Q&A for How to Begin a Debate

Set your intention before you even step into the space. How do you want to be? Intend to make great great eye contact, love the audience, be loved by the audience, and hit your presentation out of the park. Treat the experience like an opportunity rather than obligation.

Debate can help kids feel confident voicing their opinions in front of others, which is important in the development of self-confidence.

Just think about what you're debating about; it's not a speech, it's an arguement. As long as you've researched your side, you'll be fine. Note cards are also helpful.

You could start with: "Good morning to all of you present here. I am [name] from house [name] to speak on the topic of [title]."

It's great to start a debate with a quote. I think it sounds more natural to greet the audience and then recite the quote. Something like "Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for being here," then pause a moment, then "Benjamin Franklin once said ______" or whatever the quote is.

Start by almost rebutting the affirmative team. As part of your introduction, say something against their arguments, pause, and continue on to more direct rebuttals. For example, if the topic is that social media should be accessible to children in year 5 and over, and you are negative, you could say something like, "Young children, people who haven't even been exposed to the true dangers of life, should be plagued with predators and cyberbullies on social media. Ladies and gentlemen, that is what the opposition is promoting, and we as the negative team..." and then go on with specific rebuttals.

You don't have to. In fact, people and adjudicators will rarely feel excited if a speaker begins by stating his or her name. Get straight to the point, for you probably would already have been introduced by a chairperson. Begin with a thought-provoking quote that will really entice the audience to listen to you.

You can use your teacher's opinion and facts, along with some books and articles. You could have some group discussions with the people with whom you are gonna perform the debate with to better understand each others arguments.

Online shopping is not as accurate as in-store shopping. It's not always what you see that's what you get delivered on your doorstep. Sometimes it's more expensive and ends up being the wrong color, size, etc.

Talk about the benefits and risks of both.

Firstly, just briefly state what is country life and what is town life, and then say your points about each.

Start off with a powerful statement that outlines your stance. Remember to maintain eye contact with an audience at the end of a sentence. Hold eye contact with an individual for only three to five seconds, then move on to someone else. Then continue on with your supporting arguments.

First, come up with a topic sentence--something that introduces the problem and your stance on it. It doesn't hurt to be creative with it, as it captures your audience's attention from the start.

He/she sums up the case of their team, rebuts and supports crucial arguments.

Greet the audience and judges first, then define the key terms. Pose the question "Is homework actually bad for kids?" and then roughly outline how you will prove this is so.

Act like you know what your talking about even if you don't. If the audience sees that you look sure of what you're saying, then they are more likely to lean towards your side.

Come up with statistics and facts about other times where there was no equality and bring up facts about today. Give some quotes about feminism.

Start by talking about the pros and cons of both approaches.

That does not seem like the best topic for a debate. After all, how can you justify arguing in favor of slavery? But to start any debate, make an interesting first paragraph to hook the audience. You can find pros and cons on Google or YouTube.

Simply pose a question in relation to hot topics and current affairs. Discuss it and speak your opinion. Speak about something you know that your friend or opponent would be interested in—this will result in an interesting debate.

Ask a simple question, such as, "Would you rather live in the past or the future?" Have students go to different sides of the room to explain why they chose what they chose. You will be surprised at how creative they can be.

You can use a quote or say a universal statement to begin your debate. For example; "Most of the genius personalities were not born genius, but tough times made them so."

Good evening adjudicator, chairperson, fellow debaters, ladies and gentlemen. My name is [NAME], and I am the 1st/2nd/3rd speaker for the negative/affirmative team.

Start of with an introduction: "Good evening adjudicator, chairperson, fellow debaters, ladies and gentlemen my name is NAME and I am the 1st/2nd/3rd speaker for the negative/affirmative team. We the negative/affirmative team strongly believe that/We the negative/affirmative team strongly agree with the given topic for tonight's debate, which is...

Bring up a fact about road safety to begin.

You can use whatever words you want, as long as you keep your language appropriate for the occasion. You never want to hide your meaning from the audience in a debate, though.

Well, if academics come naturally to a person and they easily receive good grades without trying, they will not put in much of an effort, therefore they will not be a good worker.

Make sure you know your argument. A better understanding of your topic will help you maintain your train of thought. It is also helpful to double space your notes. By doing this, you are less likely to lose your place after looking up at your audience.

Start off by greeting the judges, chairperson, and co-debaters, then ask a rhetorical question. In your case, maybe something like, "How much money would you need to be happy forever?" Then you can work your way through your points about how there's no amount of money that would make someone happy forever.

Weighing means to weight the pros and cons, while framework means the structure of a debate.