The First Debate

As I mentioned in my previous entry, the fourth of June was a successful day. This was because we won our first debate of the inter-school competition.
I had originally planned to make that point the climax of this entry, but there you go, and now you can find out all that lead up to the adjudicator saying, And the winner of the debate is the negative team

We had to travel half an hour to get to the school we were versing, a rather uncomfortable trip, cramped in the back of Miss Hawkes's sportscar. With a few students from the opposing college watching us, we un-classily stumbled from the car, and walked towards the office building. After pulling on the handle of the locked door, a tall, blond haired boy who had been just standing there, said, 'Are you the ones here for the debate?'
We were indeed, and so he lead us in awkward silence towards the library.

It was deserted except for the remaining two members of the affirmative team, the Chairperson, and the adjudicator. Seats had been painstakingly seat up for an audience, which was non-existent.
It was encouraging, because an audience can be intimidating and off-putting.
But on the other hand, it did make one feel lightly lame, and as I discovered later in the debate, it made the task of presenting your speech difficult, as there was no clear direction in which to face.
You aren't meant to speak to the opposing team; it is your task to persuade the judge and the audience.

The affirmative team's first speaker started, as debating protocol states. He did pretty well, but he did go quite over-board of his descriptions of a world without recycling. Since the moot of the debate was concerning our district only, it wasn't entirely appropriate. After he finished, it was our first speaker Ashwin's turn to speak. He had a very good speech prepared, but he didn't do any rebuttals because he was unconfident. We could have rebutted his use of international examples, but eventually he ahd linked it back to Rodney, so it was not completely sound.

The second speaker of the affirmative team became very passionate towards the end of her speech. She was also speaking terribly fast, and as a result she was practically defeating the purpose of what she was saying. When we discussing the debate afterwards, we couldn't even remember what the main points of her speech had been. This was because she was speaking too fast for our minds to process and remember what she was saying. Speaking too fast is a common mistake, and a habit you eventually grow out of as you become more confident. She also had a very long speech, and I suppose she wanted to get it all said.

I was the second speaker for our team, and I think I did alright.
Our team really got into details, whilst the affirmative team split the moot up, which didn't turn out to be the best strategy.
Our third speaker, Tania, had never debated before. She is from Holland, and has only been speaking English for three years, which she learnt through immersion.
Tania was unsure about what a rebuttal was, and since that is supposed to make up 70% of a third speaker's talk, it probably wasn't the best position for her.
She read her speech well, though, and spoke clearly and at a good speed.

Ashwin rushed through his right to reply, and I saw the judge roll his eyes, which wasn't very encouraging. As the fist speaker of the affirmative team made their right of reply, summarising their main points and their rebuttals, Ashwin and I became quite hostile.
We were consoling ourselves, because we so certain that we had lost.
'How did they expect us to go against recycling?'
'The probably choose the the moot themselves, and picked the easiest argument.'
'Oh well, hopefully next time it will be an easier argument for us.'

After sitting in silence as the adjudicator made his calculations, he stood up, and started making some points. Most of them were directed at us.
'Your notes were to big, cue cards are better.' Etc.

He then said that I, Eve, had had the best speaking speed, and that I was the best speaker of the debate. I felt really good when he said that; I was proud of myself. Tania tied for second best speaker, which was just what she needed to give her a confidence boost.
Each speaker was marked out of 20 for Content, Style, and Strategy. So, that means that individually, I got the most points overall. It also goes to show that only 50% percent of a debate is content.
We were shocked when he informed us that we had won.

Following some formalities, we were on our way home, marvelling at the score sheet.
'Are you sure he didn't get the marks mixed up?' Ashwin asked.
I guess because we weren't removed from the debate, we couldn't judge the persuasiveness of our argument.
Miss Hawke's said she was so proud of us, and that she had started to become convinced that recycling shouldn't be funded in schools and businesses.

For our next debate, I am definitely going to do a bit more research, and have some sort of statistic or quote as part of my speech.
The affirmative team had done a lot of research, and had many figures and percentages, as well as examples. They had so many though that they became lost among all the others.
It will be effective to just have one or two important pieces of information, that stand out, and help to prove your point.

Wining this first debate will help us a lot through the rest of this competition. The next team we verse will hear that we won our first debate, which can be slightly off-putting. Also, it gives us confidence, and the knowledge that we are indeed capable.

I am really looking forward to the next debate; I think we have a chance of winning this whole competition!.