Debating (1 Viewer)

[orkyz]

Hi, i've recently taken up debating and am going to go and participate in my high school's try-outs. Now there are some things that i'm really worried about:
I draw confidence from having my entire speech written in front of me.
I mess up when i do not have my entire speech in front of me.

So basically, i get really nervous when i present my rebuttals and only a few notes on my palm cards. I attended this debating training program at sydney uni and the said not to have your entire speech written in front of you. Big problem. Help me out guys!

 

[slyhunter]

Try practicing at home with only a few notes and see how it goes from there.

 

[Absolutezero]

Practice your improvisation. Get people to write out a list of topics for you on cards. When you have time, pick a card at random and speak about it.

If you can, record it, and listen back. Listen for the mistakes in structure, organisation, tone etc. and find solutions to combat them.

 

[Lolsmith]

Don't do debating if you're too much of a nervous personality until you can remedy that. If you aren't, here's some easy things that can help you be a better human being and by result, a better debater:

- Improve your basic logic
If you have an easily accessible sense of logic that actually requires thinking about subjects instead of just reciting rhetoric on the subject spoken by others or figures from arbitrary surveys, you can effectively argue anything you have some knowledge of. Especially since this is basically devoid in most teenagers. Sensible reasoning goes an extremely long way and is most relevant to your current issue.
(this can be done by reading more extensively into subjects that are about arguing and proving specific points with evidence, for example, political philosophy and economics)

- Have a confident presence
Adjudicators will take a more favourable eye to someone who can make their well-made argument with confidence. If someone has an amazing argument but can't present it with proper confidence, key points will probably not be impressed as strongly upon adjudicators. Your team mates will also perform better if they know they have someone that knows what they're doing (or can at least look like what they're doing). This is mostly achieved through practice.

- Be both a good winner and loser
No one likes a dick that wins and no one likes a whiner when they lose. Be humble in victory and gracious in defeat. Not only will your team mates not hate you, but if you're at another school, the teachers/adjudicators there will be impressed with your behaviour and not dislike your school.

 

[orkyz]

awesome tips there guys, thanks! i'm pretty sure i want to start debating now, or i'll never be confident at public speaking in the future.