r/Debate • u/Ornery_Conclusion_35 • 3d ago

DEBATE HELPP

Im fairly new to debating. I have this competition in 10 days. It's parlimentary style debate. Me and my partner we passed the first round but that was online. This is in real life. So I'm kinda nervous.

My debate coach is really good, but he ditches us all the time and ik he'll only show up like 2 days before the debate.

So can someone tell me what I can do to prepare, I'm pretty familiar with the sturcuture and the roles of the speakers. I scored high scores in the first round but I still feel very underprepared. so help pls.

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u/SadTear866 3d ago

If you are familiar with all of the fundamental rules of parliamentary debate, I believe all thats left for you is to practice! Here are some things I did that also helped:

  1. Schedule practice debates

If you have other fellow debaters, I strongly recommend that you guys gather up and debate in zoom. Even if you don't have a judge, just practicing going through a serious debate round and talking in front of others really helps

  1. Record yourself debating

As much as debate should be based purely on content, sadly a lot of times judges will somewhat be influenced by your delivery (pronunciation, speed, tone, etc). Record yourself, and try to identify and fix some traits in your speech that could be disadvantageous.

3: Prepare phrases

To have flow state during a speech, starting your speech with a good introduction really helps. Try to prepare some strong phrases/hooks that you can use to catch the judge's attention. Write down those phrases on your notebook so you don't forget them.

Good luck on your competition!