1. Coaching Schools Debating Christopher Bishop & Stephen Whittington Tuesday 25 February

2. The First Four Things 1.Welcome 2.There are no natural debaters 3.Debating is meant to be fun…always 4.Ask questions

3. The golden rule Debating is 95% science and 5% art. So focus on the rules that will work in 95% of cases. Everything that can have a rule should have a rule. These are up to you. – Prep technique – Rebuttal vs substantive – Argument structure

4. Rule number 1 Debaters can only work on improving 2-3 things at a time. The coach’s job is to work out which is the most important.

5. Rule number 2 Treat it like a sport: some things are not optional – Having a clear definition (if affirmative) – Team line and team split – Rebuttal – Having a considered introduction and conclusion – Using examples

6. Rule number 3 Focus on potential ‘debating’ improvements not ‘debate’ improvements – Immersion therapy: lots of debates – Manner matters Let debaters explain themselves – up to a point

7. Rule number 4 Letting people self-criticise (aka as coaching for lazy people) – The best and worst thing – The copycat exercise – The most likely thing

8. Rule number 5 Focus on team improvements, rather than just individual improvements – Practice prep sessions – Two on two debates – POI Game – 1 st speaker speeches – Argument structure – Video watching

9. Rule number 6 Focus on developing your team’s impromptu preparation technique. – Who is in charge? – What is the schedule? Brainstorm individually Discuss and group together arguments Decide on definition/team line/split Develop material individually Discuss at end and check speeches 3 rd speakers: rebuttal role

10. Rule number 7 Preparation (usually) pays off – Assigned topic areas – News programmes – Case preps – The Economist, The Atlantic, Slate.com, HuffPo, Foreign Affairs, etc. – Debating videos

11. Questions