Lesson video

Hi everyone.

It's Mr. Brown with your English lesson, and today we are going to be focusing on judging and scoring a debate.

So we'll be learning how to decide which team will win.

Let's get started.

The outcome for today's lesson is, "I can judge and score a debate." We'll be judging and scoring debates in today's lesson.

Here are the key words, which will help us with our learning.

Judging.

Delivery.

Style.

Content.

My turn, your turn.

Judging.

Delivery.

Style.

Content.

Let's have a look at the definitions for these words.

Judging means evaluating and deciding something.

Delivery is how a person presents something.

Style refers to the way that a person presents something.

And content is the substance, material, and information that something is made of.

Our lesson outline for today's lesson on judging and scoring a debate, we will begin looking at judging a debate.

We will then move our learning onto judging style.

So we will look at judging a particular thing, and it will be style.

Judging a debate.

A debate is a competitive event between two teams who are trying to beat each other.

The winning team can be decided in one of two ways.

The audience votes at the end, to decide which team they feel has been most convincing overall.

That's one way that a debate can be decided.

The other way is that there would be a judge, or a panel of judges, who will score each speaker in the debate as it proceeds.

The team with the highest score is the winner.

Let's check your understanding of our lesson so far.

Which two of these are ways that a debate can be decided? Is it A, tossing a coin? B, an audience vote? C, ending the debate in a draw? Or D, a judge or panel of judges deciding? We're looking for two of these that are correct.

Pause the video, and decide your two correct answers now.

Welcome back.

Okay, let's see.

So, we know that a debate needs to be decided, which means it can't be C, ending in a draw.

We need a winning team.

Now, A, tossing a coin.

Well, that's a fair way to do it, but it's not going to tell you which team deserves to win.

That would just be luck.

You'd have a 50/50 chance.

So the correct answers are B, an audience vote, and D, a judge or panel of judges deciding.

Well done if you got those correct.

When a debate is being decided by judges, the judges must be fair and impartial.

To do this, judges must all use the same way of deciding which team wins.

Judges should award a score out of 10 to each speaker, in four separate categories.

That's how the judges will decide which team should win.

Each speaker will be judged in four separate categories, and all those points will be added up.

The team with the most points, wins.

There are four categories that judges award a score for.

They are content, delivery, points of information, and style.

Which two of these are categories that judges award a score for? A, delivery, B, volume, C, speed, or D, style? Pause the video and decide now.

Let's see if you were correct.

The two categories that judges award a score for are, delivery and style.

Volume, while important that the audience can hear you, is not something we would be judging, and speed, well, going too fast would actually work against you.

So delivery and style are the correct answers.

Well done if you got those correct.

Content is the substance, material, and information that something is made of.

In a debate, the content of a speaker's speech is being judged, so what the speaker says.

Judges will be looking for how the speaker introduces themselves, and refers to other speakers by their names, so if you are speaking to other speakers directly, you should try and remember their names, if you can, and introduce yourself in a formal way.

Use rebuttal effectively.

We've learned in previous lessons how to use rebuttal at the start of our speech.

That will come under the content category.

Make clear and considered points.

Show evidence of effective planning and structure.

Is able to use formal language and accurate vocabulary.

Does not repeat themselves, and uses evidence as proof, which supports arguments well.

The last one would be, demonstrates a general knowledge of the subject.

All of these would be looked at when we are considering a score for the content category.

Which category would a judge award a score for if they were watching a speaker give their rebuttal? Would it be A, points of information, B, content, C, delivery, or D, style? Pause the video and decide which category would a judge award a score for if they were watching a speaker give their rebuttal? Off you go.

Okay, let's see if you were correct.

So rebuttal would come under the content category.

If a speaker gives an excellent rebuttal, it would boost their score in the content category.

Delivery is how a person presents something.

In a debate, a judge would be assessing how a speaker presents their speech, and themselves.

