Lesson video

Hello, everyone.

My name is Mr. Brown and I am your teacher for today's English lesson and we're going to be debating of course, and it's a full debate.

It is the full debate today.

It's this lesson.

We have prepared for it.

We have thought of our motion, we've learned how to debate, so let's put that all into practise and let's go for it.

A full debate.

I'm so excited.

Let's get started.

The outcome for today's lesson is I can take part in a full debate.

The keywords we'll use are chairperson, timekeeper, point of information and rebuttal.

Let's say this together.

My turn, then your turn.

Chairperson, timekeeper.

Point of information, rebuttal.

Fantastic.

Let me just read you the definitions.

The chairperson is a person in charge of a meeting, event, discussion or debate.

The timekeeper is a person who measures or records the amount of time taken during an event.

A point of information is a brief attempted interruption of someone's speech.

Rebuttal is a counter-argument made against something specific that the opposing team has set.

We'll start today's lesson by setting up a full debate and then move on to holding a full debate.

In this lesson, you'll be taking part in a full debate.

Discuss with the person next to you what different roles are involved in a debate? Do you have a particular role you might like to be and why? Is there a role you have in mind that you think, yes, I really want to try that role and why is that? So pause the video and have a chat with the person next to you now.

Welcome back.

I wonder what role you have your eye on.

In a debate there are the following roles.

Speakers, summary speakers, floor speakers, chairperson, timekeeper, judges, and of course the audience as well.

Don't forget, they play an important role too.

The audience are not just a passive part of the debate.

They're not there just to sit and watch.

They are there to get involved, to ask questions.

We're gonna look at this later in the lesson as well, but to be involved.

So if you are a member of the audience, please do not see that as you are not involved in the debate, you are.

Which of these are roles in a debate? Is it a, chairperson, b, floor speaker, c, timekeeper or d, note-taker? Which of these are roles in a debate? Pause the video and decide now.

Welcome back.

Okay, let's have a look.

There are three correct answers.

Well done if you said a, chairperson, b, floor speaker and c, timekeeper.

Note-taker is something that might be happening in the debate, but it's not an official role in the debate.

Time for another discussion.

Can you remember what each of these roles consists of? So I have three roles for you.

I have speakers, summary speaker and floor speaker, and your job is to be able to try and remember what each of these roles consists of.

What does each role need to do? Have a chat with the person next to you and see how much detail you can go into.

Pause the video and have that discussion now.

Welcome back.

Okay, let's have a look.

Let's start with speaker, shall we? So speakers make the speeches for their team.

That is their job.

Summary speaker.

They summarise all of the speaker's speeches.

And a floor speaker helps the speakers to prepare for the debate and can speak during the floor debate section.

Let's do the same thing, but now with a chairperson, a timekeeper and judges.

Oh, and an audience of course as well.

So I would like you to again pause the video, have that discussion.

Can you remember what each of these roles consists of? Off you go.

And welcome back.

Let's see, these were a bit trickier.

So a chairperson, directs and keeps order in the debate.

A timekeeper, monitors the time of each speech.

Judges, score the debate and decide the winning team.

And an audience.

Watch the debate, ask questions in the floor debate section and may vote for a winning team.

Now let's revise how full debate is run.

A debate is led by a chairperson who directs the speakers and explains to the audience what is happening.

The speakers from each team take turns to deliver their own speech.

A floor debate then takes place.

And finally, the summary speakers summarise what their teammates have said.

Speakers can be challenged by members of the opposing team through points of information, which can only happen out of protected time.

All timings will be signalled by a timekeeper.

Who signals the timings in a debate? Is it a, the chairperson, b, the summary speaker, or c, the timekeeper.

Who signals the timings in a debate? Pause the video and decide now.

And welcome back.

So who signals the timings? It is of course the timekeeper.

Well done if you said, c.

A debate is usually judged, so that there is a winning team.

I would like you to discuss who might decide the winning team in a debate and actually how will they decide that winning team too? So pause the video and discuss who might decide the winning team and how with your partner now.

Welcome back.

Okay, so let's have a look, shall we? A debate can be judged by the audience via a show of hands to vote on the winning team.

It could also be judged by a judge or a panel of judges.

They might decide the winning team by using a criteria to score each speaker.

Speakers may be scored depending on criteria such as style, content, delivery, and points of information.

The number of speakers that take part in a debate can vary depending on how large the total group of people is.

Usually a debate team will consist of three speakers, one summary speaker, and four floor speaker.

When each speaker is preparing their speech, they can be supported by a floor speaker to discuss ideas and practise saying parts of their speech aloud.

So almost when a team is working to make notes and create their speeches, they are doing it in twos.

So you have the three speakers and each of those will be joined by a floor speaker and a summary speaker who again is joined by a floor speaker.

So working in twos will help that person to be able to create their speech.

The order of a debate is set and always remains the same.

The chairperson will introduce each speaker and explain to the audience what is happening.

The order looks like this.

You have speaker one for the proposition they speak first.

