Why is debate conducted

No revision of position of a team is permitted during the debate. He who asserts must prove. In order to establish an assertion, the team must support it with enough evidence and logic to convince an intelligent but previously uninformed person that it is more reasonable to believe the assertion than to disbelieve it. Facts must be accurate. Visual materials are permissible, and once introduced, they become available for the opponents' use if desired.

In the questioning period, the questioner may ask any fair, clear question that has a direct bearing on the debate. The best way to do this is to divide your case into between two and four arguments or divide your case based on the number of people in your group.

You must justify your arguments with basic logic, worked examples, statistics, and quotes. Proof, or evidence, supporting your assertion is what makes it an argument. Under each of these basic headings you should then explain the reasoning behind the argument and justify it using the methods outlined above.

It is usually best to put the most important arguments first. Here is an example of a case outline:. This is true for three reasons. Firstly , most people base their votes on what they see and hear in the media.

Secondly , the media can set the political agenda between elections by deciding what issues to report and in how much detail. Thirdly , the media have successfully demonized politicians over the last ten years so that now people are more likely to believe journalists than politicians. All of the arguments in this case outline are debatable almost immediately you can see the counter-arguments , but they give the case a wide range which cover all kinds of issues.

The trick is not to come up with a watertight case, but a well argued one. Rebuttal — the parts. Arguments can be factually, morally or logically flawed. They may be misinterpretations or they may also be unimportant or irrelevant. A team may also contradict one another or fail to complete the tasks they set themselves.

These are the basics of rebuttal and almost every argument can be found wanting in at least one of these respects. Here are a few examples:. If the speaker fails to do any of those things you can then hang her or him by the noose by repeating their exact words — by his or her own admission he or she cannot have won the debate.

Rebuttal — the whole:. It is very important to have a good perspective of the debate and to identify what the key arguments are. It teaches them the skills of researching, organizing, and presenting information in a compelling fashion. Instagram Instagram did not return a Benefits of Debating Decades of academic research have proven that the benefits that accrue as a result of engaging in debate are numerous. Need help selecting a program? Tell A Friend. Your Name. Your Email. Friend's Email.

Friend's Name.