In its early days, Gonzaga was renowned for its philosophy of encouraging students to question ideas and to think for themselves; debating, the art of argumentation, is at the heart of this. Many past pupils of The College have gone on to outstanding achievements in debating; there have been many past pupils who became auditor of the L&H, the Oxford Union and the first Irish-born President of the Cambridge Union and multiple auditors of the L&H in UCD. Relatively more recently there have been eight Past Pupil winners of the Irish Times competition since 2003.

 

Today The Forum (Junior Debating) and An Chómhdháil (Senior Debating) remain an integral part of Gonzaga life. In the last few years Gonzaga has had students in Leinster semi-finals and finals on both a junior and senior level. There also has been success in ‘Mace’ competitions. (The name comes from the format of Debating used: British Parliamentary Mace). Indeed Gonzaga hosted the Inaugural Gonzaga Mace in 2013 and the second in February 2015 (Convened by Philip Mulvey).

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Why should you do debating? 

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Debating, as a skill which helps you to sharpen your thoughts, improve your focus and intellectual coherency and learn how to express yourself in public in an effective, persuasive and impressive manner, has many other benefits.

 

• By partaking in debates, you will gradually get sharper and more sophisticated at expressing yourself in public 

• You will develop your overall confidence; when you feel confident as a public speaker, this will funnel into other areas of your life 

• It will help with your critical-thinking skills; to form an argument, you must think comprehensively about the topic first. This skill can help you in other subjects such as History and English 

• It helps you understand everything better; through learning different topics and arguments, you will broaden your knowledge of the world and people and be able to understand various issues much quicker 

• It is a fun activity; during debating, you will make plenty of friends. It will help you to destress, laugh and grow as a thinking person. 

 

Debating does tremendous things to help the world. The whole idea of public discourse and settling opinions without conflict is important for a stable and just world. If you learn how to do this and facilitate it – you will have a massive positive effect on the rest of the world.  

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I have already mentioned a lot of the skills that debating will teach you and that will definitely help you later down the line. Debating is a very important skill, and you gain so much from doing it. If you give it a try, I am sure that you will like it.  

 

How to practise? 

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How do you practise your debating skills? You know how it works and now you want to get better and start winning debates.  

1. Build up domain knowledge: Become knowledgeable in a few different subjects so you are prepared for debates e.g. short prep. This will help you with the motions that you encounter during your career.  

2. Practise constantly: Practice is the most integral part of this whole process. Run practice debates as much as possible with coaches and friends at least once a week or more. Solo debates are also important to hone your skills – you can pick a random debate topic or one on the WSDC channel and record your speech on that topic. You can then analyse these debates with a coach or with the WSDC debaters (and compare what you did differently).  

3. Watch many debating videos: Watching debates constantly is a piece of advice that I have repeatedly received. They can be on public speaking generally, or on improvining specific skills – e.g. how to introduce humour into a debate. Try and watch as many of these as you can.  

 

Here are some YouTube resources that you could look at: 

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1. Debate Academy 

2. Harvard debate council 

3. ESU debating 

4. DebateDrills 

5. European debate training 

 

You can also use any resources that contain WSDC debates. 

 

Different types of formats 

 

The main two debating formats that we will look at and that is most prevalent in Ireland – we do a number of competitions on these. However, it is important to note that there are some modifications to the competitions so make sure to check their page. We will call these two debating formats long prep and short prep.  

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Short prep involves getting your motion 15 minutes before the debate starts – meaning that you and your partner have to make your case after the time has elapsed. The speaking order depends on the competition – we will explain the two main speaker order formats that I have encountered later down this page.  

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Long prep involves getting your motion a few days before the debate starts – you have much more time to prepare and make your speech. The speaking order again can change competition to competition.  

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The two speaking orders I have encountered are British parliamentary and another which I will call Leinster debating.  

 

This is Leinster debating. The speakers and teams are shown below; speaking order is shown by the numbers in brackets. 

Speaker 1 Team 1 (1)       Speaker 1 Team 2 (2) 

Speaker 2 Team 1 (5)       Speaker 2 Team 2 (6) 

Speaker 1 Team 3 (3)       Speaker 1 Team 4 (4) 

Speaker 2 Team 3 (7)       Speaker 2 Team 4 (8) 

 

This is British parliamentary. The speakers and teams are shown below; speaking order is shown by the numbers in brackets. 

Speaker 1 Team 1 (1)       Speaker 1 Team 2 (2) 

Speaker 2 Team 1 (3)       Speaker 2 Team 2 (4) 

Speaker 1 Team 3 (5)       Speaker 1 Team 4 (6) 

Speaker 2 Team 3 (7)       Speaker 2 Team 4 (8) 

 

I hope you understand the different debate formats that you can encounter and feel free to ask any questions for clarification.  

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Junior Schools Leinster Debating 

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Junior schools debating is a competition run in UCD for all students in 1st – 3rd year with teams of 2. The competition runs using the Leinster debating speaking order as shown below. 

