Debating is more than just standing up and speaking in front of an audience. It’s one of the most evidence-backed educational activities available for boosting reading ability, critical thinking, confidence and long-term life outcomes for young people. Unlike general public speaking, debating requires students to engage with opposing ideas, construct logical arguments, and respond to challenges in real time—skills that translate directly into academic success and career readiness.

The research tells a compelling story. A landmark study by researchers from Harvard and the University of Virginia, published in Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis (2023), tracked 3,515 students in the Boston Debate League over a decade. They found that debaters were 17% more likely to graduate high school and 29% more likely to enrol in tertiary education. These aren’t marginal gains—they represent life-changing differences in educational trajectories.

When it comes to reading, debaters showed improvements equivalent to roughly two-thirds of a full year of learning—gains that rival the most intensive (and expensive) tutoring programmes. Perhaps most importantly, the largest benefits went to students who started with lower results, with gains nearly double those of their higher-achieving peers. This makes debating a powerful equity tool, not just an enrichment activity for already-successful students.

These findings have been replicated across multiple cities and contexts. A 2021 University of Michigan study of nearly 36,000 students in Houston found that debaters scored over 50 points higher on both SAT Maths and Reading, with GPAs more than half a grade higher than matched comparison students. Research from Chicago tracking over 12,000 students found debaters were three times more likely to graduate than similar non-debaters. In debating competitions, teams are typically assigned motions and must be prepared to argue both sides; often, they are given a preparation time of one hour after receiving the topic, which is used to analyze the context and develop their arguments.

These academic gains connect directly to what employers want. According to employer surveys, nearly 90% prioritise problem-solving ability, over 80% seek strong teamwork skills, and more than 75% look for evidence of good communication. Debating builds all three simultaneously—and it does so in a way that prepares young citizens for the demands of university, the workforce, and civic participation.

What is debating? (And how is it different from general public speaking?)

Debating has a long history, tracing back to the philosophical and political debates of Ancient Greece, with modern debating societies established during the Age of Enlightenment in the 18th century.

At its core, debating is a structured contest between two sides—an affirmative team (sometimes called proposition) and a negative team (or opposition)—who present and rebut arguments on a specific motion or topic. In formal debating, participants are assigned to one side of the motion: the affirmative must agree with the topic, while the negative must disagree. Unlike a speech competition where participants simply present their ideas, debating requires direct clash. You must listen to what the opposing team says, identify weaknesses in their reasoning, and respond with targeted rebuttal.

This distinction matters. General public speaking teaches students to present confidently and persuasively, but debating goes further. It trains students to think on their feet, evaluate evidence under pressure, and construct logical chains of reasoning that can withstand challenge. The ability to hear an opposing argument, quickly assess its validity, and formulate a coherent response is a skill set rarely developed through other school activities.

In Australian schools, competitive debating typically follows structured formats judged by trained adjudicators. Whether through state competitions in NSW or Victoria, programmes affiliated with the Australian Debating Federation, or private interschool championships, teams are assessed on three key aspects: the quality of their arguments (matter), how well they structure and deliver their case (method), and their manner of speaking (manner), including clarity, confidence, and engagement with the audience. The team that presents the most persuasive case is declared the winner. The course of a debate is carefully structured, with each segment building upon the last to ensure a fair and logical progression.

One of debating’s most powerful features is that teams are usually randomly assigned to support or oppose topics—sometimes receiving the motion less than an hour before the debate begins. A team might be told to argue That schools should ban smartphones even if every speaker personally disagrees with that position. This forces students to understand both sides of an issue deeply, building intellectual flexibility and genuine engagement with ideas they might otherwise dismiss.

In Australia, the format typically involves three speakers per team (two or four in some styles), with each speaker having a specific role. The first speaker is responsible for establishing the team’s case and defining key terms. The second speaker extends arguments and begins substantial rebuttal. Later speakers focus on clash and conclusion. This structure means that everyone on a team must prepare together, divide responsibilities, and coordinate their approach—building collaboration skills alongside argumentation.

Debating Formats and Styles

Debating comes in many shapes and sizes, with a range of formats designed to challenge students’ critical thinking and public speaking skills. Each style has its own set of rules, structures, and traditions, but all share the same core: two sides—the affirmative and the negative—engage in a structured exchange of arguments, aiming to persuade a judge or panel.

Some of the most popular formats include Parliamentary debating, where teams simulate the workings of government and opposition in a parliament, and Lincoln-Douglas debating, which focuses on values-based topics with a single speaker on each side. Public Forum debating is another widely used style, emphasising accessible topics and teamwork. In Australia, the Australasian format is common, featuring three speakers per team and a strong focus on method and manner.

Other styles, such as the European square and Oxford-style debates, introduce unique elements like audience participation or specific time limits for speeches and rebuttals. Regardless of the format, students and teams must consider their topic thoroughly, construct clear arguments, and present key points in a persuasive manner. The judge evaluates not only the strength of the arguments but also the clarity of speech and the effectiveness of rebuttal.

By exploring different debating styles, students can find the format that best suits their interests and strengths, all while building essential skills in research, critical thinking, and public speaking.

The Debate Process

A formal debate follows a clear structure, ensuring that both the affirmative team and the opposing team have equal opportunities to present their case and respond to challenges. The process typically begins when the first speaker from the affirmative team outlines the team’s case, defines key terms, and sets the stage for the debate. This opening speech is crucial, as it frames the arguments and provides a roadmap for the team’s approach.

Next, the first speaker from the opposing team responds, presenting counterarguments and beginning the process of rebuttal. Each team then alternates speakers, with the second speaker on each side introducing new arguments, providing additional examples, and addressing points raised by the opposition. Throughout the debate, speakers must balance presenting their own key ideas whilst responding to the arguments of the other team.

The adjudicator, or judge, then evaluates the teams based on matter (the quality of arguments), method (the structure and strategy), and manner (the style and delivery), ultimately deciding which team has made the most persuasive case.

This structured process not only sharpens students’ reasoning and communication skills but also teaches them to think on their feet, work collaboratively, and engage respectfully with opposing viewpoints.

The research: How debating boosts academic performance

The strongest evidence for debating’s educational impact comes from rigorous, peer-reviewed research conducted across multiple cities over many years. In both academic and online settings, debates and differing opinions are frequent, highlighting how often individuals must navigate interactions without resorting to being argumentative.

The Boston Debate League Study (2023)

The Boston Debate League study, conducted by Beth Schueler (University of Virginia) and Katherine Larned (Harvard) and published in Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis in October 2023, remains the gold standard. This wasn’t a small pilot—it tracked 3,515 students over a decade (2011–2021), comparing outcomes for those who participated in debating programmes against matched comparison groups who didn’t.

The findings on reading achievement were striking. Debating participants improved their reading scores by the equivalent of roughly two-thirds of a year of learning—about 13% of a standard deviation. To put that in practical terms, that’s comparable to or better than the gains achieved by intensive tutoring programmes that cost twice as much per student.

What makes these gains particularly notable is where they showed up. The improvements were concentrated in analytical thinking and comprehension tasks—not just basic language rules or vocabulary. Students weren’t simply learning to decode words faster; they were learning to evaluate what they read, identify assumptions, and think critically about arguments. This aligns with what the debating process actually requires: reading research materials, weighing evidence, and constructing reasoned positions.

The effects were strongest for students who started with the lowest baseline scores. These students showed reading improvements nearly double the gains of their higher-achieving peers. This suggests debating isn’t just beneficial for students who are already academically successful; it may be especially powerful for those who need the most support.

Graduation and tertiary education outcomes were equally impressive – students who participated in debating at school were:

• 17% more likely to graduate high school within five years of starting Year 9
• 29% more likely to enrol in any post-secondary institution (tertiary education in Australia)
• 38% more likely to enrol in a four-year university degree (the equivalent of a proper university degree in Australia)

Even more impressive, for students with the lowest baseline achievement, post-secondary enrolment increased by 55%

The Houston Study (2021)

The largest quantitative evaluation of debating participation to date was conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan (Ko and Mezuk, 2021), published in Educational Research and Reviews. This study tracked nearly 36,000 students in the Houston Independent School District, using sophisticated statistical methods to account for the fact that motivated students may be more likely to join debating in the first place.

Even after controlling for pre-existing differences in academic achievement and background, debating participation was associated with significantly better outcomes:

• Debaters had cumulative GPAs more than half a grade higher (+0.66 points), which reflects marks approximately 15-20% better than their non-debater peers
• SAT Maths scores were over 50 points higher (the SATs are marked on a scale of 400-1,600, so this would represent around a 5-6% increase in raw marks)
• SAT Reading/Writing scores were over 55 points higher (again, a 5-6% increase in raw marks)

Specifically, the study found that these academic improvements were consistent across different student backgrounds, highlighting the broad benefits of debating for diverse groups.

These are substantial differences—the kind of improvements that can affect university admissions and scholarship eligibility.

The Chicago Debate League Research Programme (2009–2015)

Dr Briana Mezuk and colleagues at the University of Michigan conducted a decade-long research programme on the Chicago Debate League, tracking over 12,000 students across multiple studies. The findings consistently showed dramatic benefits, particularly for students from disadvantaged backgrounds:

• Debating participants were three times more likely to graduate from high school than comparable non-participants
• African American male students who debated were 70% more likely to graduate and three times less likely to drop out
• Debaters had an average final year GPA of 3.23 compared to 2.83 for matched non-debaters, reflecting results in the Houston Study above
• School engagement, social engagement, and civic engagement were all higher among debaters

A separate University of Missouri-Kansas City study found that after just one year of debating participation, students showed a 25% increase in literacy scores compared to a control group, along with improved attendance and reduced engagement in risky behaviours. This suggests benefits emerge quickly—families don’t need to wait years to see results.

Why does debating produce these gains?

Researchers point to several mechanisms. First, debating develops what educators call secondary literacy skills—not just basic reading and writing, but the higher-order abilities to interpret complex texts, develop arguments about what you read, and make inferences that connect ideas across sources. These are precisely the skills that predict success in senior secondary school and university.

Second, the competitive nature of debating provides powerful motivation. Students who might disengage from traditional classroom reading will spend hours researching topics they care about when there’s a tournament on the line (some US styles of debating provide topics in advance, and allow students to conduct their own research beforehand). Research from Harvard’s Strategic Education Research Partnership found that debaters begin to automatically assess every single contention when reading—applying critical evaluation skills to their everyday academic work.

Third, debating provides intensive practice in skills that transfer broadly: public speaking, logical reasoning, research, evidence evaluation, and collaborative preparation. Few other activities combine all of these in a single, engaging package.

Supporting international research

These findings align with international research across healthcare and education disciplines. Studies published in Nurse Educator, the American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, and Nurse Education Today have found that structured debates enhance critical thinking skills, develop stronger teamwork and communication abilities, and are particularly effective for building argumentative capacity and reasoning. Many debating topics for more experienced debaters, for example, include motions to implement new ideas at national and international levels, encouraging them to engage with real-world issues and policy proposals. More recently, research in the International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (2024) found that debating techniques nurture open-mindedness by compelling children to consider multiple perspectives, fostering a more inclusive and tolerant mindset.

