We congratulate our club member Nicholas Allan for having his workshop on debating included in the program for the District 59 Fall Conference in Bonn. As we know from trying the format in our club meetings, it is not only educational, but also a lot of fun for the participants and the audience.
His workshop will give participants insight into the cut and thrust of British Schools parliamentary debate. The rules and format taught will be the same as those used in the world debating championships, but adjusted for smaller groups. Participants will be briefed on the format and then thrown right into preparing and running a debate based on a current, well known topic.
The workshop is beneficial for all Toastmasters, because debating encompasses many aspects of Toastmasters craft. The first speakers must be prepared with facts, figures, and a good turn of phrase to present the opening arguments. This corresponds to prepared manual speeches. The follow-up speakers and structured interruptions correspond to table-topics and force participants to think and defend their position on-the-fly. Finally, and differently from standard individual speeches, the participants on each side of the debate must work as a team to make a coherent argument to convince the audience and to win the debate.
The debating workshop will take place bright and early on Saturday the 17th November at 7.30am and will last 40 mins. To find out more and participate in the workshop make sure you register for the District 59 Fall Conference from the 16th to the 18th of November in Bonn.
See you all there!
