Selecting and coaching a team

Training tips

It is a good idea to encourage teams to take as much responsibility for their preparation for debates as possible. The more they research and work independently, the more familiar they will become with the material - this is a great help when they are actually debating, as they will be better able to manipulate that material during the debate.

Some coaches will effectively write the pupils’ speeches. This is bad for a number of reasons and should be discouraged. It goes against the spirit of most competitions and stunts the young people’s development and it will usually be spotted (and penalised) by adjudicators.

General pointers are very useful, but the pupils really do gain much more benefit when they are responsible for their own speeches and it helps them develop in the long term.

However, that isn’t to say that a teacher cannot help a team in preparing for debates:

• Teachers can join in on the brainstorming and planning sessions.
• Teachers can contribute ideas once the squad members put forward their ideas or can guide the group towards a certain idea without explicitly saying it.
• Teachers can give their team the chance to practise the motion against other teams from within the society. If time permits, it is sometimes useful to put the competing team in the position on the table opposite to the one they will take in the debate. This will help them understand where possible attacks on their case will come from.
• Teachers can encourage as many supporters as possible to accompany the team to the competition.

If possible, it may help to add extra sessions in to help the team.