Taken together, this body of research suggests that debating trains the mind for the kind of deep reading and reasoning that success in higher education requires.

How debating develops critical thinking and higher-order reasoning

When educators talk about higher-order thinking, they’re referring to skills at the top of Bloom’s taxonomy: analysis, evaluation, and synthesis. These are the cognitive abilities that separate surface-level understanding from genuine intellectual mastery—and research repeatedly links structured debating to their development.

The format itself is the training mechanism. When students construct a case, they must build logical chains of reasoning—moving from premises to conclusions in ways that can withstand scrutiny. When they anticipate opposition arguments, they’re forced to think from multiple perspectives and identify potential weaknesses in their own position before an opponent does. When they deliver rebuttal in real time, they’re making rapid decisions about which points matter most and how to address them clearly under time pressure.

Consider a Year 9 class debating That Australia should introduce compulsory national service. Students on both sides must research the topic, gathering evidence about civic duty, individual freedom, economic impacts, and international examples. They must weigh trade-offs: does the benefit to national cohesion outweigh the restriction on personal choice? They must anticipate what the opposing side will argue and prepare responses. This kind of deep engagement with complex current affairs builds analytical muscles that transfer to essay writing, exam performance, and real-world decision-making.

The Boston study’s findings support this mechanism. The reading gains weren’t uniform across all task types—they were concentrated on analytical and critical reading tasks rather than basic language skills. Students learn not just to read, but to read critically.

Social-emotional benefits: Confidence, empathy and resilience

Debating doesn’t just sharpen minds—it changes how students feel about themselves and others. The combination of repeated practice, structured feedback, and progressively challenging contexts creates conditions for significant personal growth.

Research on public speaking training provides a foundation for understanding these effects. Studies have found significant reductions in communication anxiety and corresponding increases in self-efficacy among students who receive structured speaking practice. Debating intensifies these effects through regular competition, detailed adjudicator feedback, and the requirement to speak under genuine pressure. Students who initially fear speaking learn, through repeated experience, that they can perform effectively—and this learning transfers beyond the debate room.

This is consistent with our own surveys conducted at Speaking Schools Australasia, with 93.58% of our students feeling more confident after attending programs as short as two days.

The link between speaking skills and self-esteem is well-documented. Research has found significant positive correlations between public speaking ability and self-esteem among students. Debating amplifies this relationship because it provides not just speaking practice, but explicit feedback, peer comparison, and opportunities for visible success. Winning a round, or even receiving positive comments on improved rebuttal, can shift how students see their own capabilities.

One of debating’s most distinctive social-emotional benefits is its impact on empathy and perspective-taking. Research has demonstrated that debate-based learning improves students’ ability to understand why people think and act as they do—including people they disagree with. When students must argue for a position they personally oppose—say, That social media does more harm than good when they’re active on every platform—they’re forced to map and humanise perspectives they might otherwise dismiss.

Teamwork effects are equally important. In Australian school teams, preparation time is spent dividing topics (one speaker might handle value arguments while another addresses practical impacts), planning rebuttal strategies, and coordinating how to present a unified team case. Students learn that their individual performance depends on, and contributes to, collective success.

The timing of intervention matters. Research shows that only about 25% of 16–24-year-olds report feeling confident speaking publicly, compared with 69% of adults aged 45 and over. This confidence gap suggests that offering debating programmes in primary and early secondary school represents a critical intervention window—building skills and self-assurance before the fear has time to become entrenched.

Career and life outcomes: Why debating skills matter beyond school

The skills developed through school debating align precisely with what employers say they want. Surveys consistently show that employers prioritise problem-solving ability (nearly 90%), teamwork skills (over 80%), and strong verbal and written communication (over 75%). Yet the same surveys reveal a proficiency gap: only about half of recent graduates are rated as proficient communicators by employers.

Debating directly addresses this gap. It trains clear, structured verbal communication under time pressure—exactly what’s required in meetings, presentations, and negotiations. It builds collaborative planning and shared responsibility across a team, as students must coordinate case construction and divide speaking roles. And it develops evidence-based decision-making and critical questioning, as debaters learn to interrogate claims rather than accept them at face value.

The career benefits are measurable. Research indicates that training in speaking is associated with roughly 10% higher annual earnings and a significantly higher likelihood of being promoted to management positions. Debating is an unusually intensive form of this training. Students who participate in competitive debating get years of practice in constructing arguments, presenting under pressure, and responding to challenges—an early head start that compounds over time.

Historically, many prominent Australians credit school or university debating with shaping their ability to understand and explain complex ideas. Former Prime Ministers Malcolm Turnbull and Julia Gillard both participated in debating, as did High Court Justice Jacqueline Gleeson. School debaters frequently move into law, public policy, consulting, academia, and leadership roles—not because debating is a credential, but because it builds genuine capabilities that these fields require.

Beyond formal careers, debating equips students for everyday life. In a world where misinformation spreads rapidly through social media, the ability to evaluate claims, check evidence, and spot logical fallacies is essential for informed citizenship. Debaters learn to navigate disagreements at work and at home more constructively—seeking to understand opposing opinions before attempting to refute them. They’re better prepared to participate in civic life, from school councils to local government consultations to parliament.

Cost-effectiveness: Exceptional value for schools and families

One of the most compelling findings from recent research is how cost-effective debating programmes are compared to other educational interventions.

The Boston study found that effective debating coaching costs approximately US$1,360 per student, compared to around US$2,800 for ‘high-dosage’ tutoring programmes. Yet debating generated comparable or better reading improvements at roughly half the cost per dollar spent. For schools and families seeking evidence-based approaches to boost literacy and critical thinking, debating offers exceptional value.

This cost-effectiveness is particularly relevant for Australian schools operating with constrained budgets. A well-run debating programme can deliver substantial academic benefits without the per-student costs associated with intensive tutoring or specialist interventions.

Debating and equity: Supporting diverse and disadvantaged students

Research suggests debating may be especially powerful for students who start behind academically or face fewer enrichment opportunities. This makes it not just an educational activity, but a potential equity intervention.

The Boston Debate League study’s equity findings deserve emphasis. Students with the lowest initial reading scores showed nearly double the reading gains of higher-achieving peers. Post-secondary enrolment rose by 55% among the lowest-baseline students who participated in debating—a transformative outcome for students who might otherwise have bypassed higher education entirely.

Several mechanisms explain these equity effects. Debating programmes provide low-cost access to high-quality literacy and critical thinking practice that might otherwise require expensive tutoring or private schooling. They offer opportunities for students to be publicly recognised for intellectual contributions—standing up, speaking well, and winning arguments—in ways that traditional classroom settings may not provide. Structured mentorship from coaches and older students creates relationships that support persistence and skill development.

The demographics of students who benefit are telling. In the Boston study, 82% of students at debating schools qualified for subsidised school meals (meaning that they came from a lower socio-economic background), 36% were English as a second language learners, and the majority came from non-white backgrounds. These students—often underserved by traditional educational approaches—showed substantial gains in literacy and university readiness.

For Australian schools, the implications are practical. Encouraging debating clubs in regional, outer-suburban, and low-SES communities can extend these benefits to students who need them most. Partnering with organisations like Speaking Schools Australasia and state debating associations provides access to training, resources, and tournaments that individual schools might struggle to organise alone.

Cultural and Linguistic Diversity in Debating

Debating is a powerful tool for promoting cultural and linguistic diversity, offering students from all backgrounds the chance to engage with current affairs and global issues. In the debating room, teams and schools come together to share opinions and ideas, often drawing on their unique perspectives and experiences. This diversity enriches the discussion, encouraging critical thinking and the exploration of new ideas.

By participating in debates, students learn to listen actively and consider viewpoints different from their own, breaking down barriers and fostering greater understanding among citizens from diverse communities. Debating competitions and events provide a welcoming space for students to express themselves, collaborate with peers from other backgrounds, and develop a deeper appreciation for the complexity of the world around them.

Through these experiences, debating not only builds essential skills but also helps create more inclusive and open-minded communities, where new ideas and perspectives are valued and respected.

Designing effective debating programmes: Evidence-based tips for schools

Not all debating experiences are equal. Certain design choices maximise learning benefits, especially for anxious or lower-achieving students. Teachers and programme coordinators who understand these principles can create programmes that deliver real results.

Starting early matters

Programmes should begin from mid-primary (Years 3–4) onwards, building foundational skills before students develop entrenched anxiety about speaking. The Boston study’s finding that lower-baseline students benefit most suggests that early intervention—before achievement gaps widen—may be particularly valuable. Young students can handle age-appropriate topics that relate to their own lived experience (That pets should be allowed in classrooms) and shorter speaking times.

Structured coaching amplifies benefits

Use clear frameworks like PEEL (Point, Explanation, Example, Link) for argument construction and simple rebuttal templates (They said X, but this is wrong/irrelevant because…). Integrate explicit instruction on the 3 Ms (manner, matter, method) so students understand how an adjudicator will assess their performance. This demystifies the process and gives students concrete targets for improvement.

Scaffolding anxiety reduction is essential

Begin with low-stakes, in-class debates and short speaking turns before progressing to formal competition. Normalise fear by sharing statistics—whilst comprehensive statistics don’t exist, it’s generally accepted that around 75% of people experience some level of public speaking anxiety—and frame nervousness as trainable rather than fixed. Students who learn early that fear decreases with practice are more likely to persist.

Inclusive topic selection increases engagement

Choose motions that are age-appropriate, culturally sensitive, and relevant to students’ lives. Topics about social media, school rules, environmental issues, or local community questions generate more interest and meaningful preparation than abstract philosophical debates. When students care about the subject, they’re more willing to engage deeply.

Intentional reflection consolidates learning

After debates, have students write or discuss what strategies worked, how they evaluated evidence, and whether their perspective changed. This metacognitive practice—thinking about thinking—reinforces the critical reasoning skills that make debating valuable in the first place.

Getting started: How students, parents and schools can engage with debating

The research is clear and the path forward is straightforward. Whether you’re a student, parent, or educator, the next step is simply to start.

For Students

The easiest entry point is joining an existing school debating club. If your school doesn’t have one, speak with a teacher about starting one—many schools are receptive when students show initiative. To understand what debating looks like in practice, watch recorded debates from World Schools Debating Championships or those recorded by the NSW Arts Unit. There are also a range of learning resources available on the Speaking Schools YouTube channel and blog.

For Parents

Ask your child’s school about debating opportunities. Find out whether they participate in interschool competitions, offer training days, or have a dedicated debating teacher. Supporting attendance at competitions and training programmes sends a signal that you value these skills. Alternatively, there are a number of specialist providers like Speaking Schools that can help children develop these skills. At home, you can reinforce learning through timed mini-debates on family-friendly topics—Should we get a pet? or Is homework helpful?—turning dinner table discussions into practice opportunities.

For Schools

Resources and support are readily available. State debating associations provide competition frameworks, adjudicator training, and networking with other schools. The Australian Debating Federation coordinates national championships and supports programme development. Specialist providers like Speaking Schools Australasia offer curriculum-aligned workshops, trained facilitators, and resources designed for Australian classrooms.

