INTRODUCTION /

DEBATING: A BASIC
INTRODUCTION
• Everybody has debated, one way or another.
• Almost everyone has debated more recently than
they think.
• If people said that they never debated, they must
be thinking of debating as something formal.
• The formal debate is an activity involving two
teams of three speakers each, with a debate topic /
statement and an adjudicator (a person or group
that makes an official decision about something,
especially about who is right in a disagreement; a
mediator; a referee; a judge)
2
• That is one basic style of debating. However,
debating in a broader sense can be informal.
• Debating is all around us; on TV, in the
newspaper, and in our own homes.
• As a society, we debate about almost
everything.
• Debating is everywhere, and anyone would do
it.

3
• Debating can be fun.
• Debating gives you the chance to meet new
people and new ideas.
• Best of all, you have the opportunity to stand
up and argue with someone in public, in a
stimulating and organized dispute about real
issues.
• The lessons are about improving your skills of
formal argument.
• It is expected that the lessons would help you
develop the right skills and strategies to be a
successful debater.
• Consequently, the students may find debating
fun to do because of the benefits they would
4
gain from it..
• It will be our effort to try to make debating as
simple as possible.
• We should not think that debating becomes
more complicated and more abstract as the
debater develops.
• Even if topics become more abstract and the
subject matter more technical, the debating
itself should become simpler.
• We don’t need special skills to make something
complicated because it is easy to make things
worse, but to make a complicated thing easier–
that needs skills!
• It is a challenge that all debaters should set
themselves – how to make complicated things
5
easier.
• Debating requires a “hands-on” experience.
• One cannot learn about it by just reading
about it. Therefore, it is important to have
lots of practice.
• Only by practice would the student
understand the challenges and techniques
of good debating.

6
 Levels

• Many concepts of this lessons are divided into

“levels”.
• There are three levels: “beginner”,
“intermediate”, and “advanced”.
• BEGINNER refers to debaters who have limited
or no experience. If you are about to start
debating, or you have only debated for one or
two years, this is probably the level for you.

7
• INTERMEDIATE refers to debaters who
understand the basics well. If you have
debated for more than two years, this is
probably the level for you.

8
• ADVANCED refers to debaters who understand
the basics completely, who are very
comfortable with the INTERMEDIATE
techniques, and who are looking for a
challenge. If you are debating in a senior side
at school, or you are in a representative team,
this is probably your level.

9
• It is suggested that if you are doing self-study
of our book, you may read up only to your
level.
• If you are a BEGINNER, read that level.
• If you consider yourself INTERMEDIATE, read
the BEGINNER and INTERMEDIATE level, etc.
• However, we will try to cover all levels as we
progress along (from now until the next
semester).

10
 BEGINNER
• Every debate needs a topic.
• This is a contentious assertion that forms the basis for
the debate.
• For example, the topic might be “THAT IT IS BETTER TO
BE SMART THAN TO BE KIND” or “THAT WE SOMETIMES
NEED TO LIE THAN TO ALWAYS TELL THE TRUTH”.
• Our book relates to a specific but common style of
debate.
• It is the style used in most schools throughout Australia
and in many other countries, at the Australian National
Schools Debating Championships and at the World
Schools Debating Championships.
11
 The teams
• In this style, there are two teams in a debate.
• One team is required to argue that the topic is
true.
• This team is called the “affirmative”, or
sometimes the “proposition”.
• The other team is required to argue that the topic
is not true.
• This team is called the “negative”, or sometimes
the “opposition”.

12
• Each team uses two basic types of argument
to support for its side of the topic.
• FIRST: There are substantive arguments.
These are prepared arguments in favor of a
team’s side of the topic.
• SECOND: There is rebuttal. Rebuttal is your
attack on your opposition’s arguments.
• The difference between substantive arguments
and rebuttal is the distinction between
showing why your team is right and showing
why your opposition is wrong.
13
• It is impossible to say whether substantive
arguments or rebuttal are more important –
each is just as important as the other, and
each is vital for successful debating.

14
THE FOLLOWING DESCRIPTION IS THE STANDARD
SET UP FOR A FORMAL DEBATE, HOWEVER WE
MAY MAKE NECESSARY ADJUSTMENTS TO
ACCOMMODATE THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS IN
THE CLASS:
• There are three speakers on each team.
• Speakers are usually identified by their speaking
number and their team side.
• For example, debaters might speak of the “First
Affirmative” (the first speaker of the affirmative
team), or the “Third Negative”(the third speaker
of the negative team).
15
• Every speaker except the First Affirmative ( the
first speaker of the entire debate) is expected
to rebut his or her opposition.
• The first and second speakers on both teams
are also expected to present substantive
arguments.
• The third speeches, therefore, are used for
rebuttal and summary.

16
 The chair

• The debate is “controlled” by a “chair” (also referred

to as a “chairperson”).
• Debaters should always start their speeches by
acknowledging both the chair and the audience.
• A male chair is usually referred to as “Mr. Chairman”;
a female chair as “Madame Chair”.
• A common way of starting a debating speech is
therefore, “Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen”, or
“Madame Chair, ladies and gentlemen”.
17
• It is the duty of the chair to call each speaker
in turn. For example, the chair might introduce
the first speaker of the debate by saying. “It is
now my pleasure to introduce the first speaker
of the affirmative team, to open her team’s
case, Daneth.”

18
Debate set up

19
20
• Participants speak in order, alternating
sides.
• The affirmative team speaks first.

21
 THE ADJUDICATOR

• Every debate has a result -- one team wins and one team
loses.
• There cannot be a draw.
• The result is decided and announced by the adjudicator
– somebody who has watched and followed the
debate carefully in order to decide the result.
• Adjudicators are not allowed to make random or
arbitrary decisions – they must follow clear guidelines
about what is, and is not, good debating.

22
• Some teams may not agree with the
adjudicator’s decision.
• That is why it is always a challenge to debate
well enough that you can persuade any
adjudicator that you deserve to win the
debate.

23
 Debate assessments
Adjudicators use three categories to consider
debates:
MANNER
It describes the way that a particular speech
is presented: “how you say it”. For example, how
interesting, sincere or humorous is the speaker?
MATTER
It describes the arguments / reasons that
you present, both in their general strength and in
the way that you support and explain them.
24
METHOD
It describes the structure of your speech.
It can often become a “mixed bag” category
involving all those parts of your speech that
don’t seem to fit into either manner or matter.

25
HOWEVER, the World Schools Debating
Championships use the similar categories of
style, content and strategy.
STYLE
It equates to manner.
CONTENT
It equates to matter.
STRATEGY
It equates to method.

26
27