Lesson video

Hi everyone, it's Mr. Brown here with an English lesson for you and today we are going to be exploring something called points of information.

They are a key part in debating and something that you need to know, so let's go for it.

Okay, so our learning outcome for today's lesson is, I can make and respond to points of information I can make and respond to points of information.

The keywords which will help us on our learning journey are, interruption and rebuttal.

Two keywords.

My turn, your turn.

Interruption, rebuttal.

Let's take a look at the definitions for these keywords.

An interruption is the action of stopping something from continuing.

An interruption is the action of stopping something from continuing.

A rebuttal point is a counter-argument made against something specific that the opposing team has said, a counter-argument but made against something specific that the opposing team has said.

So a lesson outcome for today's lesson, which is making and responding to points of information.

We're going to start by looking at making points of information and then we will move our lesson onto responding to points of information because they are two separate things.

Interruptions.

Interruptions happen all around us every day.

An interruption is when something happens to stop something else continuing.

For example, the phone starts ringing while a person is watching a TV show and they have to pause the show.

Or in a football match, the referee blows a whistle and that stops the game.

It's an interruption to the flow of the football match.

Or in school when a child shouts out while the teacher is speaking, sometimes a child may shout out and that has to cause a pause in the lesson.

The teacher might have to stop to remind children not to shout out.

That is an interruption.

Now a point of information, well that's a brief attempted interruption by the opposing team during an opposing team speech.

So if someone makes a point of information, they are trying to interrupt someone else's speech.

Someone on the opposing team, a point of information can be phrased as a question.

This works well because it puts pressure on the speaker to answer.

Let's check your understanding.

When is a point of information made? When is a point of information made? Is it A, at the start of a speaker's speech B, during an opposing teams speech or C, during the summary speaker's speech.

When is a point of information made? Pause the video.

Have a think and answer now.

Okay, and welcome back.

So let's have a look, A, at the start of a speaker's speech.

No, that would be a rebuttal.

A rebuttal is made at the start.

A point of information can be made during an opposing team's speech.

It's not during your speech, it's during an opposing teams speech.

During the summary speaker speech, well no, that's protected time for the summary speaker.

Nobody can make points of information against them.

Well done if you've got that one correct.

A point of information is almost identical to a rebuttal point.

The only difference between a point of information and a rebuttal are the points of information are interruptions made during another speaker's speech.

Whereas rebuttal could only be made at the start of your own speech.

And points of information can be responded to wherein rebuttal points cannot.

Let me just recap that because it's really important.

Points of information are interruptions made during another speaker's speech, whereas rebuttal, well, that's made at the start of your own speech, points of information can be responded to, rebuttal no.

Let's check your understanding.

True or false? A point of information is almost identical to a rebuttal point.

A point of information is almost identical to a rebuttal point.

Is that true or false? Pause the video and decide for yourself now.

Okay, welcome back.

Congratulations if you said true, it is a point of information is almost identical, exactly the same to a rebuttal point.

Well done.

Let's justify our answers.

So A or B, they are both counter-arguments often phrased as questions or B, they are very different because rebuttal comes at the start of a speech.

I'll read those one more time.

Which will you use to justify your answer? A, they are both counter-arguments often phrased as questions or B, they are very different because rebuttal comes at the start of a speech.

Pause the video and decide how you will justify your answer now and welcome back, congratulations if you said A, yes, they are both counterarguments often phrased as questions.

Okay, so points of information, they can also be referred to as POIs, POIs if you want to say point of information, you can say POI, which stands for of course points of information.

And this might be a quicker way to say it, when a POI is made by a member of the opposing team in a debate, they need to do the following things, stand up, put one hand on their head and extend one hand out towards the speaker.

So let's have a go at doing these things for ourselves.

Let's imagine we are in a debate and we want to make a point of information.

So for now in your mind, just choose someone in the room or an object in the room even, that you are going to make a point of information against, okay, once you hear something that you think, "Yes, I can make a point of information against that" you would first stand up.

So everybody stand up then put one hand on your head.

Very good.

Now take the other hand and extend it out towards the speaker, the person who you are making a point of information against and now you are ready.

Well done.

Take a seat.

But why do we do that? That's something that I can't think of any other time when we would do that.

Now it's really interesting because this actually comes from the history behind debating.

Of course debates are not a new thing.

They've been happening for many, many years and one of the places they've been happening is the houses of parliament.

Our country has had many times where decisions have had to be made in the houses of parliament and they've been done through debates.

And this is where when we say the house will do this or this house believes or this house would, that's of course the house we're talking about.

So in history, lots of the people that might be involved in a debate in the houses of parliament would be wearing white wigs, long white wigs.

And you might have even seen pictures of people in the house of the Parliament wearing these.

Now if they wanted to make a point of information against someone, they would stand up really quickly, full of excitement and what would happen to their wig? Well of course it would come flying off.