They will be looking for how the speaker shows confidence and charisma when speaking, so not hesitating or mumbling, speaking clearly and at a good volume for the space.

Uses a good amount of eye contact with the audience.

Presents themselves in a professional manner, so having a strong stance, notes not creased, not fiddling with your uniform or the clothes you're wearing.

Uses voice, expression, pace, and gestures effectively, to engage the audience, and make the speech interesting to watch and listen to.

Let's check our understanding.

Not making eye contact with the audience and speaking quietly would mean a lower score in which category? A, points of information.

B, content.

C, delivery.

Or D, style? Pause the video, and decide now.

Okay.

Not making eye contact with the audience and speaking quietly would mean a lower score in the category of delivery.

That is where the judges will be looking at how you are delivering your speech, and not making eye contact, speaking quietly, would mean you would not be delivering that as well as you could do, so that's why it would mean a lower score in the category of delivery.

Well done if you got that one correct.

Points of information are an important part of the debate.

In this category, a speaker will be judged for both making points of information, and responding to points of information, or POIs.

The judges will be looking for how the speaker is able to accept points of information when appropriate, is able to deny points of information when appropriate, is able to acknowledge and respond to points of information, is able to deliver thoughtful and meaningful points of information, that are under 15 seconds long.

Select two ways a speaker could earn a higher score in the points of information category.

A, by accepting and responding well to points of information.

B, by not making any points of information.

C, by not accepting any points of information.

Or D, by making thoughtful and meaningful points of information.

Which two ways can a speaker earn a higher score in the points of information category? Pause the video and decide for yourself now.

And welcome back.

Let's see if you managed to find the two ways that a speaker can earn a higher score in the points of information category.

A, by accepting and responding well to points of information, would definitely earn you a higher score.

B, by not making any points of information.

Well, how can you get a higher score in the points of information category if you're not making any? C, same thing.

By not accepting any points of information, you are not going to be able to boost your score in this category.

D, by making thoughtful and meaningful points of information, yes.

So you can get points for the way that you accept and respond to points of information, but also the way that you make points of information, so even when it's not your turn to be a speaker, and you are making a point of information against an opposing speaker, you can still earn points in this category.

Let's have a practise.

Add in the missing words to complete these sentences about judging a debate.

Let's test your knowledge.

A debate can be decided by either an "hmm" vote, or by a "hmm" or panel of "hmm", who will score each speaker.

The team with the highest score wins.

The judges would be scoring the speakers in four categories.

Their categories are "hmm", "hmm", points of information, and "hmm".

Over to you, to fill in the missing words using the knowledge you've learned so far in today's lesson.

Pause the video and have a go now.

Okay, let's see if you managed to find all of the missing words.

A debate can be decided either by an audience vote, or by a judge or panel of judges, who will score each speaker.

The team with the highest score wins.

The judges would be scoring the speakers in four categories.

The categories are, content, delivery, points of information, and style.

Well done if you managed to get all six of those missing words.

Congratulations.

Back to our lesson outline.

We are now going to move on from judging a debate, to looking specifically at judging the category style.

One of the more challenging categories to judge a speaker in, is style.

Style refers to the way that a person presents something.

In a debate, style will be judged by assessing which techniques a speaker uses to help convince the audience, and how well they utilise them.

When deciding a score out of 10 in the style category, a judge would be looking closely at the following areas of a speaker's speech.

Persuasive techniques utilised effectively.

That would be things like rhetorical questions, repetition, flattery, efforts made to provoke an emotional response that impacts on an audience, making them feel a certain way.

Evidence of personality and persona.

How a speaker brings their own personality to their speech.

Humour, sarcasm, and irony, used effectively.

Creativity evident in the argument.

Which category would a judge be scoring a speaker in if they effectively used rhetorical questions and repetition? A, content.

B, delivery.

C, points of information.

Or D, style.

Which category would a judge be scoring a speaker in if they effectively used rhetorical questions and repetition? Pause the video and decide now.

Welcome back.

