5 Quick Tips to Boost Your Chance of Winninga BritishParliamentary(BP) Debate Topics: Debate Strategy 5.

Completing your arguments Although this is as simple, basic and probably goes without saying, it is sadly quite common amongst many aspiring Asian debaters. To stop short of what makes all the difference to an argument, is basically an invitation for a closing team to sweep it through a clincher that you introduced but never made full use of. To complete a point, the main idea is to be able to ask as many relevant questions as to what is exactly the point youre making. That is to show that there are indeed harms and those harms are correlated to be from the proposal at hand and to conclude with an expression of the logical path of direction you are trying to forward. In other words, an argument must be concluded through an expression that could satisfy the outcome of what youre trying to prove. This outcome is often referred to as your burden of prove or your stand. Do not assume that adjudicators know what you mean and how the argument support your stand, instead, take the time to make that link for them. 4. Less reliant on Notes As many of us may have experienced, we normally have less time to prepare in a BP debate. With 15 minutes prep and often split-second extensions, it is sometimes overwhelming how impromptu it is. Since teams need to communicate with each other and prepare your own speech in an intense environment it is quite a skill to have to be less reliant on notes. It is not giving a speech from memory, but debaters that are able to write very little

and maybe number them for structure, may very well have more time to communicate and more importantly listen to everything that has been said before the speaking turn arrives. Ability to speak with flow and sense by mere reference to a few numbered words and phrases is no easy feat. The only way to master this is to practice it as many times as you can. Some people can multi-task, and some do it by staying sharp. Thats how cool boys describe reading consistently and keep practicing thinking skills. Plus youll benefit through your seemingly more engaging eyes. 3. Clarity Yes, we all know how messy a 4-team debate can get. All you need is one eccentric individual in Opening Government to drive the other four team nuts. So how important is it for you to be clear in BP style debating, well, its very important. Being clear for opening teams can refer to having a clear objective that is audible to everyone, any resemblance of structure will normally help with clarity. Try disclaiming certain aspects of your case after claiming some or specifying what is included and excluded in the debate and why. Being clear for closing teams can come from simply spending some time clarifying what the debate is about. Often, this is when the opening is unclear and an opportunity to create a new center for the debate could be a golden nugget. Creating a summary of what happened in the opening half helps, maybe even laying down two or three brad principles derived from the opening as a guide as to where and how the debate should proceed. After all, we mortal souls are debating at the mercy of the adjudicator thats

watching, and often a confused adjudicator is a random one. It is a moral duty for a team to clear up the debate as much as possible and stories have been told about how adjudicators reward teams who make their life easier. 2. Strategic POIs(Program of Instructions) There is only a strategic POI to ask. Other POIs do not exist. Well, they do. A strategic POI is one that is asking with intent of leading it somewhere. So as long as you have a reason to ask that POI, then that POI is strategic. If you stand up at every wrong thing your opponent say to try and correct the, then this part will help you hopefully. Try asking POIs that makes your opponent discuss issues which you have introduced. This is not telling you to be defensive, but always try asking with the intention to create awareness for your contribution to the debate. We dont know if its a good idea to remind an opponent of an argument he/she has obviously missed, so as to faulting it on them for leaving it standing. However, a clever POI, on top of a strategic one will be able to balance the not helping your opponent aspect and the re-establish or strengthen your contributions aspect with a single question. Another trick is to attack the core ideas presented by an opposing team. If a question can take out the logic of a core principle or an ideal, you will score big for it. Trying to cause doubt to the credibility of an argument that causes a lot of damage to your case is a trick to consider too. Finally try killing off your opponents arguments by changing the Point-of-View (POV) of the situation. Considering that every argument must be made from a particular perspective or context, then by pointing out a more realistic context or to change the

POV could not only cause damage but may very well strengthen your position and argument all at once.

1. Becoming the jack of all traits The story goes that there was once a World Champion who prepared for worlds by only mastering 25 hot topics that was current and popular at the time the world championships was happening. Because the topics were diverse enough, it covered most of the main areas like social, politics, economics, etc. In doing so, his team brushed up on popular terminologies within each area, looked up supporting examples, trends and the likes to support current ones. Maybe it got to brushing up of popular names that are often mentioned on particular subjects. When it got to the world championships, his team was lucky enough to go through the preliminary and final rounds to eventually win it. They had enough knowledge to manipulate situations that saw their arguments through. They became World champions because they were Jack of all Traits With the need for closing teams to produce an extension, it is quite possible to win a debate with a single argument and awesome rebuttals. Often, teams going through break rounds may pray to be a closing team because there are good at it. If they keep picking a closing side all the way, they may end up winning it with a single argument until the end.To be able to do it however requires you to know more about the things you are going to talk about. To be able to look at it from different stakeholders will definitely allow you to look at issues more holistically. Even if you are an opening team, knowing a little more might allow you to evaluate what perspective are the more pertinent one and will more likely dominate the discussion in the debate. By introducing it early, you will seem relevant till the end. Of course reading more is better but are you reading like youre preparing for a BP debate?

Of course reading more is better but are you reading like youre preparing for a BP debate? This article is contributed by; Adiba Shareen Al Ayubi Chair of WUDC 2009/2010 (Turkey) Winner All-Asians Intervarsity Debating Championships2007 Malaysian Institute for Debate & Public Speaking (MIDP) www.midp.com.my