How to Become a Better Debater

Being on a debate team can be a great experience and learning how to debate and win an argument can be a great skill to have. In fact for many professions like lawyers, you need to be able to debate an argument in order to succeed. Being able to win an argument can really help you in life like when you are arguing with your parents.

So how do you become a better debater? The first step is that you should first gather your research and prepare your arguments. In doing your research, gather all of the information that you can on your topic. This doesn't necessarily have to come from books. You can use the internet or testimony from a friend or relative to back up your argument. You should research the arguments for and against your position so that you know what your opponent in the debate will say. Once you know what your opponent will say, you can develop counter arguments to those arguments which will catch your opponent off guard. You could also use index cards to help you remember your arguments.

The next step is to practice your arguments against a real person. By practicing your arguments, you can prepare for arguments against your position that you might not have anticipated. You can also gain confidence for when you are going up against your opponent.

Another great tip is to practice in front of a mirror. By practicing in front of a mirror you can watch yourself speak and your hand movements. Hand movements are very important in a debate because you want to be animated during certain points in your argument that are crucial.

When you reach competitive debate, you will learn quickly how fast the debaters actually talk. In fact, at first you won't be able to understand what the debaters are saying because they are speaking so fast. It takes listening to a few speeches first from professional debaters to understand the words that they are saying. Articulation is also key and when you watch professional debaters, you will notice how articulate they are as they enunciate every word. By speaking quickly, you can also bring more research and more arguments into your allotted time to speak.

Another point which I have not yet brought up is that you want to have already written down questions that you can ask your opponent which poke holes in their argument and raise doubt about their argument. In professional debate, this is call the cross examination.