COOPERS CRASH COURSE

(debating)
(10 points to me for wordplay am i right)

okay cool so house debating is soon (!!!) lets kick arse

BASICS
there are eight speakers overall on the table, four on each side

1. first speaker
2. second speaker
3. third speaker
4. summary speaker (/fourth speaker)

your two sides are PROPOSITION (prop for short) and OPPOSITION (opp for short).
obvs prop is for the motion and opp is against the motion
the MOTION is what youre arguing for like the whole debate, e.g. this house believes
chloe coopers jokes are funny or this house believes mariam is perf etc. etc.
speech lengths vary but its likely that youll only have to speak for 3 minutes
four people on each side, and youre all working as ONE SIDE for/against the motion, but
within that side you are two teams. you and your partner (ava) need to basically be even
better than me and katherine :((((( good luck lol
you do this by working well as a pair. you make points, she extends them, you
reference each other, etc. etc. its a fiddly business tbh but dont worry ava will do most of
the heavy lifting in that area

points of information
basically when someone from the other side can bang the table and stand up and say
point of information! to try take down ur argument
dw most peoples are dumb af or u can argue back to
you can also choose whether you wanna even answer it (yes = accepted, no = declined,
carry on with speech)
you have 30 SECONDS at the beginning of your speech and 30 SECONDS at the end
of your speech of PROTECTED TIME. no one can make any points during this (people
sometimes try to but they just sit right back down and look embarrassed lol)
try and take at least one poi during your speech because it gets u $$$
EVEN IF the point ends up destroying your WHOOOLE argument DONT EVER EVER
SAY actually...ur right u just seem dumb its the worst thing 2 say ok just big no

WHAT UR JOB WILL BE

 so youll either be 1ST SPEAKER or 3RD SPEAKER
1ST SPEAKER: if youre prop, defines the motion (we can chat about this i cba to type)
and basically introduces all the main points of the side 2 the debate (funnnnn!!!). if ur
opp its basically the same but youre outlining for the opposite side (obv) and also you
dont do any of the motion defining jazz (excellent)
3RD SPEAKER: basically what you do here is something called an extension speech
(this is gr9 trust me). that involves introducing new points to the debate that hopefully
wont have been discussed before. itll get u plenty brownie points w judges so plz do it.
also rebuttal. lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of it(more on that l8r). especially if
youre the opp 3rd speaker, youll get to rebut all of the prop 3rd speakers cute
extension speech >:)

HOW 2 STRUCTURE A SIK SPEECH (A TIMELINE)

LIKE 30 SECONDS BEFORE: u get introduced and now we have the (...) for the
opposition/proposition, then they say ur name and people clap and you stand up
0.00: theres a bang. signifies start of your speech (dont panic!)
0.00-0.30: this is your protected time you cant be touched!!!! GO GO GO
1. hello im chloe and im (...) speaker for the house proposing/opposing the motion: [insert
motion here]
2. my speech today will start with some rebuttal and then i will go on to discuss my 2/3/4
main points which are x y and z
3. but first id like to start with some rebuttal!
0.30-onwards:
1. rebut rebut rebut!!
2. then do your main points!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yay
2.30: theres a bang. signifies your other end of protected time (dont panic, means youve got 30
seconds left!)
2.30-3.00: conclude :DDD (if youre running out of time and cant just repeat your points, just say
in conclusion, i urge you to support/oppose the motion.. and repeat the motion it works
EVERY TIME)
3.00: double bang = end. dw if you go like a few seconds over just keep talking and finish ur
sentence dont stop halfway

(this is a little diff if ur 1st speaker for the prop but dw its not that different you just have to slot
in defining the motion its kl)

rebuttal
basically like a point of information except you PUT IT IN YOUR SPEECH!!! nice 1
youll have (or we will have) written down points of rebuttal throughout everyone elses
speeches and basically you just kinda..read them out
only time you dont rebut is when youre 1st speaker for the proposition because
obviously you dont have anyone to rebut but otherwise rebuttal is v good
DOS & DONTS (soz it has to be done)
DO:
think about your points before you say them plz like just think is this a dumb point yes or
no
be confident!!!!!!!1 (shouldnt be hard 4 u) and BE POLITE
speak loudly enough to be heard
use ur notes lol if u try and do the speech w/o them youre dumb and also fucked
make eye contact w people
make a few jokes if u like (obviously in context and like with some sensitivity...i trust u)
USE!!!!!!!!!!!!!EXAMPLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!OHMYGOD YOUR SPEECH LITERALLY
COUNTS 4 SHIT IF YOU DO NOT HAVE EXAMPLES TRUST ME also dont be afraid 2
use personal examples if u like its all kl
P - E - E!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! point evidence explain. literally all u need in life. make ur point.
use a few cute examples. EXPLAIN WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT AND WHAT YOURE
TRYING TO SAY!!!
ref your partner if u can
make your own pois during other peoples speeches!!!! you get points!!! also if u get into
the debate why the hell not lol

DONT (THIS LIST IS SUBSTANTIALLY LONGER. SORRY)

make evidence/examples up
have JUST examples because then ur dumb
rapunzel, please, stop with the mumbling. you know how i FEEL about the mumbling.
blah blah blah blah blah, its very annoying. im just teasing youre adorable i love u SO
much darling

no but really
get fazed by a poi. literally its so chill. accept or decline (if they try and get all sassy and
say POINT OF INFORMATION really passionately literally just no shits given). if they
kinda destroy your argument just keep it cool. try and think on your feet. whatever you
do, DO NOT ADMIT DEFEAT. SHOW NO WEAKNESS.
 get fazed by the time/banging (AHAHAHA banging.sexual). literally its so chill
like if its the end of your speech just calmly finish, maybe repeat the motion.done. you
lose more points if you panic.
PANIC. JUST DONT DO IT. i know you basically never do but debating messes up
peoples lives tbqh so u never know
ok this is a pet peeve of mine but dont like act like youre having a chat with us all. be
confident, yes, be cool, yes, and you can be casual to an extent, but this isnt like a chat
its a debate and ur makin a speech. like, rhetoric, man. avoid just like AAH YOU KNOW
WHAT I MEAN DONT BE TOO CASUAL. you can be personal, and you can make
jokes, and you can give off being comfy and stuff but try and keep it professional. (soz
theres just a certain someone i know who always does this and it pisses the FUCK out of
me..10 points if u guess who)
say to someone your point is invalid or this point is invalid basically just dont bring the
word invalid into it. i cant remember why but tabs carey told me that little nugget of
information once and i trust that girl even if she scares the shit out of me
be really obnoxious about things; you arent, but people can be SOOOOO obnoxious in
debates even when theyre nice usually and the temptation is to be just as nasty back.
just stay u and cute and nice as usual :-)))

theres probably more but my attention span is waning

u know where i am if u need me. i literally dont leave u alone we talk like at least 23/6 if
not 24/7
youll be fine you have natural speaker swag anyway <33333333333333
i googled cutest dog in the world and this was the first result