Let's see if you were correct.

The question was, which category would a judge be scoring a speaker in if they effectively used rhetorical questions and repetition? Of course, it would be style.

Style is where we are looking for things like rhetorical questions, repetition, maybe flattery.

Ways that that speaker is trying to impact the audience.

Let's have a practise.

Use the style criteria to award a score out of 10 for this proposition speaker's explanation.

The motion is, this house would ban homework.

I'm going to read the proposition speaker's explanation to you, now.

"Have you ever found yourself without much free time to do the things you love? You all look very healthy and active.

My guess is that lots of you would love to exercise more often, but you don't have enough time.

Sadly, this common problem is having a huge impact on children, and their physical and mental health.

Banning homework would give children more time to do what they enjoy, and the irony is, this will actually support their learning in class, because they'll be happy." That's the explanation.

The motion was this house would ban homework, and these are the things you are looking for.

Persuasive techniques utilised effectively.

Examples of rhetorical questions, repetition, flattery.

Efforts made to provoke an emotional response.

Evidence of personality and persona, humour, sarcasm, and irony, all used effectively.

And creativity in the argument.

If you believe that all of these things are included in this explanation, then you would give it a 10 out of 10.

If you think half of these things are used, you give it a five out of 10.

Use those as benchmarks to help you decide your score.

Read through, maybe a couple of times, to really familiarise yourself, and check which of the style criteria has been successfully utilised in this explanation.

Pause the video and have a go now.

And welcome back.

Let's see how we can work together to be able to judge this explanation in the style criteria.

Let me read it to you one more time.

"Have you ever found yourself without much free time to do the things you love? You all look very healthy and active.

My guess is that lots of you would love to exercise more often, but you don't have enough time.

Sadly, this common problem is having a huge impact on children, and their physical and mental health.

Banning homework would give children more time to do what they enjoy, and the irony is, this will actually support their learning in class, because they'll be happy." So that was the explanation.

Now, I can see there is evidence of a rhetorical question.

There it is, right at the start.

"Have you ever found yourself without much free time to do the things you love?" Really good rhetorical question.

It's hooked the audience in.

It's engaging them.

They will be answering that question in their heads.

I can see there is some flattery.

There it is.

"You all look very healthy and active." I'm complimenting the audience.

Creativity.

Well, I really like that I've said, "My guess is that lots of you would love to exercise more often, but you don't have enough time." I am putting the audience in the shoes of the person that I'm targeting in this speech.

I'm making it about them.

Emotional response.

Well, I have put this sentence in.

"Sadly, this common problem is having a huge impact on children, and their physical and mental health." That is going to make the audience feel sorry for the children.

Maybe feel sad, want to do something.

That's the emotional response I'm looking for.

And irony, right at the end.

"The irony is, this will actually support their learning in class, because they'll be happy." So by taking homework away, children will actually do better at their education! Lots of things used, not everything, but lots of things used effectively, which is why I am giving this person a score of nine out of 10.

I wonder what score you gave out of 10.

There are persuasive techniques utilised effectively, rhetorical questions, not repetition, but flattery was there.

Efforts were made to provoke an emotional response.

We talked about that.

There is evidence of personality and persona.

There's a little bit of cheekiness in the speech.

The way that they flatter the audience, and they ask rhetorical questions.

Humour, a little bit.

Sarcasm, not so much, but irony is used effectively.

And creativity evident in the argument.

Overall, for me, that's a nine out 10.

Let's summarise our learning today.

A debate can be decided by an audience vote, or by judging.

Judges should use a criteria to help them score the debate fairly.

The four categories used for judging a debate are, content, delivery, points of information, and style.

A judge scores each speaker out of 10.

Those points are then added to their other team members' scores to decide the winners.

Well done.

I feel confident that you are now able to judge and score a debate, which opens up other roles for you.

You might be a speaker in a debate, but you could also be a judge! Well done.

Brilliant work today.

I will see you soon.