How to prepare for your round

The UBS Cambridge Union Schools Debating Competition 2008/09 The UBS Cambridge Union Schools Debating Competition 2008/09 The UBS Cambridge Union Schools Debating Competition 2008/09

Debating, particularly on short–prep motions, can appear daunting – it need not be, and a little practice can go a long way!

How To Prepare

For some students, particularly those new to debating and entering their first external competition, the first round can be a somewhat nervous experience! A little practice, particularly for the short–preparation debates, can go a long way however, and listed below are various tips and online resources that will leave you better prepared, and hopefully less anxious!

  • Get to grips with the basics
  • Practice makes perfect
  • Examples of motions we've set in previous years
  • Preparing for the Unprepared
  • Resources that may help you
  • Our guide to hosting

Our downloadable guide to BP debating is available to download here.

Get to grips with the basics:

Clearly being familiar with how British Parliamentary debating works is essential. Above all, teams are judged on how well they've carried out their specific 'role' on the table, and thus success in the competition is premised on a good understanding of what's expected from you. To help with this, we've made available completely free-to-download our own guide to debating, written by expert debaters from the Cambridge Union, and edited by the most important judge in the entire competition – this year's Chief Adjudicator, Mr Doug Cochran. Even for the more advanced speakers, since every competition is slightly different, familiarising yourself with what we expect of you is not only a useful exercise to do at the start of the year, but will help your progress through the competition.

Practice makes perfect!

Whatever you're doing in life, if you want to improve, you practice. This is often particularly important for short–prepared motions, given how daunting some students find the idea of coming up with 2 speeches' worth of material in 15 minutes. Getting a teacher or more experienced debater in the school to run practice sessions during your lunch––break or after school can help greatly with this.

Exercises:

  1. Brainstorming arguments as a group, for and against a motion, is usually a good starting point, before choosing between 4 and 6 of these, and thinking about how they might be developed in a speech. Furthermore, thinking as a group about how the motion might be defined, how specific points might be rebutted, and what points of information would be good to make all help develop understanding and confidence.
  2. Have a prepared debate – For your first few debates, knowing about the motion in advance can make the process more comforting. It's usually best if you pick a motion, let students research it, but not tell which side they are on until 15 minutes before the debate – not only because this mirrors the format of the competition, but also as it discourages students from reading out speeches written in advance. Encourage debaters to arrive with ideas, and arguments they might wish to use, while stressing the importance of listening closely to the points made in the debate, and the need to respond with material which is both relevant and new.
  3. Practice unprepared debates – These 15 minutes, when teams are separated from their coaches and any electronic resources, are certainly challenging. Something as simple as timing yourself and brainstorming with a partner, thinking about which arguments to run, and how these should be analysed is great practice. You'll want to make sure that, between you, you have enough material for 2 speeches, without repeating one another, or contradicting what your partner has said. If you're short of things to say, try to think of examples which strengthen your case, or try to develop the analysis of the point you're making – constantly asking yourself why this means something should or shouldn't be done, how it might work and why it's consistent with principles we hold dearly in society is a good way to think about this.

After brainstorming, having actual practice debates is the next step. Try to get a teacher or an experienced debater to judge it – acting as a friendly face, and offering constructive feedback on what was good, and what you might try to improve. The more you do it, the easier and more enjoyable it becomes, and the more you start to realise that certain arguments apply to a variety of different debates, and just need subtle repackaging.

A list of sample motions is below, and feel free to email us if you exhaust the list

Examples of motions we've set in previous years:

This House Would Arm All Police Officers With Guns

This House Would Randomly Test School Children for Drugs

This House Would Cap Footballer's Salaries

This House Would Ban Faith Schools

Preparing for the Unprepared:

A great deal of emphasis is placed on trying to make the short preparation motions as accessible as possible to schools–level debaters. Topics chosen are often directly relevant to their own education and experiences at school, while others are prominent current affairs stories. While, of course, we don't expect you to read The Economist cover–to–cover, keeping on top of the news will help you – even if it that just means logging onto BBC News once a day and having a quick read of the headlines.

Resources that may help you:

Debatabase – An old debating favourite. The website has arguments for and against a wide range of motions, together with links which help to direct further investigation. A very good starting point, though it's worth remembering that any student can contribute to it, and many debaters will have checked it. http://www.idebate.org/

BBC News – Probably the best source of online news in the world, and very useful for staying on top of the facts and development concerning current affairs stories. www.bbc.co.uk/news

Prospect – A monthly magazine, which deals with contemporary debates in a much more direct manner. It's excellently written, with a wide range of articles. September's issue deals with issues like nuclear power in relation to Britain's energy crisis, Scottish independence, animal cruelty and state interference in failing financial institutions – all of which would make excellent debates. http://www.prospect–magazine.co.uk

The Economist – A little more heavy going, and much of their international coverage will be irrelevant or of little interest. Reading the leaders and the section on Britain should be more than enough, though be wary of their right–wing bias! www.economist.com

Broadsheet Newspapers – The Guardian, Independent, Times and Telegraph are all good sources of information. Be sure to look at their 'Comment & Debate' sections, for their more opinionated coverage. The Guardian's online coverage is particularly good – not least as it's free! www.guardian.co.uk

Our guide to hosting:

A short and simple guide, which will hopefully answer any questions or concerns you have about hosting is available to download here.