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You're either naturally good or really bad at debating.

The event in WSC that some may excel in, while others... not really. I personally started out with zero debating skills but through time and countless debate practices, I have found the debating style I'm most comfortable and confident in using. Even though I've already found a specific structure in debate that works with my skills and weaknesses, I'm still trying to continuously improve my debating methods.

If you're starting out in a regional round with absolutely no idea of how to debate, or if it would be your first time going to globals; here are a few tips and tricks I've acquired throughout my WSC experience.

Know what your strengths and weaknesses are.

Are you good at introducing a topic? Are you good at thoroughly explaining points? Or are you good at rebuttals & summarizing? These are just a few things that you have to consider in, number one, finding out what you are and are not good at; and, number two, choosing which speaker you would be (first, second, or third).

Start out by having discussions with your teammates and/or people in your delegation.

Our coach used to let us do “1 Minute talks”, where we individually debated about a certain topic in one minute for each person. It helps with both practicing our speaking skills and using our knowledge from the curriculum.

Use index cards instead of large pieces of papers.

Index cards are smaller and firmer papers almost the same size of a 1/4 piece of paper but a little bigger. I remember during one of our debate practices last year, a person in our delegation messed up their debate, even though they did incredibly well during the beginning, because their notes were unorganized. Do not cost an entire debate round just because of your untidy notes. Make your notes easy to understand for you. In this way, you should only write the main things you would be saying; so you would be able to have good eye contact with the opposition and adjudicator throughout your speech. Additionally, our team used to get complimented A LOT by both the adjudicator and the opposing team whenever they notice that we use index cards.

Always be respectful to the opposition.

This is graded as well btw, listen intently whenever the opposition is debating and take notes of their points before discussing with your teammates during the 1 minute preparation time in between each speaker. Avoid talking altogether while the opposite speaker is still debating, this could affect your debate criteria. Instead discretely pass notes with your teammates. AND NEVER, make fun of your opponents appearance OR accent. You will literally get minus points for that.

Thoroughly discuss with your teammates about the motion and the points you will make.

It is very very important that each team member properly understands the motion. During debate practice last year, my teammates and I screwed up a debate because we didn't understand the motion well. Also make sure your points are related to each other's. Use the 15 minutes of research efficiently.