Then speaker one for the opposition.

Speaker two, proposition.

Speaker two, opposition.

Speaker three, proposition.

Speaker three, opposition.

You can see a pattern emerging until this point when we have a floor debate.

And that's where the floor speakers can make their suggestions.

They can make very small speeches if they have something prepared, a point they want to raise, then we flip it, and summary speaker for the opposition goes first.

Then we finish the debate with the summary speaker for the proposition.

And you can see the order, the order alternates throughout the proposition with the proposition going first each time.

Then the order switches after the floor debate and the opposition summary speaker goes first.

Which summary speaker makes their speech first after the floor debate? Is it a, the proposition summary speaker? B, the opposition summary speaker, or d, the chairperson randomly chooses.

How do we decide who speaks after the floor debate section? A, b, or c.

Pause the video and decide now.

Welcome back.

Okay, well done if you said b, the opposition summary speaker.

The opposition go first after the floor debates, otherwise it's the proposition first.

Time for another discussion.

What can you remember about points of information? Pause the video and tell your partner everything you can remember about how points of information work, how they should be made, who makes them, when they can make them.

Pause the video and have that discussion now.

And welcome back.

While the speakers from each team are making their speeches, the opposing teams speakers can interrupt them by challenging them with a point of information.

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

It can be phrased as a question.

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

If you ask a speaker a question and they can't answer, it makes them look weak, so it's an excellent way to phrase a point of information.

When a point of information is made by a member of the opposing team in a debate, they need to do the following things.

They need to stand up, put one hand on their head, extend one hand out towards the speaker like this.

And that's how you make a point of information.

And we do that because of the history of points of information debating and that was from the House of Parliament where you put one hand on your head, stop your wig flying off and one hand out to show you wasn't holding a weapon.

Points of information can only be made during unprotected time.

It should be 10 to 15 seconds long.

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

This means points of information cannot be made.

The timekeeper will signal when a speaker is in or out of protected time.

How long should a point of information be? Is it a, 10 to 15 seconds? B, 30 to 45 seconds or c, 45 to 60 seconds? How long should a point of information be? Pause the video and decide now.

Welcome back.

Now a point of information should only be short because you do not want to be taking up a lot of speaker's time with your point of information.

It looks quite disrespectful and rude, so therefore a, is the correct answer, 10 to 15 seconds.

You make a very short point of information and then it's back to the speaker to make that speech.

And we would expect the same if we were making a speech.

We wouldn't want someone to be taking all of our time, would we? Okay, what can you remember about a rebuttal? Pause the video and have a discussion.

Tell your partner everything you can remember about a rebuttal.

Off you go.

Welcome back.

Okay, so a rebuttal point is a counter argument made against something specific that the opposing team has said.

A speaker can make a rebuttal point at the very beginning of their speech before they've said their own point.

A rebuttal should be around 15 to 20 seconds long, so again, not too long.

Like a point of information, keep it short.

This is because a speaker would not want to use up too much of their own time speaking on a rebuttal.

You start your speech with a rebuttal and you do not want to take too much of your own time delivering that rebuttal, so keep it as short as you can.

15 to 20 seconds would be the maximum.

A rebuttal works well when phrased as a question.

Now this is because the opposing team cannot answer that question and it's not their turn to speak, and not answering a question will make them appear weak.

So if you start your rebuttal by saying, first of all, I just have some rebuttal for say the person's name, then say you said, and then spin it around and say, but have you not considered this? They can't say anything.

Leave a little pause that make them look weak.

Put the pressure on and then move on with your speech.

Speakers should ensure they are always listening carefully to the opposing team.

This is to listen out for opportunities to make a rebuttal point against them.

For example, a speaker for the proposition would be listening for anything that an opposition speaker says that might be suitable to make a rebuttal against.

When would a speaker make a rebuttal point? Is it a, at the beginning of their speech? B, during an opposing speaker speech, or c, in the middle of their own speech? A, b, or c? Pause the video and decide now.

Welcome back.

When would a speaker make a rebuttal point or they would make it at the beginning of their speech? Well done if you said, a.

Time for a task.

I would like you to work with a partner to explain what each role in a debate consists of.

Partner A says the name of a role in a debate and partner B gives an explanation of that role in a full sentence and then you switch over.

Explain all of these roles, so make your way through each of these.

Speakers, summary speakers, floor speakers, chairperson, timekeeper, and judges.

Okay, it's over to you.

Pause the video and work with a partner to explain what each role in a full debate consists of.

Off you go.

Welcome back.

Okay, let's have a little look, shall we? So, here's an example.

Alex says, "Floor speaker." And Alex's partner says, "The floor speakers support the speakers in writing their speeches, and then they can ask questions or raise points during the floor debate section." What's a great answer in a full sentence? Let's move on now to holding a full debate.

It is almost time for you to hold a full debate.

The last thing to do is confirm you know the answers to these questions.

So this is a checklist of things you can do before you are ready to start your debate.

