Difference between revisions of "Debate Or Die"

What are we all about?

Fancy this on your hoodie?

We are the debating society; and this year it has become official, which is a very exciting and encouraging step. Some of you may already know us, as we have been running informal weekly meetings for a while now, but this year things get serious. We are looking to expand the membership and the appeal of the debating society; we truly hope that students from all different educational disciplines decide to come along to our weekly meetings!

It is important to keep in mind that debating is not for law students only, whatever degree you are pursuing, debating can really help you build up your confidence and become a competent public speaker! The debating style that we use is the ‘British Parliamentary Style’ format, which is how debates are carried out in Parliament. So come along, and learn how to debate like a true politician!

Why debate?

Preparing for the debate

Debating is a great way to build up one’s confidence and become a truly impressive public speaker, a crucial attribute for any profession you wish to enter in the future. It also teaches you how to think on the spot, you have to creative and confident in your argument. After a few debating sessions, you would be surprised at how good your impromptu arguments will become! After all, we do some of our best thinking when we are put on the spot!

In addition to the afore-mentioned, come along and meet some great people! This is where undergraduate and post-graduate students meet each other and work together effectively! This is your opportunity to expand your social circle, meet fascinating and intelligent people.

Debating also looks great on a CV; it demonstrates to your potential employer that you are an enthusiastic candidate that exposes themselves to activities outside of their degree! So what do you have to lose?

Listen very carefully...

What would we like to achieve this year?

For us, this year is extremely important! We are hoping that this is the year where our society attracts students from the whole of the university, debating is great fun, and the more diverse our members are, the more interesting the debates become.

Whether you have debated in the past is irrelevant. Everyone is welcome and you would be surprised at how quickly your debating skills will develop. Last year we were lucky enough to have Rachel Savage, an extremely competent debater and judge at the world-renowned MACE Debating competitions, come along and teach us. She was also joined by Tom Walker, an experienced and very knowledgeable debater himself, he gave us many helpful tips and even debated with us!!

With their continuing support, and the support of other organisations, this is the year where debating at city becomes serious business! We are hoping to enter candidates into debating competitions, and we are desperate to spread City’s good reputation, after all, we are proud to be City University Students! This is a society made by the students for the students!

How will you benefit from joining the debating society?

• Improve your public speaking skills and help build your confidence! It’s not necessarily what you say; it’s how you say it.
• Learn how to think on the spot effectively and work well in a team.
• Improve your arguing skills, think of debating as a civilised and structured way of arguing.
• Improve your time management skills. Debating teaches you how to summarise arguments effectively, and present arguments in a structured and succinct way! There is simply no time to waste, every second counts in debating!

Debating in action

How can I find out more?

Keep an eye out on this page and check your emails on a regular basis. We shall soon be sending out emails with information concerning the time and location of our weekly debating sessions! We hope to see you all there!

Thanks to Marwa Stavraetou LLB2 for this piece.