- Top Features:
- War Room
- Glenn Greenwald
- Broadsheet
- Joan Walsh
- Camille Paglia
- Since You Asked
- Follow Salon:
Read other letters about this article
How is debate not about oratory? Debate has to be partially about being articulate and clever. I don't see how good speaking skills are not compatible with good research skills and understanding of facts.
The problem with modern policy debate, as my experience suggests, is the existence of spread debate, a format under which debaters are encouraged- trained even- to speak as fast as possible in order to cram as many facts, subpoints, and rebuttals into one speech as humanly possible, making it incomprehensible (and somewhat mind-numbing) to the average listener. This is simply poor speaking skills- illustrated by the number of "likes" and "umms" found in even the best speeches, which is unacceptable in parliamentary or extemporaneous- not to mention poor debate as rounds often come down to how many subpoints as opposed to actual clash of arguments.
Debate is about speaking skills and about argumentation. If the style does not allow for balance between the two (i.e policy and frequently LD), then frankly it is not debate.