The momentum of them standing up would send their wig into the air.

So something they did to try and control, this to try and stop their wig falling off would be to put one hand on their head holding their wig in place.

And the other hand why that is extended out? Well this would be to show that you are not holding a weapon, you are not looking to confront someone with violence.

You are looking to do it through your words as part of the debate.

So that is why when you make a point of information, you should stand up, put one hand on your head and extend the other hand out towards the person who you are challenging.

Now, points of information can only be made during unprotected time and they should only be 10 to 15 seconds long.

During a speaker's speech, the first 30 seconds and the last 30 seconds are protected time.

This is a time when no point of information can be made.

It is not an option to make a point of information during this time for the opposing team.

Even if they hear something they want to make a point of information against.

This is the speaker's protected time and it'll be signalled by the timekeeper when they are in and outta protected time.

They'll be the person who lets everyone know, "Yep, this person can now have points of information made against them." Really important thing to learn there.

So let's check our understanding.

A point of information can be made at any point during a speaker's speech.

Is that true or is that false? A point of information can be made at any time during a speaker's speech.

Is that true or false? Pause the video and decide now, and welcome back.

So true or false, can a point of information be made at any time during the speaker's speech? Absolutely not, no.

It can only be made during unprotected time.

Let's have a look at justifying our answer.

Is it A, point of information should be made whenever a speaker says something that can be counter argued or B, point of information can only be made in unprotected time? Pause the video and decide how you will justify your answer over to you.

Welcome back.

Of course it's B.

Points of information can only be made in unprotected time.

The first 30 seconds and the last 30 seconds of a speaker's speech are protected.

You cannot make points of information against them during this time.

Points of information act as a way for the proposition and opposition to directly engage with each other.

This is their chance to have an argument to contest things.

Speakers should respond to at least one or two points of information.

There're a way for speakers to show they can think on their feet and handle counter-arguments.

So I'm gonna repeat that.

Speakers should aim to accept at least one or two points of information during their speech.

Now a speaker should not accept more than one or two because it will impact their flow and take too much of their speaking time.

Often in a debate a speaker will only have three minutes and if you are handling multiple points of information that's going to eat into your time and mean that you may not have enough time to make your own points and your own explanations.

A speaker does not have to accept a point of information when it is made and can simply shake their head or say, "No thank you" to prompt the opposing team member to sit back down.

So important, you do not have to accept a point of information when it's made.

In fact, there are times in a debate where you might actively not accept a point of information.

For example, if several of the opposing team stood up at once and were all desperate to make a point of information, I might think, "Okay, maybe I have said something that the opposing team have all realised they can use against me so I will decline all of them." And you can do that by simply saying, "No thank you" or shaking your head, should we have a practise? After three, let's all say, "No thank you." 1, 2, 3, no thank you.

Or we can just shake our heads and that means we are not accepting your point of information.

Let's check our understanding.

True or false? A speaker must accept a point of information.

Is that true or is that false? Pause the video and decide for yourself now.

Okay, welcome back.

Well done if you said false.

A speaker does not have to accept a point of information, but let's justify our answer.

Is it A, accepting as many points of information as possible shows confidence? If I can accept as many as possible, it will show confidence.

Or B, a speaker should only accept one or two points of information.

Pause the video and justify your answer now, and welcome back.

So congratulations if you said B.

A speaker should only accept one or two points of information, while accepting as many as possible would show confidence.

It's highly likely that that would disrupt the flow of your own speech and take up far too much of your own speech's time.

Let's have a practise, your task A, make a point of information against this proposition speaker's argument.

The motion is, "This house would ban school uniform" and we know that this is a proposition speaker speaking now, here is their argument, "Uniform can be very expensive for parents to buy.

Shirts, trousers, jumpers, ties, it all adds up.

If schools didn't have uniform, children could wear whatever they wanted, which would be much cheaper." So that's the argument.

Your job is to make a point of information against that argument.

Is there something that that proposition speaker has said that makes you think, "Yes, I can turn this around and use it against them." Pause the video and have a think, then have a go at making your own point of information, over to you.

Okay, and welcome back.

Let's have a look at an example.

So we knew that the house was wanting to ban school uniform.

That was the motion.

The argument was that uniform can be very expensive for parents to buy shirts, trousers, jumpers, ties, it all adds up.

If schools didn't have uniform, children could wear whatever they want, which would be much cheaper.

So that's their main point, that with no school uniform, children could wear whatever they wanted, which would be much cheaper.

Here's an example of how you might turn a point of information against that argument.

"You said that children can wear whatever they want to school.

However, do you not think that children will most likely want to wear branded, fashionable clothes or the latest football kits, which are even more expensive than uniform?" And that would be my point of information, only short, phrased as a question, at the start, I reminded the audience what the speaker had said.

