Debate Competition

Our class is doing a debate the day after tomorrow. I have got some information for the topic. But I don’t know how to write a debate speech. I am the first debater in the affirmative side. The teacher informed me to do some definition work, and what else should I do? How long is my speech supposed to be? Can anyone give me a format on writing a affirmative proposition? Thanks a lot for your great help.

You usually don’t write a speech in a debate. You have all your points written down as notes, and you make the speech from those. You want to be able to answer your opponents’ points, and usually you don’t know what they are until it’s your turn to speak.

But for the first speech you probably could write it beforehand. It’s just to present a case. Here’s the problem, here’s our proposition to solve the problem. Or here’s the issue, here’s our position on the issue. In the first speech you don’t have the burden of having to oppose what your opponents said, you just present your case by itself.

So first you need to define the question. What are we talking about here? Why is this a problem, or why is it important? Then you summarize your main points. We feel this way because <A>, <B> and <C>. Then you cover each of those points in some detail. Then you sum up, revisiting the opening, and the main points.

There’s an old saying about speeches or advertising: First you tell ‘em what you’re gonna tell ‘em, then you tell ‘em, then you tell ‘em what you told ‘em.

Organization of the speech is very important. You use some signposts–’These are the reasons we feel this way. . . now we’re going to cover those reasons in a little more detail. . . Okay, now we’ve explained how we feel and we’ve given the reasons, thank you for listening.’ Stuff like that.

Consider your audience and what they want to hear. In real debates it’s usually judges (bored debate instructors from other schools) and they want to hear a good, organized, well-reasoned speech with lots of quotes and statistics to show you busted your ass doing research. In your case it’s probably either you teacher or your class, so put yourself in their place and think about what they want to hear. Talk about the subject as it relates to them, their lives, their likes and dislikes.

Usually there is a time limit for debates. In the college debates I did, you get four minutes, the other team gets four minutes, your partner gets four minutes, the other guy on the other team gets four minutes, and then everyone gets 2 more minutes for rebuttals, during which you aren’t allowed to bring up any more new points. But time formats differ all over the place, so ask your teacher how much time you have. In college debates you use your time very carefully, in fact you usually talk as fast as you can! 8^)