Conclusion

The evidence compiled in this article points to a consistent conclusion: debating is one of the most cost-effective, research-supported ways to improve academic results, build confidence, develop empathy, and prepare young people for long-term success. The skills it builds—reasoning, communication, collaboration, perspective-taking—are precisely what universities and employers seek, and what citizens need for thoughtful participation in democratic life.

Teach students to debate well today, and you equip them to decide well for the rest of their lives.

Key references and further reading

The core research informing this article includes:

Primary Studies:

• Schueler, B.E. & Larned, K. (2023). Debate participation, academic achievement, and educational attainment: Evidence from a long-run study. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis. doi:10.3102/01623737231200955
• Ko, T.M. & Mezuk, B. (2021). Debate participation and academic achievement among high school students in the Houston Independent School District: 2012–2015. Educational Research and Reviews, 16(6), 219–225.
• Mezuk, B. (2009). Urban debate and high school educational outcomes for African American males: The case of the Chicago Debate League. Journal of Negro Education, 78(3), 290–304.
• Mezuk, B., Bondarenko, I., Smith, S., & Tucker, E. (2011). Impact of participating in a policy debate program on academic achievement: Evidence from the Chicago Urban Debate League. Educational Research and Reviews, 6(9), 622–635.
• Anderson, S. & Mezuk, B. (2015). Positive youth development and participation in an urban debate league: Results from Chicago Public Schools, 1997–2007. Journal of Negro Education, 84(3), 362–378.

Supporting Research:

• Allen, M., Berkowitz, S., Hunt, S., & Louden, A. (1999). A meta-analysis of the impact of forensics and communication education on critical thinking. Communication Education, 48(1), 18–30.
• Othman, M., Sahamid, H., Zulkefli, M.H., Hashim, R.A., & Mohamad, F. (2015). The effects of debate competition on critical thinking among Malaysian second language learners. Middle-East Journal of Scientific Research, 23(4), 722–728.
• Louden, A.D. (2010). Navigating Opportunity: Policy Debate in the 21st Century. International Debate Education Association.
• Jimenez, A.J., Tan, A.K., & Baluyos, E.L. (2024). Debate technique on the critical thinking ability of learners. International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, 8(6).

In this blog, we’re going to look at two ways we can help build self-confidence in kids – encouragement and compliments – and how we can use these to tame our inner monologues and build confidence.

Whilst we often group encouragement and compliments in the same category, it is important to remember that they are different and both important in their own ways.  Let’s look at each below.

Encouraging for the Future

Encouragement refers to words of affirmation which confirm your belief that others can (and likely will) succeed.  ‘You’ve got this’, or ‘I believe in you’ are both great examples. This encouragement helps others – and especially children – overcome their inner monologue’s fears, and give things a real go.

Over time, they begin to internalise this belief – ‘Mum and Dad believe in me, so I don’t think that I’ll fail’ – changing the way they interact with their inner monologue, and becoming more self-confident as a result.

That said, it is important to not let this go too far – it’s a balancing act.  Whilst it is important for a child to believe that they can achieve nearly anything they set their mind to, it is important to keep those goals realistic.  Encourage them to take steps to become an astronaut, but don’t promise them they’ll be on the moon next summer.

If expectations aren’t managed, and goals aren’t adaptable, disappointments can lead to significant drops in self-confidence.

Complimenting for the Past

Compliments are different.  They refer to words of affirmation which come after someone has already achieved success – they show that you also define what they have achieved as a victory.  Phrases such as ‘great job’ or ‘well done’ are common examples.

There are two important things to remember when giving compliments.

First, make sure that your child has actually put in effort to achieve the goal. If they have freeloaded to get there, and they know you view it as a success, they are likely to put in less effort next time.

Second, give compliments readily, even if they don’t achieve their own goals. Compliments should be used as positive reinforcement for subjective effort, rather than solely when they reach objective goals – for some children, just standing up in front of an audience and mumbling a few sentences is a huge achievement deserving of plenty of compliments, even if the next (potentially more naturally talented) speaker gives an objectively great five minute speech.

Kids should be pushed to succeed, but every milestone – no matter how small – should still be recognised.

How we can help

At SSA, we know confidence is everything when it comes to public speaking and beyond! Want your child to feel more confident? Have a look at our programs to see how our programs encourage kids to take on the world!

School has such an influence over the rest of our lives.

It’s where we learn so much about the world and how it works – from algebraic equations to coastal erosion – with the goal of propelling ourselves into a successful (and hopefully rewarding) career.

But with so much uncertainty – and with stubbornly high youth unemployment rates even more than a year out of the pandemic – it’s important to take a greater interest in other aspects of school life to help set you apart and improve the skills that matter. This is especially true given the recent uptake of Generative AI, such as ChatGPT.

Debating is one such co-curriculum that helps build the skills and resilience that students need to thrive!

What skills do kids need to thrive?

According to a growing body of literature, there are four key skills that students need to succeed, all of which conveniently start with the letter ‘C’:

1. Critical thinking, which refers to using logic and reasoning to solve problems and make decisions;
2. Creativity, which requires children to be able to think outside of the box;
3. Collaboration, which involves working with others to reach common goals; and
4. Communication, which relates to how students are able to express themselves (and listen) to other people.

Each of these skills not only helps set us apart from our peers but also helps separate us from the incoming upheaval that machine learning and artificial intelligence are likely to unleash over the coming decades.

Let’s look at how debating can be formative in helping students develop these skills to help build their resilience!

Critical Thinking & Debating

This one is a no-brainer.

Debating revolves around analysing a topic – one which you’ve often not seen before – and coming up with a persuasive and logical case on why that topic is a good or a bad idea.

Given students are often not experts on topics like banning zoos or the US Electoral College – and even if they were, they don’t have the time in a debating speech to express all that knowledge – debating instead tends to rely on us taking a critical approach to the topic at hand, and developing cases without a huge amount of specific knowledge.

There really isn’t a better way to work on critical thinking skills.

Creativity & Debating

This one is a little more interesting.

As mentioned above, debating involves students looking at topics they likely don’t know all that much about. Without extensive reading and research, it’s likely that students won’t be able to come into debates with a pre-prepared response – and it is here that creativity & inventiveness flourish.

There is nothing like staring down the barrel of having to speak to an audience in less than 60 minutes about the possibility of invading North Korea, or perhaps the economics of Brexit, to get the creative juices flowing!

Collaboration & Debating

It is often easy to forget that debating is a team activity – you win and lose as a team, rather than as individuals, and need to share your ideas and help others express your thoughts in order to claim victory.

This type of teamwork – time-limited, and under pressure – brings out both the best and the worst in people and replicates high-pressure circumstances that commonly occur in workplaces. But, with practice, students learn how to deal with the pressure, and come out much calmer and more collected when dealing with others.

This is so important (and often so lacking) when people need to collaborate, especially in the workplace.

Communication & Debating

Debating obviously assists with communication skills – students need to be able to present a coherent case over a short speech with limited preparation time.  But debating actually helps students communicate in so many other ways as well.

One of the most important is speaking with, and being pleasant towards, those whom you would otherwise consider adversaries. At debating tournaments – particularly at university – it is very common to see teams go outside and socialise whilst the adjudicator comes to a decision. The ability to separate argumentation from personal relationships – and often being able to form friendships with rivals – is a communication tool that can be practiced and developed in few other forums.

Should my child learn debating?

In short – yes.

We offer a range of debating programs for students in Year 3 and above, but most schools also have internal programs that can help set your child apart from the pack and develop into a more resilient and employable adult.

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you’d like to learn more about how debating can help benefit your child!

Top Tips to Boost Self-Esteem

So, how can you build confidence?

It’s simpler than you think.

You might wonder how you can become more self-assured in different situations.

In this article, you’ll find practical steps to boost your self-esteem, recognise signs of low confidence, and adopt daily habits that strengthen self-belief.

Let’s dive into building your confidence.

Key Takeaways

• Self-confidence can be developed through intentional actions and mindset shifts, positively impacting health, career, and relationships.
• Recognising signs of low self-confidence, such as negative self-talk and avoidance of new experiences, is crucial for addressing and improving self-esteem.
• Daily habits like celebrating small victories, practising positive self-talk, and prioritising self-care can significantly boost self-esteem and confidence.
• Developing self efficacy—your belief in your ability to succeed—plays a key role in building lasting confidence and achieving your goals.

Understanding Confidence

Self-confidence refers to the belief in yourself and your abilities. It’s about feeling comfortable in your own skin and trusting that you can handle whatever life throws at you. Confidence is not an innate trait; it can be developed and strengthened over time. Just as you can build muscle through exercise, you can build self-confidence through intentional actions and mindset shifts, fostering confidence and self-esteem.

A strong sense of self-confidence greatly enhances many aspects of life, such as health, career, and relationships. People with healthy self-esteem tend to perform better academically and professionally, form stronger personal connections, and experience greater overall happiness. Confidence can act as a powerful predictor of life outcomes, influencing everything from job satisfaction to relationship strength.

However, confidence can fluctuate depending on the situation. Feeling more confident in familiar areas and less so in new or difficult situations is natural. Viewing these fluctuations as opportunities to feel confident for growth rather than obstacles is key to enhancing your ability.

It’s important to recognise individual differences in how people experience and express confidence, as everyone has unique strengths and challenges.

Remember, even the most confident people tend to face moments of self-doubt, but they use these moments to reflect, learn, and grow in their lives.

Why Confidence Matters

Self-confidence encourages personal growth. This self-assurance positively impacts both your career and personal relationships. Believing in yourself makes you more likely to take risks, pursue opportunities, and achieve your goals. Confidence enhances self-assurance, improves decision-making, and fosters perseverance. It helps you view challenges as opportunities for growth rather than as obstacles.

Confident individuals experience easier decision-making and find excitement in facing new adventures. Because of their typically more decisive and problem-solving characteristics, they often achieve higher levels of academic and career success. Confident people celebrate their achievements and embrace new challenges.

Confidence is also linked to higher levels of well-being, including increased happiness and optimism. Confident children, for example, are better equipped to handle peer pressure, responsibilities, and emotional challenges, setting a strong foundation for their child’s confidence and future.

Recognising Low Self-Confidence

Experiencing low self-confidence can lead to various issues, including shyness, communication problems, and a general feeling of inadequacy. People who lack confidence often avoid new experiences due to fears of embarrassment or failure. This avoidance can create a cycle of negative thinking, where negative experiences perpetuate low self-esteem.

Low self-esteem often manifests as:

• A critical inner dialogue and an unwillingness to acknowledge strengths.
• Frequent comparison to others, particularly on social media, which can exacerbate feelings of low self-worth.
• A strong fear of failure and judgment leads individuals to shy away from social situations and challenges.

When low self-esteem persists over time, it can have a harmful effect on mental health and daily life. It’s associated with poorer mental health and a higher likelihood of engaging in harmful behaviours. Recognising these signs is the first step in breaking the cycle of low confidence and beginning the journey toward healthier self-esteem. One effective way to break this cycle is to replace negative thoughts with more positive and realistic ones.

How to Build Confidence from Scratch

Building confidence from scratch may seem daunting, but it’s entirely achievable with the right strategies. Confidence allows individuals to see challenges as opportunities for growth instead of obstacles. Factors that contribute to gaining confidence include developing self-confidence:

• Seeing yourself positively
• Challenging yourself
• Experiencing success
• Sticking to commitments boosts self-reliance and confidence.

