5 Readiness tips for Debaters
For a debutante debater or for that matter, a couple of appearances old debater, the experience can be very daunting. It can sometimes make you feel frustrated and like it simply “isn’t my thing”. The key is, just to stay in the game and believe in yourself. Here are 5 Readiness tips for Debaters.
It really isn’t too demanding and the experience that you walk away with is incomparable. Irrespective of the outcome, it’s a fantastic learning that enables you to be open to a wider perspective. To help with this enriching process here are five things that will make it hopefully a little less challenging.
Know your speech:
As obvious as this may seem, it’s very often overlooked. It’s not considered very significant, but having this feather in your hat will make you more confident. Of course, a challenge associated with this is the fact that your speech can appear scripted. However, it’s nothing a little bit of confidence and passion can’t handle. There’s nothing wrong with taking a piece of paper up to the podium with you. If you know your speech you won’t be looking at it too much. Instead, you will be making more eye contact with the audience. This will make your speech more effective and leave a lasting impact on the audience and judges. In order to take the trophy home, it’s not about whether you get every line out in your four minutes. It’s more about whether you made an impact in the lines that you do remember.
The first 20 seconds:
A debate can very often be intimidating. There could be hundreds of people watching, the trophy staring you in the eye, and every participant’s desperation to win. This has a way of charging the atmosphere. In all of this, the first few seconds of your speech may be hard to get out because of nervousness.
Despite feeling like your heart is in your mouth you can get the first twenty seconds out confidently and effectively you’ve set a fantastic pattern for the rest of your speech. It’s in the first twenty seconds of listening to your speech that the judges and the audience decide whether they want to listen to the remaining 200 or not. Not to mention the incentive it gives you to maintain the passion for the remainder of the speech. “Content is always king” so don’t let the content get lost in the fear of delivering it. Even if that means giving yourself cliched pep talks, so be it.
Rebuttal:
Nervous jitters and fear of judgment can prevent you from making an effort with the rebuttal. If you begin the debate, you may be tempted to stay seated after your speech. However, you run the risk of being forgotten. Alternatively, if your speech is in the end, you might be tempted to keep practicing your speech. This comes with the risk of being regarded as uninterested due to lack of involvement. Active participation in the rebuttal will introduce you to the judges before your speech. It will add to your credibility as a speaker.
Sometimes, rebuttal helps provide you opportunities to talk on the mic a couple of times before your actual speech. With every question you ask, your fear of speaking in front of the crowd will diminish. You will also be regarded as stiff competition from your opponents. The judges will appreciate your willingness to listen to every speech and call out inaccuracies. It portrays your passion for the subject and this will only add to your points as a debater.
Be aggressive:
Being nice and politically correct will only take you so far because in a debate. You only have four minutes to prove that you deserve to win. If you spend that time making diplomatic statements that need to be thought out to infer the conclusion, your speech probably won’t have as much of an impact as it would if you simply hit the nail on the head and aggressively put across exactly what you’re thinking.
I say aggressively only because it demonstrates conviction for the viewpoint to the judges. It shows your opponents that you’re not willing to back down as cliched as that may sound. In a debate, the last thing you can afford is to appear vulnerable. To this end, some aggression will help manage this requirement. In a debate more often than not, game-face on is a game changer. It might not win you the debate but it definitely implies that you mean business and are here to win!
Have fun, experiment, and explore:
If you genuinely enjoy debating it will be very obvious in the speech that you deliver. As you keep debating, make sure to keep the process interesting by experimenting with your style. Find one that works for you and provides you with optimum results in minimum time and effort. Find out what speech structure works for you. Tweak it every now and then so that you evolve your “go-to speech structure” as you deliver some of the best speeches.
Test the boundaries of causes, effects, solutions and take the plunge, it may be a decision you’ll be forever grateful for.
About the Author
Riddhi Gopinath is a student at Bishop Cotton Girls’ School, Bangalore.
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