I said, "You said that children can wear whatever they want to school." And then my point is, "Well aren't they going to want to wear branded, fashionable clothes or football kits, which are expensive?" And then it will be over to this speaker to respond to my point of information if they can.

If they can't, that proves my point of information has been very successful.

Okay, let's move on now to responding to points of information.

We've looked at making them, but how would you respond to a point of information? When a speaker accepts a POI, it is their chance to show that they can quickly respond to the counter arguments posed to them.

It is a great way to be able to show that you can think on your feet.

A POI will most likely be phrased as a question and therefore it will require an answer.

Let's check our understanding.

What should a speaker do when a POI is posed to them? A, ignore it and move on with their speech.

B, ask the opposing team member a question back or C, responded directly to the question that has been made.

What should a speaker do when a POI is posed to them? Pause the video and decide if it's A, B or C.

Off you go.

Okay, welcome back.

Let's see, if you were right, now the options were A, ignore it and move on with their speech.

Now while this might be something that a speaker chooses to do, occasionally, if they are constantly ignoring a POI and moving on with their speech, it shows weakness, it shows that that they are not confident enough to be able to handle a POI.

So it's not A, is it B, ask the opposing team member a question back.

No, this is not an opportunity to start asking questions back to speakers who are not even speaking.

It's not even their turn.

It's your turn as a speaker, isn't it? So that means it must be C.

You respond directly to the question that has been made.

Of course if you can.

But the aim should be to respond directly to the question that has been put to you.

The audience and or judges will be listening carefully to see how, how a speaker responds to points of information.

This is really important, however, a speaker should try not to let the opposing team's challenges disrupt their own flow.

We know that we are going to be judged on how well we handle a point of information made against us.

However, it's really important that points of information by the opposing team do not hijack our speech.

They do not crowd it and mean that we aren't able to articulate our own points and our own explanations.

Once a speaker is aware that there is a point of information wanting to be made, they should try and keep speaking, finish their own point and only accept at a suitable time.

So if you know that someone is trying to make a point of information against you because they've stood up, put their hand on their head and their other hand upstretched to you, try your very best to keep calm and keep speaking, keep going with your own speech until you finish your sentence or you come to a suitable time where you can then accept the point of information.

Do not feel pressured to stop mid-sentence and answer the point of information then and there, really important.

Let's check our understanding.

When should a speaker accept a point of information made against them? A, once they have finished giving their own point, B immediately, or C, when the chairperson tells them to, pause the video and decide A, B or C, over to you.

Okay, so when should a speaker accept a point of information made against them? Now we know it's not immediately, so it's not B.

We do not want to stop in the middle of our own sentence, making our own points and explanations or giving proof or summarising and handle the point of information then and there it's not C either when the chairperson tells them to, the chairperson will not direct anyone to accept a point of information.

That's not their job.

It's A, once a speaker has finished giving their own points, that's when they can take a breath, pause and accept someone's point of information.

Okay, time to practise.

I would like you to respond to the point of information from the opposition.

So you're gonna see a point of information made against you and your job is to respond to that point of information.

The motion is, "This house would make all children attend after school clubs." So every child, every day would have to go to an afterschool club.

Here is the point that you make, "Making after school clubs compulsory would help working parents who cannot get to school to collect their child at the end of the school day." That's your point.

Somebody offers this point of information against you.

"You said that working parents would benefit from afterschool clubs, but have you not considered that paying for these clubs would be very difficult for families to afford?" So it's phrased as a question 'cause they've said, "Have you not considered?" So you would now need to respond to this point of information.

I would like you to take some time to think and write down or say out loud your response to this point of information made against you.

Pause the video and have a go now.

Okay, welcome back.

So let's have a look at an example.

We knew that the house wanted to make all children go to afterschool clubs.

They wanted to make that compulsory.

We said, "Making afterschool clubs compulsory would help working parents who cannot get to school to collect their child at the end of the school day." Someone on the opposing team stood up and they said, "You said that working parents would benefit from afterschool clubs, but have you not considered that paying for these afterschool clubs would be very difficult for families to afford?" This is when we would take a breath.

Think for a moment, and this is how we may respond.

"I have considered this.

And in most instances, parents would be able to earn more money working while also paying for a club than they would leaving work early.

Therefore, the cost of the club is outweighed by the money earned at work." And that would be how we would handle that.

The judges would then be able to award us points for the way that we've handled it.

The person who made the point information, which was a good one, would also be awarded points as well.

But that's how you may handle a point of information.

Let's summarise our lesson today.

A point of information is a brief attempted interruption by the opposing team during an opposing team's speech.

A point of information is almost identical to a rebuttal.

Points of information can only be made during unprotected time and should only be 15 seconds long at the most, 10 to 15 seconds ideally, but no longer than 15 seconds.

Well done everyone.

What an excellent lesson with some really interesting parts of debating that we have learned about.

There's lots of things we can use in the future.

I'll see you again soon.