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Basic Debating Skills.
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• What is a debate ?
• What is a topic ?
• The Definition
• The Team Line
• The Roles of the Speakers
• What is Matter ?
• What is Manner ?
• What is Method ?
• Rebuttal
• The Marking Scheme
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A Debate
A debate is, basically, an argument. That is not to say that it is an undisciplined shouting match between parties that passionately believe in a particular point of view. In fact the opposite is true. Debating has strict rules of conduct and quite sophisticated arguing techniques and you will often be in a position where you will have to argue the opposite of what you believe in.
Concept: The Topic
If a debate is a form of argument then it logically follows that there must be something to argue about. This is called the TOPIC. The topic changes from debate to debate. They are often about current issues of public importance ("This House Would Abolish UPSR and PMR"). All topics begin with the word "That". As in other arguments there are two sides to any topic. The team that agrees with the topic is called the GOVERNMENT and the team that disagrees with the topic is called the OPPOSITION.
Concept: Definition If a debate is going to take place then it must be agreed in advance what the debate is going to be about. Thus it must be agreed what the topic means. This may seem obvious in a topic like "That UPSR and PMR Should be Abolish" but with something like "That Exams Should be Abolished" might not be so clear. Deciding and explaining what a topic means is called `defining the topic'. The job of defining begins with the GOVERNMENT. The first speaker of the GOVERNMENT must explain in clear terms what they believe the topic means. In deciding this the GOVERNMENT team should
• Always try to use the "person on