The document provides an overview of the basics of debating, including what debating is and is not, the benefits of debating, qualities of a good debater, and key terms and concepts in debating. It discusses the structure of a debate with two teams of three members each taking opposing sides of a motion. It outlines the speech order and roles of each speaker, as well as concepts like definitions, theme lines, team splits, arguments, rebuttals, and adjudication. Adjudicators are instructed to assess the content, delivery, and organization of arguments to determine the winning team based on a marking scale and margin.

1. ENGLISH DEBATE
Ryche Dewata Sari ( 14 / XI IA 2 )

2. DEBATING IS :
About developing communication skills
About assembling and organizing effective arguments
About persuading and entertaining audience
About convincing adjudicator that your arguments are
better than your opposition

3. DEBATING IS NOT:
About personal abuse, irrational attacks or
purely emotional attacks

4. BENEFIT OF DEBATING
 Cultivates quick, multi dimensional, and logical thinking
 Improves self confidence and speaking style
 Enriches leadership qualities
 Improves the ability to develop reasonable opinions
 Improves anticipative way of thinking

5. GOOD DEBATER POSSESS
 Ability to acquire knowledge and analyze current issues
 Ability to generate creative ideas
 Ability to think critically and logically
 Ability to present the ideas clearly and systematically

6. DEBATING BASICS
A debate is held between two
teams of three members
each
Affirmative Vs Negative
(Government) (Opposition)
Speech Order ;
1) 1st affirmative
2) 1st negative
3) 2nd affirmative
4) 2nd negative
5) 3rd affirmative
6) 3rd negative
7) Negative reply
8) Affirmative reply

7. o Affirmative team (government) must defend
and give constructive arguments to the motion.
The affirmative has a right to define the
motion and it must be reasonable definition.
o Negative team (opposition) must oppose or give
counter-case arguments to the motion.

8. IMPORTANT TERMS
 Motion = topic being discussed in the debate
 Members of this house = members of parliament
 Adjudicator = judge (honorable adjudicators)
 Rebuttal = opinion used to attack the opponent
 Theme line = statement to prove a team‟s stand on the motion
 Team split = arguments to support theme line
 Case building = time to prepare the argument (25/30 min)
 Verbal adjudication = resume from the adjudicator to decide the winner.
 Margin = the score between your team with your opponent.

9. MOTION
Motion also known topic of the debate, is full propositional
statements that determines what a debate shall be about
*It is not in the form of questions or phrases
Example:
a. This house believes that education should be for free
b. This house believes that condoms should be distributed
at school

10. ROLES OF THE SPEAKER
1st affirmative
 Defines the motion of the debate
 Presents the affirmative‟s theme line
 Outline the affirmative‟s team split
 Deliver substantial argument (1st affirmative part of the split)
 Provides a brief summary/recap of the speech

11. 1ST NEGATIVE
 Provides a response to the definition (accepts or
challenges the definition)
 Rebuts 1st affirmative
 Presents the negative‟s theme line
 Outlines the negative‟s team split
 Delivers substantial arguments (1st negative‟s part of the
split)
 Provides a brief summary/recap of the speech

12. 2ND AFFIRMATIVE
 Rebuts the 1st negative‟s major arguments
 Briefly restates terms the affirmative‟s team
case (reinforces the idea/ argument delivered by
1st speaker)
 Delivers substantial arguments (2nd affirmative‟s
split). Most of the 2nd affirmative‟s time should
be dealing with new substantial
material/arguments
 Provides a brief summary/ recap of the speech

13. 2ND NEGATIVE
 Rebuts the 2nd affirmative‟s argument (could also rebuts
first two affirmative)
 Briefly restates terms the negative‟s team case (reinforces
the idea/argument delivered by 1st speaker)
 Delivers substantial argument (2nd negative‟s split. Most of
the 2nd negative‟s time should be dealing with new
arguments)
 Provides a brief summary/ recap of the speech

14. 3RD AFFIRMATIVE
 Rebuts the points/arguments raised by the first two negative
speaker. The 3rd affirmative is mainly entrusted with the
duty of responding to the arguments of the negative that
were not previously dealt with by the first two affirmative
speaker. 3rd affirmative may also reinforce rebuttals that
have been stated by teammates (could also possibly bring new
split)
 Rebuild team‟s case
 Summarizes the issues of the debate (summary)

15. 3RD NEGATIVE
 Rebuts the point raised by all three affirmative speaker.
The 3rd negative speaker cannot bring a new
matter/argument/ split (see also duties of 3rd affirmative
which are quite similar to the duties of the 3rd negative
here). New examples are not considered to be new
matter/argument
 Rebuilds team‟s case
 Summarizes the issues of the debate (summary)

16. REPLY SPEECH
Reply speakers give a recap of the debate and convincing
biased adjudication. (reply speech is not rebuttal)
Reply speakers duties:
 Provide summary of overview of the debate/ what is the
clash/ point of contention
 Identify the issues raised by both sides (what our team
has given and what the other side has given as well)
 Provide a biased adjudication of the debate and also to
convince the adjudicator that your team should win that
debate.