Some effective strategies to build confidence include:

• Acting confident
• Reframing anxiety as excitement
• Visualising success
• Realising that failure is not the end of the world, which allows you to view mistakes as learning opportunities
• Aligning your choices with personal values to boost self-respect and enhance self-confidence.

Here are deeper insights into these strategies.

Act Confident

Have you ever heard the phrase, ‘fake it ‘til you make it’?

Acting confidently is crucial for enhancing self-esteem and overcoming anxiety. Neuroscience has uncovered that self-belief is more learnable than previously thought. Acting confidently, even when you don’t feel it initially, activates the brain’s success mechanisms. This creates a positive feedback loop where acting confident leads to successful outcomes, which in turn boosts your confidence.

A confident person is comfortable with themselves, takes risks, sets boundaries, accepts compliments graciously, and presents themselves authentically. They are decisive and secure in their self-presentation and behavior.

Acting confidently means taking action despite feeling anxious. For example, making eye contact, maintaining good posture, and speaking clearly can all portray confidence. These actions not only influence how others perceive you but also reinforce your own belief in your abilities. Over time, these behaviours become second nature, helping you feel more self-assured in various situations.

Confident people aren’t afraid to make a mistake. They see mistakes as part of the learning process and don’t let them undermine their self-worth. Model confidence shows both yourself and others that you’re capable of more than you thought.

Reframe Anxiety as Excitement

Viewing anxiety as excitement can improve performance in various tasks. When anxious about a new challenge, reframe those feelings as excitement about the opportunity to learn and grow. This shift in perspective can significantly change how you approach the situation.

Research shows that reframing anxiety as excitement can improve performance and confidence. Next time you feel butterflies in your stomach, remind yourself it’s your body’s way of preparing for something exciting. This mindset shift can make you feel more positive and confident, enabling you to tackle new challenges with enthusiasm rather than fear.

Visualise Success

Visualising successful outcomes reduces anxiety and improves actual performance. Visualising yourself succeeding activates neural circuits similar to those used when you experience real-life success. This mental rehearsal boosts confidence, making you feel more prepared and self-assured when facing challenges.

Visualisation reduces anxiety, enabling you to approach tasks with greater confidence. Regularly practising visualisation helps create a positive mental image of achieving your goals. This practice enhances performance and reinforces belief in your abilities.

Effective visualisation ultimately leads to better performance in real-life situations, allowing individuals to realise their full potential.

The Confidence Mindset

Developing a confidence mindset means cultivating a state of being where you feel self-assured and trust in your ability to handle whatever life throws your way. This mindset is closely tied to healthy self-esteem—when you believe in your own worth, you’re more likely to approach new challenges with optimism and resilience. Confident people celebrate not only their own achievements but also the successes of others, understanding that there’s room for everyone to shine.

A confidence mindset isn’t about never feeling fear or doubt; it’s about not letting those feelings hold you back. Confident individuals know that mistakes are simply a part of life and an opportunity to learn and grow. They use positive self-talk to encourage themselves, especially when stepping out of their comfort zone or facing something unfamiliar. By focusing on their abilities and strengths, they build self-confidence and become more self-assured over time.

Building this mindset takes practice and patience. Start by challenging negative thoughts and replacing them with positive affirmations. Surround yourself with supportive people who encourage you to take on new challenges and celebrate your progress. Remember, developing self-confidence is a journey—each step you take, no matter how small, helps you become more confident and improves your mental health. Embrace the process, and you’ll find yourself feeling more positive and ready to tackle whatever comes your way.

Daily Habits to Boost Your Self-Esteem

Solid self-esteem is crucial for building the confidence needed to face life’s challenges. Daily habits are vital in enhancing overall self-confidence. Recognising even small accomplishments can significantly boost self-esteem. Engaging in enjoyable activities fosters a strong sense of fulfilment and confidence.

Simple daily habits, like dressing in a way that makes you feel good or acknowledging your achievements, can offer a quick confidence boost.

Using positive resources, such as self-help materials, alleviates stress and reinforces confidence after challenging situations. Self-compassion encourages focusing on personal growth rather than seeking external validation.

Here are some daily habits that can help boost your self-esteem.

Practice Positive Self-Talk

Positive self-talk is a powerful tool for boosting self-esteem and confidence. Here are some ways to practice it:

• Be kind to yourself.
• Treat yourself with the same compassion you would offer a friend.
• Note and write down negative thoughts to identify patterns and replace negative self-talk with positive affirmations.

Starting your day with a positive statement about yourself sets a confident tone. Here are some practices to follow:

• Aim to list at least five positive things about yourself each day.
• Recall your strengths and successes when feeling envious of others.
• Use this practice to improve your mood.
• Increase your resilience during challenging situations.

Celebrate Small Victories

Celebrating small victories is a meaningful way to develop confidence. Acknowledging small wins creates a reinforcing cycle of confidence and motivation. Celebrating achievements creates a positive feedback loop that enhances self-esteem.

Consistently celebrate small victories to build confidence:

• Set personal goals and celebrate small achievements to foster pride.
• Reflect on where you started to help appreciate your progress.
• Acknowledge achievements to recognise your abilities and boost self-assurance.

By acknowledging your progress, you reinforce your belief that you can succeed, even in the face of challenges.

Set Realistic Goals

Setting achievable goals prevents discouragement and promotes a sense of accomplishment. Joining an exercise class or attending a social event can serve as achievable challenges. If a goal seems too lofty, adjust it to achieve goals that are more realistic and achievable.

Setting realistic goals helps you focus on steady progress instead of feeling overwhelmed. This approach builds confidence gradually and sustainably, leading to long-term success.

Building Confidence Through Relationships

Confidence improves interpersonal skills in several ways:

• It makes it easier to establish effective relationships. Having friends who uplift and encourage you is essential for building lasting confidence.
• It makes you more comfortable communicating and supporting others, strengthening connections.
• Helping others boosts your confidence, creating a cycle of mutual support and appreciation.

Modelling confidence in front of children can create a lasting positive effect on their self-esteem. Parents should make positive comments about themselves and others to promote confidence in their children. Recognising your worth helps develop self-confidence in relationships, ensuring you appreciate both your own and others’ value.

Here are some practical tips for building confidence through relationships.

Surround Yourself with Positive People

Surrounding yourself with positive people can uplift you and reduce self-doubt. Building relationships with positive individuals who appreciate you is crucial for boosting confidence. Your social circle significantly impacts your self-esteem, influencing your thoughts and attitudes about yourself.

If a ‘good’ friend makes you feel bad about yourself, reconsider that friend. Spend less time with individuals who bring you down or communicate your feelings directly to them. Positive interactions help recognise your own value and foster a healthier self-image.

Confident individuals are happy to celebrate other people’s success, which fosters a positive and supportive environment for everyone.

Surrounding children with positive people increases the likelihood of them becoming confident and positive.

Learn to Say ‘No’

Establishing boundaries is crucial for maintaining self-respect and personal well-being. Setting boundaries shows confidence in respecting personal limits and communicating them effectively. It’s okay to decline activities that affect your self-confidence negatively.

Learning to assertively decline requests prevents resentment and protects mental health. Practising saying no helps set boundaries for yourself. Observing and imitating assertive individuals can help you become more assertive.

Taking Care of Your Body and Mind

Taking care of both physical and mental health is crucial for building self-confidence. Key practices include:

• Prioritising self-care signals to yourself and others that you matter.
• Practising gratitude shifts your focus from negative experiences to positive accomplishments, aiding in anxiety management.
• Developing an anxiety management routine to promote better mental clarity after stressful events.

Self-confidence is linked to better stress management and mental well-being. Taking care of your body and mind equips you with resilience to handle life’s challenges.

Here are a few tips for practical self-care examples and strategies.

Prioritise Self-Care

Self-care is essential because it helps you feel good about yourself and your abilities. Adequate sleep, proper nutrition, and physical activity are crucial self-care components that enhance confidence. Physical activity, in particular, improves mood and energy levels, increasing confidence.

Feeling good physically improves mental well-being and self-perception. Focus on areas you appreciate to enhance your self-image. Wearing clothes that make you feel good about yourself can also positively influence your self-confidence and help you feel better. It simply feels good to take care of yourself.

Taking care of your body signifies to others that you matter. By prioritising self-care, you boost your self-worth and set a positive example for those around you. Prioritising self-care also helps you build your own confidence and encourages others to do the same by following your example.

Engage in Activities You Enjoy

Participating in hobbies and activities you excel at increases self-confidence and overall happiness! There is a moderate relationship between belief in personal strengths and life satisfaction, meaning that recognising your abilities can enhance your overall happiness, as it is a crucial part of life.

Engaging in activities you enjoy is essential for building self-confidence as it allows you to express and develop your strengths. Identifying and engaging in activities that bring you joy and highlight your strengths is crucial for your self-esteem development.

Spend time doing what you love, and you’ll find yourself feeling more positive and confident, which helps you feel positive.

Confidence and Self-Awareness

Confidence and self-awareness truly go hand in hand. Being self-aware means understanding your own strengths, weaknesses, and emotions, which is essential for building genuine self-confidence. When you know what you’re good at and where you have room to grow, you can approach difficult situations with a clear sense of your abilities and a willingness to learn.

Confident people aren’t afraid to admit when they’ve made a mistake—they see it as a chance to improve rather than a setback. This openness to learning is a key part of building confidence and self-assurance. By practicing positive self-talk and focusing on your achievements, you can boost your confidence and develop a more positive self-image. Recognising your progress, no matter how small, helps reinforce your belief in your own abilities.

Building confidence also means being honest with yourself about areas where you want to develop new skills. Instead of shying away from challenges, use them as opportunities to grow. Surrounding yourself with positive, supportive people can make a big difference, as they can help you see your strengths and encourage you during tough times.

Ultimately, confidence and self-awareness work together to help you navigate life’s challenges. By focusing on your strengths, learning from your mistakes, and practicing positive self-talk, you’ll find yourself feeling more confident, capable, and ready to take on whatever comes your way.

Overcoming Fear and Self-Doubt

Confidence fosters resilience, enabling individuals to adapt and recover from setbacks more effectively. Practising facing fears – such as public speaking – can enhance resilience and prepare you for future challenges. Healthy self-esteem enables individuals to approach setbacks as learning opportunities rather than personal failures.

Overcoming fear and self-doubt is essential for building lasting confidence. By confronting your fears and managing post-event anxiety, you can break free from the cycle of self-doubt. Let’s delve into these strategies in the following subsections.

Face Your Fears

Facing your fears head-on is an effective way to build confidence. Small victories through confronting fears help build more confidence. When facing fears, consider it an experiment to reduce pressure and improve resilience.

Don’t let feelings of nervousness or fear stop you from trying new things. By stepping out of your comfort zone, you show yourself that you’re capable of more than you thought. This process can lead to significant personal growth and increased self-assurance.

Remember, the goal is not to eliminate fear entirely but to manage it effectively. Each time you face a fear, you build a little more confidence, making it easier to tackle the next challenge.

