tilbury house warsaw debating club

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Tilbury House Warsaw Debating Club

• Today’s Goals:

Learning the BPS

Tips about the positions

Public Speaking basic tips

Facing Fear & enjoying it


What is Debating?

• Structured argument

• two sides speak alternately for and against a particular contention usually based on a topical issue

• each person is allocated a time they are allowed to speak for, and any interjections are carefully controlled

• being forced to argue against your natural point of view you realize that arguments, like coins, always have two sides.


Why Debating?

Debating allows the act of speaking in public in a confident and persuasive manner to become a second nature.

It teaches you how to construct and explain arguments and how to think quickly on your feet when you needto defend them.

It teaches you how to listen carefully to what others say and structure their ideas in your head, even when they have not structured them in theirs.

It also teaches you to listen critically so that you spot the flaws in what someone is saying just after they say it, not the next day.


• AGENDA:

– I. BPS

• I.1 The System

• I.2 The Motion

• I.3 POIs

– II. The Roles

• II.1 Fulfilling your Role

– III. Face the Fear


• I. British Parliamentary Style

– This is the format used on Intervarsity debating competitions and the World Debating Championships and also at student-only debates which take place throughout universities.

– Speakers have only 15 minutes between hearing the motion and starting the debate to prepare what they say.


• I.1 The System

If the competition is for teams (pairs), then there will be two teams on each side (first Prop, second Prop, first Opp, second Opp) who are not allowed to collaborate during preparation.

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After 15 minutes preparation time each speaker delivers a 5-minute speech.

The order of the speeches is as the arrows show

Points of information can be offered between the first and last minutes of any speech by members of the opposite team.

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The debates are adjudicated by a panel of judges (usually three) who place the teams from 1-4

and award marks to each individual speaker.

Usually marks are awarded for style, content and strategy.

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• I.2 The Motion

• A motion always starts with “This House ...” and proposes what this House stands for. Thus the proposition always speaks in favour of the motion.

• A motion can either be explicit ("This House would bring back hanging.”) or not so clearly defined ("This House resolves that we should wait and see.”).

• It is the task of the first speaker of the first proposition team to– Link the motion to a specific case – mostly a law or bill

– Establish a clash that makes for a good (i.e. controversial) debate


The definition of the motion may not be to obscure, this means that specialist knowledge should not be required to understand and argue it

A good rule of thumb is to ask, could a student who regularly reads a quality newspaper be expected to know about this

If you decide to tie yourself down to a particular geographical area, this should be because the issue is of wider relevance (eg North Korea, Iraq), not because no one else will know about it (eg traffic laws in Burkina Faso).


From the Motion to the Case (status controversiae): Closed motion = Case Open Motion: Define the motion: 1st Prop must define all terms of the

motion: form your case out of the motion. “This House would skip debating” Define “skip” and “debating”. Debating ≈ discussing important issues e.g. done

in parliament debating ≈ parliament Skip ≈ leave out ≈ abolish

Case: This House would abolish parliament.


• I.3 POIs• During a speech by the other side of the house you may offer a

point of information (POI) by standing up and saying “Point of Information” or “On this point”. Do not put information into the offer (e.g., “On the victims rights.”)!

• POIs keep the debate vibrant and challenge the speaking debater.

• The speaker does not need to take every POI offered, but should take at least one. It is not wise taking more than two.

• Bring POI that go to the heart of an argument.• Do not offer the same POI twice. One argument = max. one POI.• Points of information may only be given in the

2nd, 3rd and 4th minute of a speech!


3 m

inu

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5 m

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tes

11

• Announce structure of you speech

• Rebuttal

• End your argumentation

• Briefly sum up your speech

• Start your proper line of argumentation

• Follow the structure you have announced

• Take and respond to one or two points

of information

No POIs

No POIs

Points of

Information

allowed


• II. The Roles– You do not just stand up and speak in favour or

against the case – there’s more to it!

– 8 different positions at the table, each one represents a different role

– You need to internalise your side of the debate and your position at the table

– Adjudicators will be asking themselves, how has the speaker fulfilled his/her role?


Preparation time

Depending on the role you have either more or less prep time:

Prep time = [(Position no. - 1)*5minutes]+15 minutes

How can I use this time properly?


