Most of you will be familiar with the quote:‘Failing to prepare is preparing to fail’This session should provide help with what to do in prep time to help you win debates.

•Get a stopwatch running in prep – it’s useful to know how long you have.•Spend 3-4 minutes brainstorming on your own•6 – 7 minutes discussing your ideas and deciding what to run with – and who says what. Discussing includes working out how to analyse the points you come up with.•5 minutes writing down how to analyse your points.

•Benefits and harms•In a debate, there will always be benefits and harms of either side.•E.g. 1st Prop’s ‘problem’ is a harm that their motion tries to solve or an attempt to create a specific benefit that doesn’t currently exist•Debating often comes down to a ‘balance of harms’. Show that your side has most benefits and least harms and you can win.

•Underline the important words in the motion•If the motion is about a particular group e.g. Women, then it is often most crucial to prove that the motion benefits/harms that group of people to win.•If you’re legalising something, you’re probably wanting to talk about on prop why people have the right to that thing, on opp you should talk about why that thing is harmful.•Think in the real world, especially on opp, why don’t we do this in real life?

•Sometimes it is clear that a debate comes down to one single massive issue in order for a side to win.•Try to offer as many points and analysis as you can around that issue – it gives you a better chance of winning the debate.•You will realise that some issues are more important than others. For example, ‘It costs too much’ or ‘it saves money’ is an issue debaters don’t ever particularly care about.

In Prep, you have the best job.You think of ideas, you keep thinking, and you think again, all the time discussing with your extension.Since you don’t know what you’re summarising until the debate starts, your work on your speech should be done as much as possible during the debate – your priority is to make sure your partner has enough new material to work with.

Here are some points first half often miss:•Minority groups – how it affects them.•What China will think. (Int.Relations motions)•The ‘long term’ effects of the policy.•The ‘narrative’ the policy creates in society.•Think of the opposites in the motion e.g. Does a motion for women affect men? Does a motion for the developed world affect the developing world?•Don’t worry – you can always analyse in a different way or use points 1st half analysed badly.

These are all just tips, the important thing is that you find a style of prep that suits you and your average partner. Enjoy!