Supporting University Debating for a Thriving Debating Ecosystem

Public speaking and debating are skills that can take a long time to nurture. In fact, the most valuable knowledge about these activities is usually passed down from generation to generation, the experiences collected through years of participation being transferred on through coaching and judging.

We like to think of this pool of intergenerational knowledge as an ecosystem, with many important participants passing information to and from each other. For example, the kids who excel at their first public speaking task in school often have parents or an older sibling who was able to help them out with some useful advice before the task!

At Speaking Schools, we try to expand this ecosystem of knowledge to as many students as possible by connecting knowledgeable coaches with kids from all across Australasia. An amazing aspect of our role in this ecosystem is our strong connection to the thriving university debating scene that exists in Australia.

What is University Debating?

University debating is a voluntary activity that university students participate in through their university debating societies. University debating has over a century of rich history in Australia and is participated in by more than a dozen universities in the country at both the national and international levels. Australia is the world’s most successful country at the World Debating Championships, producing more world champions than any other country.

How Does Speaking Schools Australasia Support University Debating?

A big part of Australia’s success is a thriving calendar of debating tournaments, which often centre around the annual national championships. Affectionately known as “Easters” due to the time of year the event is held, the Australian Intervarsity Debating Championships brings together university debaters from all across the country. We have been proudly sponsoring this and many other events since 2017, including:

Greater Sydney Universities Invitational Round Robin 2022
Australian University Debating Championships from 2017 to 2024
Australasian Women & Gender Minorities Debating Championships from 2017 to 2023
National Schools Debating Championships from 2022 to 2023

You can read about the details of these tournaments on our about page!

Coach Success Stories

Through supporting these university debating competitions, we have also supported the development of some amazing coaches who now work for us at Speaking Schools Australasia. At our most recent sponsored event, Monash Easters 2022, our coaches Leah Mercier, Brendan Winters, and Michael Xu were respectively awarded 1st, 2nd and 3rd overall best speaker in Australia! Our coaches also made major achievements as adjudicators at the tournament, with Jerry Edagbami (chair) and Natasha Lloyd being honoured judges of the Grand Final.

We are so passionate about connecting coaches who have achieved these learning experiences with our students at SSA. Their years of hard work at university create huge amounts of intergenerational knowledge that can be passed down through programs at Speaking Schools Australasia where they can let their experience shine through in their teaching.

You can find out about all our coaches and their achievements at similar competitions by exploring our coach bios on our website!

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