17. REPLY SPEECH
- May be delivered by 1st or 2nd speaker
- Reply speech is not rebuttal
- Reply speaker may not bring new matter

18. DEFINITION
 The motion must be defined by affirmative team
 A definition clarifies the motion
 A definition gives a clear description of boundaries to the
motion; limiting what the debate will be about into a
focused discussion
 It will try to avoid different interpretations from both
teams of what actually being debated
 It must be debatable
 Explain the key-words in motion/topic
 Definition should allow the negative team to

19. A GOOD DEFINITION SHOULD NOT BE
 Truistic definition; it is „true‟ by nature
 Tautological or circular definition; it is logically
impossible to negate
 Squirreling definition; doesn‟t have logical link to the
motion
 Time and place setting; it consists of specific
knowledge
FAIR DEFINITON IS A MUST

20. THEME LINE
 It used to prove a team‟s stand on the motion, and
answer the question “WHY” to the defined motion.
 It is the underlying logic of a team‟s case
 It is “Case In A Nutshell”
 It is the main idea that links together the first,
second, and third speaker
 It can be in form of short sentence (single sentence)
Ex : we agree with this motion because…………. (+)
we don‟t agree with this motion because…. (-)

21. TEAM SPLIT
- Debating is a team activity (one person/ speaker cannot
take all arguments and become the sole defender of
team‟s case)
- It is a distribution of the arguments among the speaker
(first and second speaker)
- Each individual speech must prove the motion (try to avoid
“Hung Case”)
- Ex : Social 1st speaker
Economy 2nd speaker
Politics 2nd speaker

22. REBUTTAL
Good rebuttal should be
1) Showing that the opposing argument is illogical
2) Showing that the opposing argument is based on an error of fact or a
misinterpretation of fact/ evidence
3) Showing that the opposing argument does not have strong and enough data,
fact, or evidence
4) Showing that the opposing argument is irrelevant to the proof of the topic/
motion
5) Showing that the opposing argument involves unacceptable implication and
application

23. When we rebut we must show how and why the opposition
arguments are invalid :
 An argument may be wrong in fact or logic – if so, say how
and why
 An argument may contradict their team
 An argument may be true but completely irrelevant
It is not necessary to rebut every single point and fact
raised by the opposition.
It is not simply in the form of “questions”

24. ARGUMENT
What adjudicators look for in good argument:
1) Relevance
2) Organization
3) Consistency and internal logic-i.e. don‟t contradict
yourself or you teammates.
4) Clarity (remember, debating is about persuading
your audience and adjudicator that you‟re right –
so make sure they can understand what you‟re
saying)
5) Effective use of evidence

25. GETTING THE ARGUMENTS RIGHT
1) Identify what you have to prove under the
motion
2) Identify what helps you to prove it
3) Anticipate the questions/rebuttal
4) Block the opportunity for those
5) Present the arguments in good order

26. GOOD ARGUMENT SHOULD HAVE:
 A = Assertion
 R = Reason
 E = Evidence/ Example
 L = Link

27. ADJUDICATION
1) MATTER (the content) 40%: what you present/ say;
ARGUMENT, EVIDENCE, EXAMPLES (could be from
authentic materials) and REBUTTALS
2) MANNER (how you present/say) 40%; DELIVERY/
PUBLIC SPEAKING ABILITY: how effective and
persuasive is the speaker‟s manner in delivering the
argument

28. ELEMENTS OF MANNER
 Gesture
 Eye contact
 Stance
 Language
 Vocal style; volume,
clarity, intonation, and
pronunciation
 Use of notes; not to
read a lot
 Expression of sincerity
 Fluency
 Humor
 No personal attack

29. METHOD (HOW YOU ORGANIZE WHAT YOU SAY)
20%
 Structure and organization includes:
- Structure of individual speech (time
management, i.e. overtime/under time)
- Structure of the team‟s case (fulfillment of the
roles of the speakers)
- Response to the dynamics of the debate

30. ADJUDICATORS BRIEFING
REMEMBER!
⋆ Assess what is in a debate only
⋆ You don‟t think for the debaters
⋆ Don‟t use personal belief
⋆ Use your common sense
⋆ Take detail notes of the debate
Adjudicator is an Average Reasonable Person

31. PHYLOSOPHY OF ADJUDICATING
Decide who wins the debate
Decide margin of the debate
Decide team‟s score
Provide decision with acceptable reason

32. SCORING METHOD;
 Decide who the winner is
(compare both teams and analyze each strength
and weaknesses; advantages and disadvantages;
how team‟s advantages benefit them)
 Decide the margin
 Assigning score to each team (giving score for
each of the speaker according to the marking
scale; try not to give extreme score)

33. MARKING SCALE
Matter/Manner Method Meaning
27 13 Very poor
28-29 14 Below average-Poor
30 15 Average
31-32 16 Above average-very
good
33 17 Excellent

34. MARKING SCALE; MARGIN
Margin Meaning
1-4 A very close debate with only minor
differences separating both teams
5-9 A relatively clear decision with one team
having an obvious advantage
10-12 A very clear win

35. THANK YOU FOR YOUR
ATTENTION