What makes a great debater?

Debating is a match of ideas. It gives the audience the chance to hear the ideas of one team and the counter arguments of the other team. Being on a debate team can be a great experience. Moreover, learning how to debate is a great skill to have. Apparently, for many professions such as being a lawyer, a person needs to be able to debate an argument in order to succeed. The knowledge about what a person is talking about and the ability to express these ideas make a great debater. A great debater is very much knowledgeable of what he is talking about. Initially, one should spend time in researching, seeking and reviewing his assigned topics. Furthermore, one needs to study the historical background of the topic and why it is a matter of current interest. One should be familiarized not only with his argument, but also his opponents arguments. In this way, one will already know what his opponent will say and by this, one can be ready by analyzing the opponents points in order to get strong counter-arguments to those points and catch his opponent off guard. One should make sure that his facts are right for the reason that inaccurate data and information can grant an opening to the opponent. A great debater should come to a debate with the confidence that he is arguing with the right and accurate facts. People love to hear great stories and they admire good storytellers. Get a great story related to your point of view and deliver it well. Whenever one encounters a really clever opponent, do not panic. Ones reaction to the opponents points can make or break the likelihood of winning. Make use of concise and humorous phrases to tone down the effect and erase the impact of the opponents approach. Let the audience and judges feel your passion for the topic. Ones ability to catch the attention of the audience will pay in the end. A debate is a dialogue with a lot of construction. Incomplete sentences are equal to deficient ideas. These deficient ideas can weaken a strong argument. A debater cannot afford to be sloppy in a debate. The articulation, pitch, diction and enunciation are significant. The strongest and powerful points of a debater must be argued with

clarity and conviction. It is through a debaters delivery that the points about the argument are comprehended. A great debater is someone who is very much familiar with his piece. He must get to know every side of his argument for him to be able to answer all the questions competitively and throw witty and clever questions back to his opponent. A great debater must be a good speaker. He must be able to convey his arguments precisely and effectively all the time. For a good debater knows how to say the things he know in a way that all people will understand.

Najarro, Violeta Jr. M BSLM IA

The Last Debate

Civil disobedience is a moral weapon in the fight for justice. This is the argument stated by James Farmer Jr. What is civil disobedience? It is the refusal to obey certain laws and commands of the government. How can disobedience ever be moral?. James Farmer Jr. related a story about the rule of Gen. Reginald Dyer, where ten thousand people protested about the British rule. Gen. Dyer trapped them in a courtyard and ordered his troops to fire into them. Three hundred seventy nine were killed including men, women and children. Dyer said that he taught him a moral lesson. He then compared it with Mahatma Gandhis response with no violence and compared the definition of moral to Dyers victory or Gandhis victory. The next speaker was their opponent from Harvard. He said that civil disobedience is not moral because it is nonviolent. He added that fighting for the country can be deeply moral, demanding the greatest sacrifice of all. Nonviolence is the mask civil disobedience wears to conceal its true face: anarchy. Samantha Booke then said, Gandhi believes one must always act with love and respect for ones opponents. Law breakers must accept the legal consequence s for their actions. According to her, civil obedience is not something for us to fear. The debater from Harvard quoted Henry David Thoreau with Any man more right than his neighbours constitutes a majority of one. He said that the beauty of and the burden of democracy is that no idea prevails without the support of the majority. The people decide the moral issues of the day, not a majority of one. Samantha answered that majorities do not decide what is wrong right or wrong but the conscience does. She said that we must never kneel down before the tyranny of a majority. The debater from Harvard said that a person cannot decide which laws to obey and to ignore. Nothing that erodes the rule of law can be moral no matter what name is given to it. James Farmer Jr. quoted, An unjust law is no law at all according to Saint Augustine.