Should you Debate Competitively?

BP debating is a common format, often found in schools, in which there are two teams to an argument, each of the teams containing two sides that have fifteen minutes to prepare and five-minute speeches. Each side can ask short questions, known as 'POIs' (points of information), to the opposing team’s sides between the first and last minutes of their speeches.

The motions debated at SOAS Schools 2019 were: 'this house would criminalise the payment of ransoms', 'this house supports feminist campaigns that celebrate the contributions of men', 'this house believes that developing countries should require all university graduates to work in their country of origin for a fixed period of time', and 'this house would prohibit the private ownership of art deemed to be culturally or historically significant'. Debating is commonly seen as being tedious and boring, a viewpoint which I disagree with completely. These motions all covered a wide range of both social and political issues; the latter of which I knew little about before the debate.

Moreover, Debates can teach many students about current-affairs and increase their confidence when talking about important issues, whilst also being exciting; in a close debate, you may not be able to tell whether you placed first or last. I experienced this sensation in the first debate, where my partner and I, unfortunately, ranked last; however my favourite round was the second. Because my partner and I were the penultimate speakers, most of the matters we had written had been used, leading to us having to resort to extreme analysis making it more satisfying when we managed to place first.

Overall, I found the competition to be very enjoyable and eye-opening. Personally, I feel that I progressed in terms of my ability to write and discuss debates and that I can now improve upon my verbal techniques using the judges’ useful feedback. For these reasons, I believe that the competition was very useful and enjoyable and would recommend that others partake in competitions as well.