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This is Leinster debating. The speakers and teams are shown below; speaking order is shown by the numbers in brackets. 

Speaker 1 Team 1 (1)       Speaker 1 Team 2 (2) 

Speaker 2 Team 1 (5)       Speaker 2 Team 2 (6) 

Speaker 1 Team 3 (3)       Speaker 1 Team 4 (4) 

Speaker 2 Team 3 (7)       Speaker 2 Team 4 (8) 

 

The speaking time of Leinster debating is 4 minutes long with protected time of 1 minute (No POIs) at the start and end of the speech. When giving POIs; make sure to wait 15 seconds in-between them to make sure you are not badgering. The full details regarding Junior Leinster debating can be found in the following handbook: https://docs.google.com/document/d/13QveWJjx1M0LeSNdd6tzcXJJ9N-3bcYn/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=106132964528840159338&rtpof=true&sd=true 

 

Senior Schools Leinster Debating 

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Leinster schools debating is a competition like Junior debating runs in UCD for all students in senior cycle (4th – 6th) with teams of 2. The competition runs using the Leinster debating speaking order as shown below:  

 

This is Leinster debating. The speakers and teams are shown below; speaking order is shown by the numbers in brackets. 

Speaker 1 Team 1 (1)      Speaker 1 Team 2 (2) 

Speaker 2 Team 1 (5)      Speaker 2 Team 2 (6) 

Speaker 1 Team 3 (3)      Speaker 1 Team 4 (4) 

Speaker 2 Team 3 (7)      Speaker 2 Team 4 (8) 

 

There is a 5-minute speaking time with a 1-minute protected time (No POIs) at the start and the end of the speech. When giving POIs; make sure to wait 15 seconds in-between them to make sure you are not badgering. The full details regarding Junior Leinster debating can be found in the following handbook: 

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Concern Debating 

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Concern debating consists of a team of 4 with one person acting as a captain and each speech is 4 minutes and 30 seconds long. The captain has to make a speech first about the motion and their respective team’s arguments. The captain will also have to make a closing speech which consists of summarising their teams' arguments and the captain can also do their own rebuttal. Speaker number 2 has a speech after the first speech; their speech consists of their points with less of a focus on rebuttal. While speakers 3 and 4 which happen between the captain’s speeches follow the order of their numbers.  

 

Proposition Opposition 

Captain opening speech (1)    Captain opening speech (2) 

Speaker 2 (3)                              Speaker 2 (4) 

Speaker 3 (5)                              Speaker 3 (6) 

Speaker 4 (7)                              Speaker 4 (8) 

Captain closing speech (9)       Captain closing speech (10) 

 

There are no POIs in this debate. More information about the competition can be found in the following link: https://www.concern.net/schools-and-youth/debates/materials 

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How to Make a Point 

 

In a typical debate speech, you should introduce points to the floor to convince judges and an audience to support your motion and provide your fellow speakers with information to use in their speeches and future points. Delivering a solid point is the first step towards success in a debate, here is a list of steps towards achieving this: 

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• State Your Argument Clearly: You should begin by stating your main point clearly and concisely, with an opening such as “I strongly believe...”, this creates impact and leaves an immediate impression. 

• Support with Evidence: Provide relevant facts, statistics, expert opinions, or real-world examples to back up your argument and make it compelling, while those listening may not be able to fact check your statistics, it is very important that you are accurate and credible with your sources. Strong examples are very effective when delivering a point. 

• Anticipate Counterarguments: In the rebuttal phase, address potential objections to your argument, using logical reasoning or evidence to refute them, you should avoid mentioning anything that people may be able to use against you, or prepare with defense in your delivery to showcase your forward planning. 

• Stay Focused on the Topic: Make sure that your argument remains directly related to the issue at hand, avoiding irrelevant points, your point should be rehearsed and well thought out, rather than a rant or tangent. 

• Use Clear, Concise Language: Avoid jargon or overly complex language. Speak simply and clearly so your argument is easily understood, your point and speech should be natural and confident. 

• Speak Confidently and Respectfully: Present your argument with confidence, maintaining a calm and respectful tone throughout. Eye contact, voice projection, colour in your voice and a stable speaking speed are all essential skills in presenting a point. 

• Summarize in Closing Remarks: Conclude by briefly summarising your main points and reiterating why your position is stronger than the opposing side, finishing with a line of impact such as “I strongly urge you to support our motion”. 

 

Debating In Gonzaga 

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After school debating is held weekly in Room 32, where students practice debating and share or receive feedback. All students are welcome and invited to improve their speaking skills, develop critical thinking, and engage in meaningful discussions in a supportive environment. 

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Senior debating is held on Mondays from 15:30 to 17:00 in Room 32 

Junior debating is held on Tuesdays from 15:30 to 17:00 in Room 32, where we cover Model UN for all years as well.

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