Hi! Recently I took a formative debate in my Literature in History class, and I’m really happy to say me and my team got an A! I thought I might share some advice on preparing for a debate
Before your academic debate its very likely you’ll be given time to prepare beforehand. (I got one week.) You may or may not be told what argument you will be defending but you will almost certainly be told the debate question!
read about the chosen topic as widely as you can. (ask your tutor if you’re not sure where to start!)
make notes while you read
ask for help if you’re not certain! You might also want to split the work between your team if you know who you’re with at this point. I didn’t, but I would have taken that approach if I had
Make points for both sides of the argument
make a list of points for one side of the argument
then counteract these points for the opposing argument
maybe think of some counter arguments for the first argument, if you’ve time.
Break your argument into sections
if you have a lot of material to discuss (for example, we had to discuss the whole of Henry IV part one) break your argument up
again, if you’re on a team, delegate the different sections of your argument!
just as an example, we broke our argument up into three parts. Acts 1 & 2, Acts 3 & 4, and Act 5. During the debate we argued each section distinctly and in chronological order
practice your public speaking!
try a few vocal exercises (vacuum cleaner noises and buzzy lips!)
remember to take a deep breath before you start speaking!
the mantra is thus: breath. think. speak!
a little bit of stretching on the day before hand can really improve your posture
and that’s it! Remember to organize your notes well on the day and be sure to have references for all of your points