Manage Post-Event Anxiety

Managing post-event anxiety is crucial to prevent overthinking and stress from impairing clear thinking. After facing a challenging situation, or something that just makes you nervous, like public speaking, take time to reflect on what went well and what you can improve. This practice helps you maintain a positive mindset and reduces the likelihood of dwelling on negative aspects.

By focusing on the positive outcomes and lessons learned, you can reframe your experience in a more constructive light. This approach not only enhances your confidence but also prepares you better for future challenges, fostering a growth-oriented mindset.

The Role of Self-Compassion

Self-compassion is treating yourself with kindness during mistakes or failures. It fosters emotional resilience by allowing individuals to treat themselves with kindness during setbacks. Being kind to yourself involves being gentle during self-criticism, which promotes emotional well-being.

Incorporating self-care practices can significantly enhance your mental health and self-worth. Self-care activities can help reduce stress and improve emotional well-being. Optimistic self-talk fosters self-compassion and helps overcome self-doubt.

We frequently offer better advice to others than we do to ourselves. This illustrates the need to stop comparing and for self-kindness.

Summary

In summary, building confidence is a journey that involves understanding what confidence is, why it matters, and how to recognise low self-confidence. Practical strategies such as acting confident, reframing anxiety as excitement, and visualising success can help you build confidence from scratch. Daily habits like practising positive self-talk, celebrating small victories, and setting realistic goals are essential for boosting self-esteem.

Relationships play a crucial role in building confidence, so surround yourself with positive people and learn to say no when necessary. Taking care of your body and mind through self-care and engaging in enjoyable activities can significantly enhance your self-worth. Finally, overcoming fear and self-doubt and practising self-compassion are vital for maintaining long-term confidence. Embrace these tips and watch your self-confidence soar.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is self-confidence?

Self-confidence is all about believing in yourself and trusting your abilities. When you feel comfortable in your own skin, it empowers you to tackle challenges and pursue your goals.

How can I recognise low self-confidence in myself?

If you find yourself feeling shy, struggling to communicate, or constantly doubting your abilities, those might be signs of low self-confidence. It’s important to acknowledge your strengths and give yourself credit!

What are some strategies to build confidence from scratch?

To build confidence from scratch, try acting confident, visualise your success, and reframe anxiety as excitement. These strategies can help you manage fears and cultivate a more confident mindset.

How can daily habits boost my self-esteem?

Incorporating daily habits like positive self-talk, celebrating small wins, and setting achievable goals can really uplift your self-esteem. The key is consistency – the more you practice, the better you’ll feel about yourself!

Why is self-compassion important for confidence?

Self-compassion is crucial for confidence because it encourages kindness towards ourselves during tough times, which builds emotional resilience and well-being. When we treat ourselves gently, we grow stronger and more confident in facing challenges.

Over the past two months, students at SSA have been hard at work preparing, practising and presenting their speeches for the our third public speaking competition, the Rising Voices Public Speaking Championship.

Last weekend saw the culmination of the Championship, with 24 participants vying for a trophy across four age divisions.

This year, the theme of the competition was ‘Empowerment’, where all speakers were asked to devise and deliver a speech on a topic that relates to this theme. Each age group had five topics they could choose from, ranging from ‘How can I be a leader’ for Stage #1 students to ‘Equal opportunity = equal respect’ for Stage #4 students.

Our three judges – Luisa, Cassidy and Rani – had a huge task determining only four champions across the four divisions. Despite having an incredibly tough time deciding between all the exceptional presentations – which took twice as long as we had scheduled, given the difficulty of the decision – they eventually emerged with four champions:

• Stage #1 – Ashlyn
• Stage #2 – Samouel
• Stage #3 – Mar
• Stage #4 – Rohan

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to all those who joined us in showing support for these remarkable young speakers.

Finally, a big congratulations to all the winners and finalists – we feel empowered by the remarkable skill, effort and charisma you showed throughout the competition!

What is the Rising Voices Championship?

The Rising Voices Public Speaking Championship is an exciting competition that encourages students to hone their speaking skills and share their ideas with others.

Building off previous iterations of the SSA Cup in 2022 and the Sydney Speaking Competition in 2021, this year’s theme was “Empowerment,” providing contestants with a chance to discover how their voices can make a positive impact on themselves and those around them.

The competition was divided into four divisions: Stage #1 (Years 1 & 2), Stage #2 (Years 3 & 4), Stage #3 (Years 5 & 6) and Stage #4 (Years 7 – 9), each with a different set of topics that they could choose from.

All participants were judged on three primary criteria: manner (body language, eye contact, vocal variety and overall delivery), matter (the content of their speech) and method (speech structure).

Stage #3 and Stage #4 students were also judged in an Impromptu Category, in which they were given 5 minutes to prepare a speech on the topics “Courage” and “Kindness” respectively.

While there can only be three champions in each division, every participant delivered remarkable speeches that truly stood out. Keep reading to discover the complete lists of finalists and winners from this year’s competition!

The Empowering Qualities of Public Speaking

Public speaking is an important skill that empowers students in a variety of ways.

Firstly, it helps students develop confidence and self-esteem. By speaking in front of an audience, students are forced to confront their fears and overcome them. This makes them more confident and self-assured in their day-to-day lives, empowering them to seek out positive changes they can make in the world.

Secondly, public speaking is a great way to improve critical and creative thinking skills. When students are given a topic to speak about, they are forced to research and think critically in order to develop a compelling argument. This not only improves their critical thinking abilities, but also their creativity. By presenting new and innovative ideas to an audience, students are empowered to think outside the box and come up with creative solutions to problems.

Finally, public speaking is an important tool for leadership development. Effective leaders are able to communicate their vision and inspire their teams. Public speaking provides an opportunity for students to develop these leadership skills by presenting their ideas to a group of people. By learning how to engage and persuade an audience, students are empowered to become future leaders in their communities and careers.

Finalists & Winners at Rising Voices 2023

Division #1 (Years 1 & 2)

Congratulations to the six finalists selected for the Stage #1 Division of the Rising Voices Championship 2023!

Ashlyn – First Place

William – Second Place

Ridhi – Third Place

Jasper – Special Award

Chloe – Finalist

Pia – Finalist

Division #2 (Years 3 & 4)

Our heartfelt congratulations to the six finalists chosen for the Stage #2 Division of the Rising Voices Championship 2023!

Samouel – First Place

William – Second Place

Hugo – Third Place

Brian – Special Award

Joanna – Finalist

Rocky – Finalist

A particular congratulations to Samouel, who was also the first-placed participant in the Stage #2 division of the SSA Cup in 2022!

Division #3 (Years 5 & 6)

We extend our warmest congratulations to the six extraordinary finalists selected for the Stage #3 Division of the Rising Voices Championship 2023!

Mar – First Place

Kiara – Second Place

Brian – Third Place

Lachlan – Special Award

Ishaq – Finalist

Sumin – Finalist

Special congratulations to Mar, who also achieved the first-place position in the Stage #3 division of the SSA Cup in 2022!

Division #4 (Years 7 – 9)

We extend our warmest congratulations to the six extraordinary finalists selected for the Stage #3 Division of the Rising Voices Championship 2023!

Rohan – First Place

Anna – Second Place

Layla – Third Place

Giorgia – Special Award

Dawsen – Finalist

Gurkiret – Finalist

Public speaking has the remarkable ability to empower students, fostering real change within ourselves and our communities.

While it demands hard work and dedication, the potential rewards, on a personal and professional level, are immense.

At Speaking Schools Australasia, we believe that every child should have access to public speaking education as part of their schooling so that they can be empowered to be confident communicators who can advocate for meaningful contributions within their communities.

Congratulations once again to our esteemed winners Ashlyn, Samouel, Mar, and Rohan. May this experience leave a lasting impression on all our finalists, instilling them with invaluable lessons and cherished memories!

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to all those who supported us throughout this event and look forward to more competitions to come – thank you for being a part of our journey!

Who is the main contender?

Many of us have heard the term IQ (‘Intelligence Quotient’) used time and time again over the years.

We’ve all heard that – at least in recent history – it has been used to classify one’s ability and capacity to perform academically or succeed in the workforce (or sometimes life itself).

In fact, one’s IQ score has previously been used to determine one’s right to citizenship, among other exclusion and segregation policies – thankfully, something that has not continued.

However, there has been a huge shift in the last few years from that focusing solely on IQ to that of really valuing the benefits that come with having a high EQ (their ‘Emotional Quotient’) – not only in one’s personal life, but their professional life too!

Defining  EQ – what exactly is it?

A textbook definition of EQ is:

“A set of emotional and social skills that influence the way we perceive and express ourselves, develop and maintain social relationships, cope with challenges, and use emotional information in an effective and meaningful way.” (Multihealth systems, 2011)

In more practical terms, we may say that EQ is the ability to understand and manage our own emotions, and subsequently use them not only to reduce stress but to learn how to communicate effectively with others, exhibit empathy, harness resilience, and minimise conflict. Essentially, we are not numbing emotions or losing control of them, but learning how to identify them in ourselves and others, constructively work with them to allow us to form a healthy relationship with ourselves and those around us. 

Several psychologists and neurobiologists – and now academics, employers and leaders alike – have all come to honour and embrace the significance of EQ. Not because it’s new or ‘trending’, but rather because it has reemerged, resurfaced and been resuscitated by more hard science! And the proof is in the pudding – emotional intelligence is fundamental for personal happiness and well-being; it makes us better communicators and helps us thrive in our professional and personal lives.

Still not convinced?

Have a good think for a moment.

Consider all the people you know who exude happiness – who have a fulfilled life.

Do they simply have a high IQ, or do they have the capacity to navigate life with self-awareness, empathy, resilience and adaptability?

Help! I need to boost my EQ!

The wonderful news is that EQ is not fixed or set in stone – it is a learned ability that we can continue to develop throughout life, ultimately helping us evolve into the best versions of ourselves.

According to leading EQ experts, what are the three tips to further develop our EQ?

1. Stop and think before reacting to a stimulus.
2. Think about how your reaction will impact you and others in the short and long term.
3. Learn how to listen and when not to respond. Listen deeply before responding. 

What can we do as parents?

The first seven years of childhood form the foundations of our child’s character, including their EQ. That is not to say that everything we do after the age of seven becomes irrelevant, rather the first seven years are the most crucial building blocks for EQ.

Parents are the first and most influential emotional coaches, and although this sounds daunting, the key lies in modelling desirable behaviours most of the time – not being ‘perfect’ or ‘flawless’ all the time.  Neurobiologist and leading EQ expert, Daniel Goleman, explains that we as parents simply need to show up, listen, empathise, and spend time with our children – showing them what a good human (importantly, not a perfect person) looks like, and the rest will follow. 

The importance of ‘showing’ rather than ‘telling’ lies in the development of mirror neurons, which are essentially cells in the brain that are activated and developed by observed action. As the old adage says, “Monkey sees, Monkey do”.

By the time children turn seven, their mirror neurons are more or less developed, and difficult (but not impossible) to change. This loops back to why the first seven years are the most crucial. 

How SSA can help?

We at Speaking Schools truly embrace the importance of a holistic educational experience that builds children’s soft skills.

Our programs are aligned with fostering empathy, effective communication, and strengthening self-confidence and resilience in order to prepare our students not only for Debating and Public Speaking, but for their future more broadly! 

