of presenting arguments in


support and against a given issue in which
debaters present reasons and evidence to
persuade an audience or a group of judges

 Governed by some explicit rules

3
What is Debate?
Common terms
 Resolution: a simple statement that is
subjected to critical analysis.
 Affirmative team: supporting the resolution
(‘pro’ side)
 Negative team: opposing the arguments
offered by the affirmative team and offering
arguments against the resolution (‘con’ side)
 Rebuttal: explaining why one team disagrees
with the other team
 Judge: neutral third party, decides which side
is most persuasive
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One Debate Structure
 Speech 1: first affirmative speaker introduces the topic and states the
affirmative team's first argument.
 Speech 2: first negative speaker states their first argument.
 Speech 3: second affirmative speaker states their second argument.
 Speech 4: second negative speaker states their second argument.
 Give a 5-10 minute break for each team to prepare their rebuttal
speech.
 Speech 5: negative team states two rebuttals for the affirmative
team's two arguments and summarizes their own two reasons.
 Speech 6: affirmative team states two rebuttals for the negative
team's two arguments and summarizes their own two reasons.

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Why Debate?

 “Honestdisagreement is often a
good sign of progress” 
Mahatma Gandhi

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Why Debate?
 To provide meaningful listening, speaking,
writing practice
 To develop argumentation skills for persuasive
speech and writing
 To increase social skills and conflict resolution
abilities
 To enhance self-esteem and academic
confidence
 To lead to competitive success in the future

7
What Skills are Needed?
 Public  Researching
speaking  Writing
 Critical  Listening
thinking  Teamwork and
 Note taking people skills
 Organizing

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Giving Support for Your Reasons

Support consists of evidence. There’re


four kinds of evidence
 Examples
 Common sense
 Expert opinions
 Statistics

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Rebuttal/ Refutation

 Repeat the argument you’re going to


refute

 Refute – explain what is wrong with


other team’s argument

 Replacethe argument with your


argument
Critical Thinking
 thinking about how you think
 process of asking, answering questions

and trying to understand how and why


you come to the conclusions
 in debate: plan what to say, anticipate

other team’s response, think of an


argument to counter other team’s
arguments
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Skills to Become a Better
Critical Thinker
 Compare viewpoints of other people to
your own ones
 Find ways to ask questions that apply to
many perspectives
 Understand why some statements are
correct, others are not
 Understand how problem solving works
 Establish criteria for making judgments
 Present arguments in a constructive
way… 12
Sample Practice
 Select a topic
 Choose a side: affirmative >< negative
 Discuss in your team:
 arguments,
 possible counter-arguments
 and find a way to refute them
 Start the debate
 Listen to the other team’s arguments
 Take notes
 Prepare to refute their arguments
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