Guidance for first-time speakers

People who find it difficult

Many young people will find debating difficult for a number of reasons. Many will be nervous, some will have no experience of speaking in public, some may have learned English as a second language and some may have a stutter or stammer.

The first thing to remember is that even children who are especially reluctant to debate, or, for whatever reason, cannot debate, can be heavily involved in classroom debating or in extra-curricular debating.

Debating is about much more than standing up in public and giving a speech about a given topic. Among many other benefits it encourages critical thinking faculties, emphasises the importance of research and enquiry skills, and promotes a better understanding of current affairs and important cultural and political issues. These skills and abilities are useful for all pupils.

Finally, teachers should encourage pupils to become more involved in the debating process. Enthusiasm and encouragement will help pupils enormously. It is also useful to remember that it is only a debate! If a pupil makes a mistake, has stage fright or gets arguments confused whilst debating, it is useful to remind them of this and that they will learn from any errors they have made.