Our philosophy lies very much in building well-rounded humans that can adapt and evolve in this ever-changing world.

Get in touch to learn more!

Whilst the Australian schooling system is split between public, private, Catholic systemic and homeschooling, there is a unique subset of ‘selective schools’ which exist within the public system of most states.

Whilst most of these are located in New South Wales – there are 17 fully selective, 25 partially selective and four agricultural schools – you can also find similar selective schools in most other states.

Let’s dive into what makes these schools special, their entry requirements and how public speaking and debating can help give students an edge.

What are selective schools?

Whilst selective schools sit within the public education system, they are unique in many ways.

Firstly, all students must pass a special test to enter (more on this below), which means that almost everyone who attends these schools is a high achiever. By grouping students of similar academic abilities, they can push one another to improve continually, raising the academic achievements of everyone within the cohort. There is also evidence that grouping gifted students together can similarly be good for their emotional well-being.

Secondly, given the students can get through content faster than in comprehensive schools, this means that teachers can move through concepts at an accelerated rate. This not only means they get to more complex ideas earlier, but also helps students feel a greater level of satisfaction with their schooling.

Thirdly, they get the advantage of having more money to invest in education without the requisite school fees for parents. Whilst there aren’t any additional school fees, it’s been reported that selective schools obtain approximately $1.4 million more in voluntary donations than comprehensive schools – given these are government bodies, this money is then directly re-invested back into the students, helping build their education.

Finally, they simply get good academic results. Of the Top 10 schools that completed the NSW Higher School Certificate in 2022 – including all private schools in the state – six were selective schools. One particular school – James Ruse Agricultural College – topped the HSC Honours List for the 27th year in a row (yes, every year since the late 1990s). Many of those looking for great academic results can find them in the selective system.

Selective schools sound great – what’s the catch?

As with all great things, there is no such thing as a free lunch when it comes to selective schools.

Selective schools require special tests to enter. Whilst these vary from state to state, they generally involve elements of reading comprehension, mathematical reasoning, writing skills and critical thinking. Importantly, rather than assessing previous success, these tests are tailored towards assessing future ability – they are designed to ensure that the students entering selective schools are ready for the rigours ahead.

Given the unique opportunities these selective schools offer, it’s no surprise that many parents would love for their children to attend. That said, for the 2023 NSW selective school exam, over 15,000 applicants are vying for only 4,248 places (for comparison, there are around 60,000 students in each grade at public schools in NSW).

Given the stiff competition, it’s similarly unsurprising how much additional effort and investment parents are willing to undertake to help their child secure a spot.

Sounds hard – what’s on the selective schools test?

Whilst there are sections on comprehension, mathematics, and writing, the most significant single section in the NSW test (comprising 35% of the final grade) looks at ‘thinking skills’, whilst half of the Victorian test relates to ‘General Ability – Verbal, Quantitative and Writing’. We’ll use the phrase ‘critical thinking skills’ to refer to these concepts (to keep things simple).

Critical thinking skills are essential for success in life generally. Having the ability to think critically and objectively about any given situation is crucial for making informed decisions and taking appropriate action. Being able to evaluate information accurately, analyse different points of view, combine reason with intuition, spot inconsistencies, and question assumptions are all essential parts of critical thinking. This can allow us to effectively solve problems and make better decisions both in our personal life as well as in our professional lives. Having a sound approach to critical thinking can also help us delve deeper into a topic or issue that we may not be familiar with in order to gain a deeper understanding of it. Therefore, critical thinking is an invaluable skill that everyone should strive to develop and use throughout their lives.

So, pretty important. But what do these critical thinking skills questions look like in practice?

The NSW Department of Education has several practice questions on its website to help students identify the type of questions they might be asked – one example from their website is:

To become a successful architect, you need to be creative and also have excellent attention to detail.

Will: “Sally is creative – she loves drawing and painting – and always checks her written work carefully. She’s sure to become a great architect.”

Evie: “James enjoys writing stories and has a vivid imagination, but he struggles with detailed tasks. Architecture is probably not for him.”

If the information in the box is true, whose reasoning is correct?

This type of question (as well as many others within the test) looks at formal logic – but what’s the best way to develop these types of skills?

Winning the selective schools test with public speaking & debating

One way of improving critical thinking skills is to learn formal logic (although this is something that children find very difficult), whilst another is to sit lots and lots of practice tests (noting that these become repetitive over time).

However, there is another way to boost your child’s chances of success on a selective school test – developing public speaking and debating skills.

So how can this help?

Learning logic in a real-life setting

Through debating, students learn how to construct logical and persuasive arguments in three ways.

Firstly, it helps students come up with logical arguments in real time. To win debates, you need to understand what your team’s case is, work with others in your team to express it clearly and ensure that each of your points is logical. This is a creative process during prep, but something that must be done quickly given time constraints.

Secondly, students are also required to recognise logical flaws in their opposition’s arguments too.  This helps them develop a critical eye for logical inconsistencies under strict time constraints, an essential skill for selective skills tests.

Thirdly, students are required to defend the arguments made by others. When rebutting, it is never enough simply to attack the other team – you must also defend the points raised by your earlier speakers. By recognising where the other team has found logical flaws and patching them up, students develop an even stronger understanding of how to express themselves logically.

Quick thinking under pressure

Thinking quickly under pressure is another critical skill debating teaches students.

In a debate, students must think on their feet while responding to opponents – this requires quick thinking to ensure not only that they’re speaking coherently but also that what they are saying makes sense.

Moreover, when engaging with impromptu speeches, students are required to develop complex ideas without much (if any) preparation time before presenting them without having any opportunity to practice this particular speech.

Through practice, students are able to develop a sort of resilience in time-pressured situations such as examinations. In many ways, public speaking and debating are even more effective than practice papers – when presenting to an audience, there is always a level of pressure to perform (something that isn’t always true of lower-stakes practice papers).

Given this, regular public speaking and debating training can make a huge difference to a student’s ability to think quickly under pressure.

Developing creative ideas

Debating and public speaking are not just effective tools to develop confidence and communication skills, they also help students learn how to generate creative ideas.

Through debating, students have to think on their feet to come up with quick and convincing arguments. In doing so, they learn how to express themselves clearly while being able to think outside the box.

Public speaking similarly encourages students to expand their thoughts and be comfortable sharing them with others. As students build their speeches, they must develop innovative ways to capture and engage an audience which teaches them how to utilise diverse methods of communication.

Overall, debating and public speaking are invaluable tools for helping students develop creative ideas which can be applied in various settings – including (but not limited to) the written section of a selective schools examination.

Comprehending others

Debating and public speaking are invaluable skills that also help students comprehend others better.

Debating achieves this in two ways. Firstly, it forces students to predict and consider what they think their opponents will present in order to make their arguments more persuasive. Developing this understanding of alternative perspectives can really help students with comprehension more generally, as it requires them to consider the perspectives of others over a long period.

Secondly, and potentially more importantly, students need to listen to others in a debate before responding to them. Unlike in most educational settings, those arguments are often poorly expressed or tortuously thought through, making it very hard to respond. By practising using techniques like ‘Condensing Smoke’, students become experts in comprehension not only of well-expressed ideas, but also those which leave something to be desired.

Similarly, public speaking encourages ‘active listening’, where you not only listen to the words being said, but also consider the implications of it – an essential life skill. This skill allows students to engage with prompts and other students in a more genuine way creating authentic connections and arguments.

Finally, both debating and public speaking help students develop empathy for those with different opinions or backgrounds, so they can better understand where people are coming from and why they hold certain perspectives. With these skills, students will be better equipped to navigate conversations with respect, understanding, and appreciation for others’ points-of-view – skills that definitely put them in a strong position for the comprehension section in a selective schools test.

Learning about the world

Debating and public speaking are powerful tools that allow people to gain a deeper understanding of the world.

This is very natural in debating. By engaging in dialogue with others and considering different perspectives, students gain an appreciation of issues from all angles. Moreover, to improve their success rate in debates more generally, students are required to keep abreast of what’s actually happening in the world through their own personal research – there is nothing worse than being allocated a topic that you don’t know anything about!

Public speaking allows individuals to effectively communicate their own ideas and beliefs, while gaining insight into the thoughts and values of those around them. In order to develop effective speeches, students need to think through their ideas and check them against their own research and the perspectives of others.

Through these activities, people learn how to constructively engage with opposing opinions, develop empathy for other points of view, and build bridges between cultures.

Debating and public speaking are invaluable skills that give people the opportunity to explore our interconnected global society in a meaningful way – something that would help anyone seeking to undertake the selective schools test.

What About the Other Sections?

Whilst critical thinking skills represents the largest section of the test, public speaking and debating skills can also be helpful in other sections too!

Whether it is learning how to express yourself persuasively (which can be adapted from verbal to written expression), understanding a long-winded point during a debate (so you can prepare a rebuttal) or simply having the self-confidence to step through your logic on a maths problem, learning public speaking and debating can make a big difference to how students feel going into the test.

How can Speaking Schools Australasia help?

In conclusion, developing strong debating and public speaking abilities is essential for anyone undertaking the selective schools test.

With the right tools and guidance, as well as a fair bit of work over time, students can build these skills to really give themselves an edge in the selective schools test.

Fortunately, Speaking Schools Australasia offers an array of services specifically designed to give students the best chance at success on their journey towards top educational institutions.

Check out our programs to learn more about how we can help!

It’s only natural that as a parent, you want your children to grow into confident adults who can express their thoughts and ideas in front of an audience without any fear.

Getting the better of this anxiety also has positive ramifications for other areas in life, such as school, social situations, and eventually life after school.

But for shy children, public speaking can be really hard, and standing up in front of a crowd could be one of the scariest experiences they can imagine. Thankfully, there are lots of ways you can help your child overcome their fear of public speaking.

Let’s explore eight effective tips and strategies to help kids find their inner confidence.

Whilst reading, make sure to keep in mind that everyone is different, so your child may resonate with some of these public speaking tips more than others!

1. Pick a topic that shows off your public speaking skills

Before implementing different strategies, it is important to ascertain what your goals are and what you are hoping to achieve. Ask yourself:

What are my child’s strengths?

What are my child’s interests?

How can they translate into an effective and engaging presentation?

Your child can start by pretending to be talking to a friend about a shared passion or interest, ideally as if they were in everyday conversation. Most people in an audience identify with a speaker who is interested in the material they are discussing as part of the speech – and has the body language and passion to speak up about it in an engaging manner – so a fantastic way to start is to ensure that kids speak about topics that interest them.

You can learn more about picking the perfect topic and how to start speeches in our other blogs!

2. Start small in a comfortable environment

Once your child has chosen their topic material, start small and build up their public speaking capabilities over time.

Your child can practice speaking in front of a small audience before tackling a larger crowd – the fewer faces (and the friendlier the faces), the less daunting it is to practice your public speaking skills in front of a crowd, no matter the size.

Invite a few family members or friends for dinner and discuss things that actively interest your child – pick an idea and focus the discussion on it, giving them lots of opportunities to speak. If they’re feeling shy, actively encourage them to talk with questions that stay on point.