II. 1 Fulfilling your role

1st PROPOSITION: 1st Speaker:

Feels comfortable with the case must define the motion and justify it must outline the case his team will put

forward and explain which speaker is going to deal with which arguments

Should then develop his own arguments and finish by summarising his main points

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1st PROPOSITION:

2nd Speaker:

should re-cap the team line

then rebut the response made by the first opp speaker to his partner’s speech

then develop his own arguments and finish with a summary of the whole prop case

Enhances his partner, doesn’t repeat him! Treats new areas, brings new arguments

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1st OPPOSITION:

1st Speaker:

must respond to the definition mentioning whether it is fair and makes a reasonable link to the motion.

Re-define is risky and should only be done when the definition is not debatable. Usually it is better to complain a little and hope the adjudicator gives you credit

must rebut the first prop speech

Own arguments, counter-case, better do nothing, not always 180

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1st OPPOSITION:

2nd Speaker:

Same as 2nd Speaker of the other side…

Continue with the same strategy as his partner, the 2nd speaker should very much follow this lead (counter case, do nothing, whatever)

If countercase, summarize at end of speech!

Enhances his partner, doesn’t repeat him! Treats new areas, brings new arguments

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2nd PROPOSITION: 1st (3rd) Speaker: Expand or deepen the debate rather than extend it

with a new case. To expand means: to take the debate into a new

area, introduce a couple of new arguments which make the case on his side more persuasive

To deepen means: simply tidy up what has gone before into a more organised case and show how that rebuts what the opp side have said

Depends on the scenario, BUT ALWAYS add something constructive to the debate or you will bepenalised

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2nd PROPOSITION:

2nd (4th) Speaker:

may briefly add to what his partner has said, but should fairly quickly get round to summing up the debate for his side

This involves going through the whole

debate to show why the prop side has won

go through the debate according to the main points of contention (this is the most persuasive way, but it is vital you have understood the debate and prioritise the issues accordingly)

good idea: finish by summarising the main reason why your side has won.

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2nd OPPOSITION: 1st (3rd) Speaker: very similar to the second prop team’s role . View things from a different angle; in a hitherto

philosophical debate you may dwell on practical issues and vice versa

Dwell on the framework, the fundamentals and underpinnings that affect the case.

If the 1st Prop (Opp) has been bad in fulfilling its role, the 2nd Prop (Opp) has to provide the arguments that should have been brought by the 1st Prop (Opp)

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2nd OPPOSITION:

2nd (4th) Speaker:

must devote their whole speech to summing up and

should not introduce new material!!!

only provide new examples/reasons to already mentioned points

Identify key points, show why your side (especially your team) is right and that you delivered the decisive points

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Proposition Opposition

1st Speaker

• Defines the case and sets

the debate

• Starts the 1st team’s

argumentation

2nd Speaker

• Rebuts

• Continues the prop’s case

1st Speaker

• Opens the opposition’s

case by opposing the

problem or the policy or

both

2nd Speaker

• Rebuts

• Continues the opp’s case

1st Speaker

• Rebuts

• Expands or deepens the

debate and views things

from a different angle

2nd Speaker

• Sums up the whole debate

• Weighs up the arguments

1st Speaker

• Rebuts expansion

• Views things from a

different angle

2nd Speaker

• Sums up the whole debate

• No new arguments!

• Weighs up the arguments


A A

A A

B

A A

B

A A

A A

B

A AB

A is wrong / There is no problem

A is right but irrelevant / The

problem is valid but irrelevant

A is right, but less important

than B

3 ways to counter an argument


What is a good speech?

You have to say what you want to say

People have to understand what you want to say

Choose the best way to say what you want to say

Structure in the back with style on top of it

a) Structure of speech & argument 40%

b) Style – basic debating skill 30%

c) Content 30%


a) Structure of speech:

– Introduction:

rebuttal (negative content)

announce the structure

– Argumentation: 2 to 4 areasProblem-Outcome-Policy-Structurepattern

– Short summary


• Structure of an argument: name explain illustrate

• Every argument should start with n concept that needs to be linked to specific things that people care about

• Example: No one wants “democracy”, but everybody wants security, money and a job, which are provided by democracy

Abstract /

Concept

Concrete/

ExampleExplanation

Line of argumentation

Democracy

Freedom

Equality

Efficiency

Money, Security,

health, family,

spiritual

fulfillment, things,

job


In a nutshell 1 Judge | 2 Sides | 4 Teams | 8 Speakers

The topic of the debate is announced 15 minutes prior to the debate

Each speaker gets a team and side assigned.

Each position has its tasks

Each speaker has 5 minutes of speech

Points of information may be given between the 2nd and 4th minute

Judging Criteria:

Content

Structure

Style

POI


tilbury house warsaw debating club

Documents

world debating championships

minutes preparation

individual speaker

proposition team

teams pairs

award marks

opposite team

minute speech