Does anybody know anything about starting a debate team? Or joining one? I am terrible at public speaking but hey, I need to start learning and practicing at some point.
Hi! I am the team captain of my debate team, and let me tell you, doing debate has been one of the most impactful things I have done in high school. If you need more help after reading my post, please pm me!!!
Joining debate: In some areas, there are debate teams that are not school sponsored. Not sure where you are from, but here are a few that I know of:
http://www.agapeleaders.com
http://www.capitoldebate.com
Starting a team: This is probably very hard, but definitely doable! For a debate team to be successful, you should find a faculty member to help lead the team. Most teams also hire coaches in the respective fields of debate (there are 4 main types of debate and many more types of speech…I would suggest looking into each type and staring with one). Debate can also be an expensive activity (if you go to big, fly-away tournaments, plane bills begin to add up very quickly), so I recommend designating a member as a treasurer to ensure all funds are going to the right place. Because debate is so expensive, plan on having tons of fund-raisers and bake sales. Local tournaments are cheaper, though.
Also, you should plan to have practice at least once a week (probably more) to work on your skills. The best way to get better as a team is to have practice debate rounds with each other.
There are two types of debate tournaments: local and national
Local tournaments are smaller tournaments where kids competing are usually all from the same few towns.
National tournaments are large tournaments where kids from all around the US compete. These tournaments are the ones that can be far away. However, if you are in northeast or California, many large tournaments are nearby, so you can experience both types of tournament without spending a lot of money.
Types of debate:
Public Forum (PF)-2 people debating on current events
Lincoln Douglass (LD)-1 person debating more philosophic issues (I do this kind of debate)
Policy-2 people debating about current events, is probably the most complex type of debate
Congress-what it sounds like–debate on bills and resolutions.
Within each type of debate there are three divisions: novice, JV, and varsity. First year debaters, regardless of age, usually begin as novices in their respective division. JV is for second years, and varsity is third and fourth years.
Learning how to debate:
Many websites have instructional videos on how to learn how to debate. I am most familiar with LD. You can find instructional articles and videos here: http://premierdebatetoday.com http://www.vbidebate.com http://nsdupdate.com
You can also look stuff up on youtube.
Also, it could be beneficial to go to a debate camp over the summer to really hone in your debate skills. Here, you have access to top debaters in your respective field.
Again, please PM me with more specific questions. This post is just the basics.
I coached Speech and Debate for 18 years, and was VP of the local league.
Your first, and biggest, obstacle will be getting a moderator. Forensics is HUGELY time consuming, and it’s hard finding someone willing to devote that much time. (We practiced 5 days a week from September until March. Then the kids who made Nationals practiced until Memorial Day weekend. Oh, and around here contests take place just about every Saturday, from about 7 am until 6 pm.)
The easiest type of debate to get started with is LD. It doesn’t require any evidence. The topic changes with each debate, so if you get some kids who join the team mid year, they’re not far behind as far as the topic is concerned.
Write up a proposal, and speak to administration as soon as possible if you want to get this off the ground for next year. You’ll want to have several other students who are interested.
Good luck!! I honestly think that S&D is one of the most beneficial activities a student can be part of, regardless of how well they do.