Getting involved in debating at school is a scary but exciting step toward becoming a debater. Being a debater can be a huge advantage in life, helping you to boost your confidence and critical thinking skills, learn teamwork and improve your public speaking skills. At some schools, there is a very well-established debating program to become a part of. In other schools, debating may only take place at certain times of the year, or maybe not at all! Regardless of the type of school that you attend, there are many ways that you can get involved in debating and public speaking.

 

How to get involved in a well-established debating program

If your school is a big debating school, your number one priority may be trying to get involved in the debating team. While there are usually many students who are interested in being a part of the team, often there are only four or five spaces available! If you’re interested in having one of those spaces, the first thing you should do is ask about when your school holds their debating trials. Mark this date on your calendar! 

 

Prepare for debating team trials

The second thing that you need to do is prepare for the debating trials.

In the same way that many people practice soccer or netball at home before the school team is selected, you can do the same for debating! Luckily, debating is a very easy activity to practice at home by yourself if you know the right tips. For example, you can access a large variety of online resources about improving your debating skills. Visit our Youtube channel to check out our “Conquering Debating” Video series, where our expert coaches break down many important debating concepts.

Additionally, you can also take up beginner-level debating programs, which are offered through Speaking Schools Australasia – try giving our Debating Wallabies, Debating Hummingbirds, Debating Parrots, Debating Club or Foundations of Debating programs a try!

 

 

Have confidence while public speaking

Once you have prepared, the next step is to show up at trials and be confident. Trials can seem like a scary situation, but our top tip to students who are worried about debating trials is to not worry so much and just give it a go! Participating in the trials is in itself a great way to have some experience in debating, even if you don’t end up being a part of the team. Also, if you have shown active interest in debating by trialling, it’s highly likely that you can get involved in some other way as an audience member, chairperson or timekeeper. 

In order to maximise your chances on the day, you should show up on time and try to feel as confident as possible. Our favourite tip for being confident is to take a nice deep clarifying breath, and trust that the people in the room are there to listen to you! You can also check out our blogs on Stage Fright and Glossophobia (the fear of public speaking) and how to overcome them.

 

Practice debating in the meantime

It might take a while to find out whether you make the debating team at school, but there are other ways to get involved in debating in the meantime. For example, you could join an external debating class where you are guaranteed to get involved in debates, even if you don’t get chosen for your school’s team. In the Speaking Schools Australasia Term Programs, you can get involved and do a practice debate every one to two weeks, depending on your experience level! This is sometimes even more debates than you would do at school in a term as a member of the team!

 

Getting involved if debating isn’t big at your school

If your school doesn’t have debating trials, how can you get involved? A lot of schools have competitions that they can be involved in for debating as long as there are some interested students. We recommend talking to your teachers and letting them know you’re keen to give debating a try. See if you can find some friends who want to be on the debating team with you! A great idea is to see if you can have an at-school debate between two teams within your class. For example, you could ask your teacher to hold a debate about what you are currently learning in class or a topical issue in the news.

 

Any student can get involved in debating. If you have more questions about how to become a debater, feel free to get in touch with us at Speaking Schools Australasia!

 

By Leah Mercier

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