Alternatively, you can also use things like board games (Articulate for Kids is a good one) where children are required to engage with spoken language at home and are forced to speak up to participate in the activity.

Not only will these give your child the opportunity to practice without any added pressure in a relatively stress-free environment, but they will also give them the opportunity to practice their social skills and help overcome any shyness they may have in that department as well!

Finally, you will also potentially want to debrief later on, and mention quietly to them how well they did, or that you enjoyed listening to them express themselves, or how glad you are they got involved in the discussion – this positive reinforcement, especially if they get a sense that you’re being genuine about it, can make a massive difference to their confidence levels and can go a long way to overcoming shyness.

3. Discuss Their Fears of Public Speaking

Talking about fears and anxieties is often the first step toward overcoming them. This might range from simple stage fright to glossophobia more generally.

You may potentially want to ask your child what makes them nervous about speaking in public and encourage them to talk through their worries with you and other members of the family.

Reassure them that everyone gets scared sometimes – even you – but by facing their fears head-on, they can become more confident in their abilities as a speaker. As we’ll look at below, regularly practising your public speaking skills can make a real difference to your confidence levels, especially for someone who is innately quite shy.

You can also take this further, and discuss what they think will happen when they get up to present – what is their worst-case scenario? Most of the time, it involves their audience laughing at them – if this is the case, remind them that most people in the crowd, especially other kids, understand what it’s like to feel nervous (and many know what it feels like to be shy) and that they are almost always on the speaker’s side!

During these discussions, it is important to empathise and show your child that even a shy person can be confident when public speaking. Nervous energy can be advantageous when overcoming shyness, especially when redirecting that energy into a heartfelt speech – public speakers are much more engaging to watch someone speak with animated body language and power behind their words!

4. Lots and lots of practice

Like almost anything and everything in life, practice makes perfect. There’s a good reason it’s an age-old saying!

The more your shy child practices and refines their public speaking skills, the more they grow used to it, even if it isn’t something that comes naturally to them. Like any skill, practising once or twice isn’t going to make a huge difference, especially for shy people. Instead, the focus should be on presenting to a group regularly, receiving feedback, and then giving the speech another go. It is only once students have a significant amount of public speaking practice that it becomes second nature and instils a newfound self-confidence.

That said, speeches often pop up in our lives when we least suspect, and you may not feel ready to give a talk to your peers – what should your child do then?

Set aside time to have them practice in front of a small group (ideally family members and a friend – people they’re comfortable with). If their shyness prevents even this, you may want to offer them a mirror (which is less effective) or to film themselves (which is more effective, as they can look back on it later).

The important thing is to ensure they deliver their presentation to you several times before they go public. When practising with you or another family member (or even reflecting on a video they took of themselves), it is an excellent opportunity for them to refine things like eye contact, voice volume, body language, and even nonverbal communication – it can even provide a chance to add more advanced elements to their speech, such as inclusive language and rhetorical questions.

You can even get them to run through their presentation without palm cards or notes in a conversational tone – not only is this an example of how to improve speaking manner, but it also means that they will learn how to keep on message even if they forget elements of their speech.

Make sure that your child has plenty of time to prepare for any presentations thoroughly, so they feel more comfortable when it comes time to deliver them in front of a less familiar audience. Speak with them about the ideas and topics they would like to include in their speech, and the message they want to convey so that they know their material almost (but never totally) by heart. This is a valuable tactic so that they can maintain a conversational tone instead of reading off palm cards word for word.

Remember, practice makes perfect!

5. Visualise Success

Visualisation is one of the most powerful tools we have for calming our nerves before speaking in public. Whilst this may not work for younger kids, it is an increasingly effective technique as students grow older.

Have your child close their eyes and visualise themselves delivering a fantastic speech that elicits applause from the audience afterwards. Sit with it for a few moments. How does it make them feel?

This technique, which derives from mindfulness practice, is a proven method for helping to build confidence and reduce feelings of anxiety and shyness before speaking publicly. Believe it or not, your child is more likely to deliver an engaging presentation when they imagine being happy while speaking – putting on a smile can make you smile naturally!

One part of visualising success is remembering that the audience is not judging but instead listening intently to the speaker’s ideas and message. Many children (and even adults) start off feeling nervous when they first give presentations, so most of those in the crowd will know precisely what it feels like to be shy.

But what if your child makes a mistake or uses the wrong words? Most of the time, the audience won’t even notice. Think about a concert pianist playing a brand new piece of music the audience has never heard. What would happen if they played the wrong note? Unless they drew attention to it and insisted that they start again, almost certainly nothing – they just continue as if nothing went wrong, and the audience is none the wiser. It is the same for public speaking – particular words don’t matter if you stay on message!

6. Slow Down & Breathe

Often it isn’t just the words that matter when you speak – it is also the negative space and where one takes a rest that makes a massive difference to how speeches are perceived.

Remind your child not to rush through their presentation – pausing between sentences (and especially after an important point) helps break it up into smaller chunks which will make it easier for them to manage (and for their audience to understand).

Additionally, breaking up the flow allows your child to present a clearer message, allowing the audience to focus more on an important idea and follow the presentation better.

You and your child can practice dividing your speech into sections bit by bit. One helpful way of doing this is to use a coloured marker and leave dots wherever you want to take a breath – this can also act as an opportunity to look up when you talk, allowing you to focus in on your audience as they watch your speech.

Additionally, taking deep breaths throughout (and especially just before your begin your talk) will help regulate your breathing patterns and lower your heart rate, which can reduce feelings of panic or anxiety during the speech itself.

One way you can work on this is by practising breathing exercises before public speaking – watch the video below for some specific techniques they might be able to use to help with your pausing! Whilst it seems very simple, a few deep breaths can allow better focus and keep the anxiety away.

7. Celebrate Small Victories

Every small victory should be celebrated!

Encourage your child whenever they take on new challenges or experience success when overcoming obstacles within their journey towards becoming a confident public speaker.

For example, did they put up their hand in class today? Fantastic! Did they speak with a person they wouldn’t normally? Brilliant! Did they express their opinion even though they were feeling nervous? Awesome!

Acknowledging these victories lets them know that you are proud of how far they’ve come already and serves as motivation for pushing forward further still. Positive reinforcement is imperative to ensure that your child can gain a sense of satisfaction from their speaking ability, and in turn, will give them the push to continue their journey in becoming confident speakers.

But what if they didn’t do any of those things? Negative reinforcement – even subtle negative reinforcement – won’t get near the same results as constructive and supportive feedback. Rather than criticising, it is much more important to be understanding of what happened, discussing why that was the case, and encouraging them with proactive strategies to ensure that they’re just that little more comfortable when they’re next talking to a person or in front of an audience.

Positivity in these circumstances will not only help your child when they make their next speech, but also boost their confidence in their school life and social life as well.

8. Take advantage of resources available to shy people

Public speaking is, thankfully, a skill that can be taught.

Participating in programs (for example, those offered by Speaking Schools Australasia) is a great way for introverts to receive guidance on how best to tackle public speaking tasks, as well as gain support from their peers in the same situation.

These types of courses are tailored towards people who may be feeling uncomfortable when public speaking and can help to build confidence by providing an environment and audience where everyone is supported regardless of their background or communication skills.

By providing tips, tricks and a welcoming audience for all speakers, speakers of all ages can take a stand and create speeches that have a strong message and can be delivered with power.

You can hear more about the programs Speaking Schools Australasia offers (and how they help speakers develop their communication and speech-crafting skills) on our website.

Putting public speaking plans into action

Public speaking can be a daunting prospect for young people who are new to it.

But with patience, determination, and practice, even shy people can gradually grow to overcome fear and anxiety, and become confident public speakers when they next need to give a speech to an audience.

So what are you waiting for? You never know, public speaking could even become one of your child’s favourite activities.

Want more public speaking tips and tricks?

SSA is on a mission to raise awareness on how to deliver effective and engaging speeches to an audience of any size.

We believe that every child has an inner speaker, that great communication skills can be taught and that any student – regardless of how shy – can find their voice and create a speech that shares their feelings on any given topic.

For further public speaking tips, make sure to check out the other blog pages on our website or videos on our YouTube – you can learn even more about overcoming stage fright in the below video!

The Art of Competition

What do you feel when you hear the word ‘competition’? Do you feel anxious, excited, motivated, fearful, energised or simply sheer terror? Do you feel a surge of motivation pump through your veins? Are you uncomfortable?

We all feel differently when we are faced with competition, or about to charter into ‘competition territory’, for a number of reasons – mostly stemming from our self-worth, potentially positive or negative past experiences, and whether the motivation to win is intrinsic or extrinsic – to name a few.

Competitions have been around for millennia. Think back to the Ancient Greeks – they loved their competitions and kicked off this passion by hosting the very first Olympic Games dating back to 776 BCE! The desire to compete and win, to reap rewards, celebrate, bathe in glory and victory, as well as be humbled and learn from losses – these are a fundamental part of human existence. Although coming out with a loss as opposed to victory may not always be received well, when any form of competition is approached with a positive and healthy mindset, it can be a highly effective tool for growth, evolution, and ultimately a pathway to building and bolstering one’s resilience.

Being competitive can be frowned upon by many, including ourselves. We may have negative associations with someone who is competitive or feel a surge of shame take over when we feel competitive, especially when we are around peers we have bonded with. The other problem is we often associate negative character traits with competitive people that are often antisocial and not ideal. Competitive people may be perceived to be ruthless, selfish, self-serving and all about short-term rewards. However, is this really the case? Are we potentially confusing healthy competition with hyper-competitiveness?

If we really think about it, life itself is full of competitions and whether we like it or not, we are inevitably part of competitions – not only against others but also against ourselves.  So, we need to try and embrace it, reframe our perspective around competition and being competitive, and explore the benefits it can bring. That is not to say ultra-competitiveness can be detrimental and toxic, but it is more about approaching competitiveness from a balanced and healthy angle. So we thought we’d help kick off that process by putting together a list of benefits on the art of competition and giving yourself(and our children ) permission to be competitive!  Check out our list below:

It can help you manage your emotions better

Entering competitions – whether a short running race, fighting over the TV remote, playing a game of chess or entering a state-wide or national competition – is an opportunity to get to know yourself better, manage your emotions and learn how to work under pressure.

Before the competition starts, you should identify, sit with and work through the feelings you are experiencing in order for you to compete successfully.

Channelling that nervous energy or competition high (or alternatively processing the low) can all be wonderful tools for becoming more emotionally intelligent and resilient.

It is an excellent opportunity to test yourself

Many of us do several courses, classes, attend training, get private lessons – but despite this, we often never really have a way to test ourselves and genuinely see how far we come.

Entering a competition can be one way to help you identify and track your progress, as well as highlight areas that need further improvement.

Becoming aware of our progress (or lack thereof) can help boost motivation to keep going, try harder, consider new strategies and continue to blossom!

It can help deliver a dose of confidence and resilience

Getting yourself to step outside your comfort zone can be painfully hard and terrifying! It is by no means easy, but being a passive bystander in life can be just as hard and painful too!

By getting up and competing, you are sending a clear message to yourself and those around you: you believe in your abilities, skills and ability to recover no matter what! How empowering and incredibly brave is that?

