New to debating?
What is
debating?
argue for a living (for an evening)
Competitive debating is structured argument. You’re given a motion (This House would…) and a side. Fifteen minutes later you make the best case you can, respond to the other side, and adjudicators decide which team was most persuasive.
1
You get a motion
Motions are released 15 minutes before the round. No research, no scripts: just you, a partner and a pen.
2
You get a side
Sides are allocated. Arguing a view you don't hold is the point: it's how you learn to see the whole question.
3
The room decides
Adjudicators rank the teams on how persuasive they were, then explain why. That feedback is where you improve.
The format
British Parliamentary
tap a seat to see the job
BP is the format of the World Universities Debating Championship and almost every tournament we attend. Four teams of two compete in each room: two on government, two on opposition. You have to beat the other side and the team on your own bench.
Government ← Speaker’s chair → Opposition
Opening Government
Opening Opposition
Closing Government
Closing Opposition
Speaker 1 · Opening Government
Prime Minister
Defines the motion, sets out the government's model and gives the first case for it.
7 minutes · POIs between minutes 1 and 6
Training
Get better at it
some of it public, the good stuff for members
Argument construction
Claim, mechanism, impact, and why most arguments skip the middle.
Public
Rebuttal
Responding to what they said, not what you prepared for.
Public
Points of Information
When to offer, when to take, and how to make 15 seconds count.
Public
Framing & weighing
Winning the debate about what the debate is about.
Members
Case building in 15 minutes
A prep-time routine for opening and closing benches.
Members
Adjudication
Ranking four teams fairly, and giving feedback people can use.
Members
Motion bank
Hundreds of past motions by theme, with info slides.
Members
Practice drills
Short exercises for Thursday warm-ups and solo practice.
Members