Listen

Think
Debate

Why formal debating?

Develops on the spot critical thinking skills
Huge amounts of speaking practice, building
confidence & presentation skills
Fantastic for helping you plan essays
Can spur you on to become well informed
about world issues you didnt even know
existed
Looks great on a CV

Plan for today

Short introduction to British Parliamentary
debating.
Split off into groups of eight.
Discuss motion as a group.
Have a three minute speech debate.
Feedback from judges.
Casual drinks at the Dirty Duck.

Im scared by the prospect of speaking

Dont be, almost everyone in this room has
never given a public speech before
Almost everyone is worried theyre bad at
public speaking
If English isnt your first language thats fine,
its a great way to practice
Even if you do freeze on the spot and cant
think of anything to say or how to continue,
everyone has done it even me

What does this training programme

teach you?
To succinctly and clearly express your own ideas
To spot the assumptions in what people say and
respond accordingly
To improve the style and way in which you give
speeches
The modest aim of learning all about the world:
International relations, social policy, labour rights,
feminism, moral philosophy and lots lots more.

AN INTRODUCTION TO BRITISH
PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE!

Overview
Every round/game has a motion which will be
debated. An example motion you may debate
is: This House Would Pay Smokers to Quit
Smoking.
Four teams are involved in each debate. Each
team is made up of two speakers.

All speeches are of the same length.

Teams
There are two teams on the Government
bench: Opening Government (OG) and Closing
Government (CG).
The two teams on the Opposition bench are:
Opening Opposition (OO) and Closing
Opposition (CO).
Despite there being two benches, ALL four
teams compete against one another.

Opening Government (OG)

Opening Opposition (OO)

1. Prime Minister

2. Leader of Opposition (LO)

3. Deputy Prime Minister

4. Deputy Leader of Opposition (DLO)

Closing Government (CG)

Closing Opposition (CO)

5. Member of Government (MG)

6. Member of Opposition (MO)

7. Government Whip (GW)

8. Opposition Whip (OW)

Dates for the diary

Social meal in varsity after session TODAY!
All Wednesdays in H0.52 and Fridays in Lib 1
as these are our training sessions
UCL Pres cup this Saturday (week 2) the
chief adjudicator is our very own president,
Edward Mancey anyone with schools
experience eligible
Saturday week 4 NAMDA novice in Hull
open for all novice speakers

NAMDA Novice and Pres Cup

Both great starting competitions for people new
to university debating.
Great way to meet people from all over the other
country and visit cities
Everyone there have schools experience at most
NAMDA Novice is for people who either havent
debated before, or had only a little experience in
school, if youre more experience you want to go
to Pres cup talk to exec if unsure
Both are great fun and promise an awesome
weekend, reply to a society e-mail to sign up