Week 1 Advanced Training How to improve as a debater

Resources Debate videos – – – Written resources – Monash Debating Review – Books – Slate/The Economist/Foreign Affairs/The Atlantic Podcasts – Slate Political/Culture/DoubleX Gabfest

Active Improvement Feedback – Get it and use it. Topics – Look for topics online. Manner – Practice Speeches, record yourself. Microstructure – Why important?

Leading your team Leading a team at Easters Focusing prep time – Being in control but not too dominant Getting the most out of your teammates – Talking (helpfully) at the bench – Knowing how much they need to have written down to present an argument well – Pushing them to improve

Pre-empting where debates will go – Identify broad principled clash. E.g. Free Market v Externalities, Free Will vs Recognised social harms. But note: Make specific to the debate in question. E.g. That we should ban corporate political donations – What are the key arguments? E.g. debate about invading Syria? E.g. debate about banning cosmetic surgeries? – Are there any things that need to be modelled out/in? E.g. debate about paid surrogacy? E.g. ‘TWS allow countries to pay other countries to settle asylum seekers who reach their borders’

Being strategic in debates Knowing which issues will win debates – Principle vs. practical clash – How to use second speaker arguments How to use burdens well – Set them reasonably for yourself – Call other teams for unfairly forcing them on you E.g. if the other team argues that your model should work in almost every case

Cont. Keeping control of the vocabulary of debates – Rhetoric encompasses the words you use to describe your policy and model E.g. in a debate about euthanasia, are you “killing people”, “allowing them to kill themselves”, “permitting suicide”, “supporting access to euthanasia”, “ending prolonged suffering – Keep argument labelling simple and effective Shouldn’t be too long/verbose but should encapsulate the fundamental point Generally phrase positively

Some sample debates That judges should be elected That feminism has failed women who are members of racial minorities That parents should not be able to refuse medical treatment for their children TWS ban peaceful protests outside abortion clinics