a basic guide to debating
Debating
British Parliamentary Debating involves four teams of two speakers. Like in the
houses of parliament there are two sides to the debate, proposition or government,
(those arguing for) and opposition, (those arguing against). Each side is made
up of two teams, first proposition and second proposition, and first opposition
and second opposition.
Depending on which of the four positions they draw the teams have slightly
different roles to fulfil in order to gain maximum points.
Each competitor speaks for seven minutes after having fifteen minutes ‘prep’
time with their team partner. The ‘motion’ or subject on which they are to
speak on is not disclosed until this time, meaning Examples of motions are
‘This House Would (THW) legalise euthanasia’, ‘THW make people work for social
benefits’ and ‘THW scrap the CAP’.
Speeches are judged on three main criteria, Style, Content and Structure.
- Style – A speaker should be entertaining, confident, easy
to understand and, above all, convincing.
- Content – It is important that the speaker knows the subject
they are talking about and can, where necessary, use relevant examples and
analogies to enhance their argument.
- Structure – Timing is a vital debating skill, speakers
should give three clear points in a speech ensuring each has equal time and
analysis.
Speakers are judged on a 100 point scale, with 70 being average. Teams are
awarded points based on their placing in debates, a 1st is three points, 2nd
two points and 3rd one point.
The EUDC
European Universities Debating Championships (EUDC) is an annual event involving
teams from some of the most academically successful universities across Europe.
European Debating has grown hugely in the last 10 years. Debating has spread
from its British and Irish roots to the far corners of our continent. Most
of the former Communist bloc countries have taken debating to their hearts
and engaged with great delight in their new found freedom to express themselves
through Debate. Along with this growth, other areas have emerged including
Northern Europe; the Balkans; Scandinavia and the Mediterranean.
EUDC is the second biggest debating tournament in the world and at its largest
has encompassed
650 Delegates with
200 Teams from
82 Universities from
24 Countries
The definition of a European University is relaxed so countries like Israel,
Turkey & Azerbaijan can take part. Teams travel across Europe to debate
the most pressing social and political issues in the world today. Among these
students will be the opinion formers and powerful figures from European affairs,
politics, business and academia in the near future.
History
The first EUDC was held in its current form in 1999. Since then it has grown
in scale and stature to become one of the largest and most prestigious university
Debating competitions in the world. Each year different universities bid to
host the tournament, recently the competition has been held in Tallinn, Estonia
and Istanbul, Turkey. The competition hasn’t been held in Britain since 2004
and we at NewcastleGateshead are very proud to be bringing
the competition back to the home of British Parliamentary Debating.
The competition lasts for a week and comes in two parts.
Preliminaries
All teams compete in the first part of the competition with 8 rounds. At the
end of each round the results are tabulated and the teams are seeded. This
is used to draw the next round so that evenly matched teams compete and the
best teams rise to the top.
Knock Out
The top teams on the tabulation then “break” into the final stages starting
at quarter finals leading to finals. Prior to the competition teams will be
registered as English as First Language (EFL) and English as Second Language
(ESL). There are in fact two parallel competitions at this stage, the Open
Competition and ESL. Should ESL teams be placed high enough they go forward
to the Open Competition as well. The highest placed ESL teams “break” into
the ESL knock out stages.
During the tournament competitors stay in accommodation provided by the host
institution. Evening entertainments are provided, which offer a great opportunity
to introduce international guests to the host’s region and local culture.
In 2008 the Open Competition was won by Will Jones and James Dray of Oxford
University, England and the ESL category was won by Dan Cristea and Nico Lupea
of Babeş-Bolyai University, Romania.