So if you find someone you care about (or yourself) shying away from competition, remind them (or yourself) that by simply stepping up to the plate, they give themselves a healthy dose of self-love, respect and resilience. It is also simply a wonderful experience which the outcome can not negate!

You can make new friends

Whenever you find yourself signing up for a competition, you inevitably meet new people who are passionate about the same things as you – what a great way to build a new friendship! They do not have to only have to be one of your competitors, they can also become your new mate and part of your support network!

Not only have you pushed yourself out of your comfort zone, but have acquired new friends – how good is that?!

Winning feels awesome

Ok, let’s be honest – we all like to win! The buzz of winning can electrifying. Think about all the hard work you’ve put in, the time you have sacrificed, the torture you have subjected family and friends to along the way, the nervous energy, the adrenaline, the practice runs and now boom – you’ve walked away with the victory and the external gratification that comes along with that! There is no greater feeling than having your efforts and hard work appreciated, acknowledge and celebrated!

It feels incredible and fuels you to keep going and growing!

Embracing Competitiveness

There are plenty more benefits to list and explore here, but we thought we’d leave you with our top five. Ultimately, any competition is about you taking your power back, harnessing your nervous energy to do great things, and injecting yourself with healthy doses of self-love and confidence, but ultimately it teaches you to be resilient and rise up, again and again, no matter what.

In the wise words of the great and beloved Madiba:

“Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.”

So now it is time to get up, again and again, and remember every time you do, you have already won. You are a more victorious and stronger version of your previous self!

It’s no secret that having the right idea or the right piece of information can help you immensely when it comes to preparing for a debate. After all, having something clear to say within your argument based on factual evidence from the real world can make it very difficult for the opposition to disprove. However, when we start preparing for a debate we are often not allowed to access any technology to find this invaluable information. All we can use is the knowledge that already exists in our heads! This is why it can be a huge advantage in debating to learn how to build up your general knowledge.

This blog post is going to help you to learn strategies that can improve your general knowledge about a whole variety of topic areas that are commonly seen in debates. You’ll learn the difference between useful information and information overload, how to keep track of all of the things you have learnt, and how to use these facts once you get into the prep room.

Learning about the world is a huge plus side of being a debater

General knowledge is one of the biggest advantages of participating in debating and carries through to many other areas of life. From having a conversation with somebody about an interesting and current topic area to being better able to understand the news about politics and the world around you.

If you want to learn more about how debating can massively boost your critical thinking skills and fill your brain with plenty of interesting fun facts, check out our blog post about how debating and public speaking can improve your critical thinking.

Why is general knowledge important for debating?

It is not strictly necessary to have a lot of true knowledge about a topic area in order to win a debate, but it can be immensely helpful. A lot of students often feel that their favourite topic area in debating is ‘education’ because they have the most experience with education (being students themselves) and therefore they know a lot about it! This means they have a lot of ideas for different arguments they might want to make during the debate.

If we apply the same principles to other topic areas such as the environment, politics, law or anything else, the more you know about it the more ideas you will be able to come up with during prep time before the debate. Sometimes it only takes one really simple and small piece of information to launch you into a path of creative thinking and imagination that can expand it into a fully-fledged debate-winning argument.

Therefore, you could say that your general knowledge is like an arsenal of weapons that you can build up in order to make better quality debating arguments in the future. It’s almost like collecting a toolbox full of different instruments and tools – you’ll never know which item you end up needing in the future!

So how should I go about building my general knowledge?

Mindful Media Consumption

The first step to building up your general knowledge is to engage in more media consumption. One thing that is very useful is watching the news. This is an activity that can be easily adjusted for the age group that you’re in – try to find a news source that is targeted specifically at people from your age group such as ‘news for kids’ or perhaps ‘news for preteens and high schoolers.’ You can also engage in the same news that your parents do.

Watch from a debater’s perspective

When you’re watching the news, try to watch it from the perspective of a debater. Try to think to yourself, “How might this be useful in the future? What do I think is the most interesting part of this story?” and, “If it was up to me and I could change this issue, what would I do to change it?”

The people who write debating topics watch the news too!

The news is often the place where a lot of adjudicators come up with ideas for the topics they set. For example, if the Federal Budget had recently been announced there had been a massive impact on something such as the NDIS, an adjudicator might be interested in writing a topic about the amount of disability funding that is available in Australia.

Look for news that directly relates to common debating topic areas

The next tip is to look for news that directly relates to the common debating topic areas.

Common topic areas in debating:

• Environment
• Politics
• Law and Order
• International Relations
• Education
• Social issues
• Feminism
• Economics
• Sport
• General (which is used as a miscellaneous category for any other topical motions outside the usual categories)

One important strategy you might be able to use is to create a ‘Debating Book’ in which you have all of these topic areas as a heading of a different section. When you come across an interesting fact in any one of these areas, whether it be in a newspaper on the internet, write it down in your Debating Book in dot-point form so that you can start building up a physical copy of your information on each topic area. Some debaters refer to this as a ‘matter file’, which is a collection of useful knowledge and information that they can use as material in their speeches.

Learn your strengths and weaknesses

Keeping a debating book has a few benefits. As well as helping to encode the information into your memory, it can also serve as a physical representation of how much knowledge you have on different topics within debating. For example, you might have a very well-filled-out ‘education’ section because it happens to be your favourite subject, but you may not have ever written anything down in your economics section! This can be a really good clue that it would be hugely worthwhile for you to learn a little bit more about the economy or maybe do a quick google search about what the topical news in economics is right now. After all, it’s better to know a little bit about every topic than to be an expert in only one or two areas because you will end up winning more debates if you have ideas in every single round!

Apply your knowledge

Once you’ve started paying more attention to the media and the world around you, it’s time to start applying your knowledge to real-life arguments and debates. One exercise that you could do is ask yourself, “What is a debating topic that this piece of information might come in handy for?”

For example, if you collected a piece of information about the way that public school funding has changed over recent years, you could use that piece of information in the debate ‘That private schools should be banned.’ Try to go through most of the information in your book and imagine a topic or find a topic on the internet that would be relevant to the piece of information you have written down. If you’re super keen you could even practice writing out the argument using that piece of information.

Where does the information belong in my speech?

When we have all of this general knowledge it can be confusing where to place it within a speech. The best idea is not to rely too heavily on your knowledge but to focus on logic and reasoning instead. We recommend using your knowledge and facts as examples for your point.

One perfect structure for doing this is the ‘PEEL’ structure. In ‘PEEL’, you have the Point, Explanation, Example, and Link. The ‘Point’ is the point title. ‘Explanation’ is a general logical explanation of what you mean by this argument. ‘Example’ is the perfect spot for some specific and factual information that can help to show why your explanation is true. Then you can use ‘Link’ to wrap up your argument, bringing the real-world knowledge back to the topic of the debate!

How specific should my information be?

A lot of the time, students can become confused about how specific the information they use in a debate should be. Kids can get very caught up in providing true information such as statistics or figures or the correct names and addresses of people that they are talking about. However, this practice of saying highly specific factual information isn’t actually the best idea and doesn’t make you more convincing in the debate. In fact, if your information is too specific, you run the risk of it being incorrect and out of date or sounding like you might have used Google to come up with your ideas!

Use general facts with logical explanations, not statistics

So, instead of presenting extremely specific statistics like, “Did you know that the mental health of students increases by 67% when we ban exams?” instead you should refer to the information that you know in a more general manner and explain why it is logically true. So instead you could say, “Recent trends in student outcomes show that mental health is generally improved when we cancel exams. This is true because it alleviates a lot of stress for students and allows them more time to strengthen their social connections, building resilience and increasing happiness.” The adjudicator is far more likely to believe a generalised and logically explained fact than an overly specific one that leans on numbers rather than explanation.

How do I access my information in prep?

In a lot of debating competitions, there is a period of time referred to as ‘prep time’ which is all of the time after you have received the topic and you’re left with your team to prepare your case or your set of arguments for the debate. In prep time, teams are often not allowed to have any phones, notes, materials, or technology. You might be wondering, “What’s the point of gathering all of this information if I’m not even going to be able to access it during the debate?”

This is why it’s so important to genuinely think about and care about the things that you learn from the news rather than simply writing them down. The more you think about it, the more likely it is that you will remember it when you get your topic for the debate.

Remember to brainstorm

There are also some really good habits that you can implement to help you to collect all of the information you have available during prep time. The first thing you should do when you get into prep is write down the topic and analyse what it means. After you’ve done that, it can be a really good practice to quickly scribble down any little pieces of information that might come to your mind in a brainstorm.

For example, in the topic ‘That we should ban independent candidates for elections,’ you might quickly analyse the topic and then scribble down the names of some independent candidates that you can remember from the previous election. Even if you can’t remember their specific name, that’s okay! You can write down a quick description of who they are instead. For example, you could write, “Teal candidates won more seats in the last election than any previous election.” This would be a great example for a debate because it explains a trend in society and it doesn’t require you to remember anything too specific.

Another example could be an environmental debate. If the topic was “That we should invest in nuclear energy for Australia,” while you are analysing the motion you might quickly write down all the things you know about nuclear energy and Australia. Firstly you could write down that nuclear energy creates waste, and you could write ‘e.g. Japan’ (which is an example you remember from the news of a country that has a lot of nuclear waste and nowhere to put it). That could be enough to help you have an example later on in your argument. Even if you don’t end up using it, this practice can help you to have a more realistic context when you are writing your arguments for the debate.

Listen to adjudicator feedback

Often you will know more about a topic after you’ve done the debate than you ever did before. It can be frustrating to realise at the end of the debate that some small pieces of information could’ve been the thing that really helped you during the debate, but this is part of the joy of debating! Having a go at explaining something that you don’t know everything about can be a very valuable skill in terms of your critical thinking and creative imagination.

However, you can also use the process of engaging in the debate to learn even more about the world and know more for next time. One example of this is listening to adjudicator feedback. The adjudicator of your debate will almost always be somebody who is older or wiser than you in some way or another. They may have been debating for a few more years than you or they might have more educational accomplishments or work experience. At the end of the debate, if they explain some pieces of information that they thought could’ve been useful, it could be a great opportunity to grab out your debating book and write these new pieces of information down.

Do some post-debate research

You could even make a habit of quickly googling the topic after the debate so you can learn specifically what you wish you would’ve known during the debate. If you kept this habit up after every single debate, you would end up knowing a lot about the world and you would always end up even more prepared for the next topic that comes your way.

This is a great way to continue learning and expanding your debating skills even after the debate has ended. It can be difficult to find the motivation to keep learning about a topic once you’ve already had the debate, but if you make it a habit it can really pay off in terms of your future debating success.

In order to be a successful debater, it’s important to have strong general knowledge about a variety of topics. Luckily, you can use the strategies that we’ve outlined in this blog post to help improve your understanding of different areas. Remember to keep practising and expanding your knowledge so that you are ready for any debate topic that comes your way! If you want to learn more about how to become an excellent debater, check out our wide range of courses and resources specially designed to help you build up your confidence and teach you all the necessary skills.

That concludes our post on how to develop strong general knowledge for debating. We hope you found it useful and that you will put some of these strategies into practice the next time you engage in a debate. Good luck!