How many speakers will each team have? Have you considered that? If not, you need to decide right now.

How long will each speaker have to speak? Some debates will give a speaker three minutes, some two.

Decide how long you want each speaker to have.

Does everyone know what role they're fulfilling in their debate? Does everybody know what role they are? Who's your chairperson? Who's your timekeeper? Are you having a judge? How is the debate being judged? Are you having a judge or are the audience voting? Or are you having a panel of judges? These are all things to think about.

Answer these questions with a partner to ensure your debate is fully set up.

Pause the video, go through each question with a partner and ensure that everybody knows what's happening, so you're ready to debate.

Pause the video now And welcome back.

Let's have a look at an example.

Each team will have three speakers, one summary speaker, and four floor speakers.

Okay, great.

Each team, each speaker, sorry, will have three minutes to speak.

Everyone knows their roles and the debate is being judged by a panel of judges.

Perfect.

That sounds like your debate is ready to go.

A debate can be judged in several different ways.

By an audience voting on which team they felt were the most convincing.

By a single judge using their own opinion or a scoring criteria.

Or a panel of judges using a scoring criteria.

Next lesson, we will be reviewing our own performance in the debate.

To do this effectively, we can record the whole debate, so that we can watch ourselves and reflect on, review and score our own performance.

Really important for the next lesson.

I strongly suggest that you are recording your debate, so that you can watch yourself back, watch your teammates back and carefully reflect, review, and score the debate next lesson.

Anybody not directly involved in the debate by fulfilling one of the key roles will still play an important part by being a member of the audience.

And we talked about this earlier in the lesson, didn't we? The audience are involved in the debate by watching the speeches and reacting appropriately if they feel necessary.

So some people may feel necessary to applaud at the end of someone's speech or some people may feel necessary to applaud in the middle of someone's speech if they raise a particularly good point.

Asking questions to the speakers during a floor debate section.

Voting by show of hands to decide the winning team if judges are not being used.

Now, being a member of the audience can also be a great way to be introduced to debating or take part in a less direct way if you're not ready to be one of the more prominent roles.

If you want to be involved in a debate but you are not ready to be one of the more prominent roles, have that little bit extra responsibility, then this is a great way to start by just being a member of an audience.

The very last thing to consider is how you will handle nerves.

It's very normal to feel nervous when public speaking.

However, you do not want your nerves to overwhelm you and mean that you are unable to perform to your potential in the debate.

To overcome nervousness, you may wish to do the following things.

Take deep breaths before you start speaking to calm yourself.

Keep positive and visualise how well your speech is going to go.

Find a friendly face in the audience and start by delivering your speech to them.

Now, this could be a friend, a teacher, or a family member, but you could lock eyes with them and just focus on delivering your speech to them and then find your rhythm and start to deliver to other people.

Which of these might help with nervousness before public speaking? Is it a, take deep breaths before you start speaking.

B, visualise what will happen if your speech goes badly.

Or c, find a friendly face in the audience.

Which of these might help with nervousness before public speaking, a, b, or c? Pause the video and decide now.

Welcome back.

There are two correct answers.

Well done if you found a and c as the correct answers.

B, visualise what will happen if your speech goes badly.

That is not going to help with your nerves.

We want to visualise what will happen if our speech goes well.

Focus on being positive.

Okay, it's now over to you.

This is it.

You are going to hold a full debate with your classmates.

Ensure you've done the following.

Decided a motion, split into two teams, proposition and opposition.

Appointed speakers, summary speakers and floor speakers, appointed people to the roles of chairperson and timekeeper.

Decided how the debate will be judged.

Anyone not in one of the above roles will be part of the audience.

The audience are able to ask questions to the speakers during the floor debate section and can start thinking about feedback they might give to the speakers after the debate.

I wish you all the very best of luck.

I am sure your debate will go fantastically well.

Enjoy it.

You are ready for this.

Pause the video and hold a full debate now.

And welcome back.

How did it go? I am so intrigued to find out and curious to find out how you found it.

Did you enjoy the experience of holding a full debate? Were you one of the speakers and how did you handle nerves? Let's take a moment to reflect.

Did you hold a full debate? Did you enjoy debating? Is there anything you felt you could have done better? Hmm, might be worth pausing and thinking of the answers to these questions.

Listen to feedback from the audience.

It's so important.

Here's an example of some feedback.

I was part of the audience.

I think you spoke very confidently and delivered your speech with charisma.

However, you became nervous when others made points of information against you.

Next time, try taking a deep breath and pausing before you try to respond to a point of information.

That's brilliant feedback.

Well done.

Let's summarise the learning we've done today.

A debate can be led by a chairperson who introduces the speakers and keeps order.

A debate is timed by a timekeeper, so that each speaker has the same amount of time to speak.

A point of information is a brief attempted interruption of someone's speech and is similar to rebuttal.

I'm so proud of you.

You have held a full debate today.

That's amazing.

I will see you next lesson to review, reflect, and score that debate.

See you then.