Lesson video

Hello, everyone.

My name is Mr. Brown, and I'm going to be your teacher for this unit.

The unit is called Debating Important Topics.

We are going to be using our debating skills to be able to really unpick some important topics that will help us to have rich, interesting discussions.

And today's lesson, well it's all about how we debate.

So let's get started.

The outcome for today's lesson is I can understand what a debate is and deliver a speech.

The key words we will use are opinion, debate, reasoning, and emotion.

Let's say this together.

My turn and then your turn.

Opinion, debate, reasoning, motion.

Perfect.

Okay, I'll read you the definitions for each of these words.

An opinion is what a person thinks or believes.

A debate is a structured argument between two teams. Reasoning means explaining why a person has a certain opinion, and motion is the name for the belief or proposal that is being debated.

We'll start today's lesson by looking at how to debate, and then move on to delivering a successful speech.

Opinions are what people think or believe.

Now we all have different opinions about different things, and that is part of what makes a society interesting.

A society is a noun, it means a community, nation, or a group of people.

So we belong to a society, and in that society everybody has different opinions about different things, and that makes society interesting.

If everybody thought the same, it would be a very boring place to be.

What else makes a society interesting? Have a chat with the person next to you.

What else makes a society interesting? So we've said different opinions.

What else? Pause the video and have that discussion now.

Welcome back.

Okay, let's move on.

So when people have different opinions, it provokes opportunities for discussion and debate.

Now a debate can be a structured argument between two teams, and that's what we're focusing on in this unit.

However, the word debate could also be used as a verb to describe the act of discussing a subject that two people disagree on.

You could say, "Okay, let's have a debate about it." And that means that you are having a discussion, that you may disagree on a particular topic.

It doesn't mean you're going to get lots of people together to become two teams and do a formal debate.

So you can use this word in two different ways.

So debates can be a verb, and it means to argue or discuss a subject where people express differing opinions.

Now, you may have already learned or know some things about debating.

Discuss with the person next to you what do you already know about debating between two teams. So how does that work? Or do you know about how a debate between two teams works? Do you know the name of any of the roles in a debate? Do you know the order? Do you know how it works? Do you know how the winner is decided? Try and have a discussion, and you might be able to share ideas, go back and forth to take turns perhaps, and talk about everything you already know.

Pause the video and have that discussion now.

Welcome back.

Okay, I hope that was an interesting discussion.

Let's have a look at the different roles in the debate.

So all the things that you might already know.

So proposition and opposition.

These are the two teams involved in a debate.

One agrees with the motion, which is the proposition, and one disagrees.

They are timed speeches.

There are timed speeches in a debate.

It's not a matter of someone just choosing however long they want to speak for and speaking.

There is time, so it makes it fair.

There are speakers and summary speakers, absolutely, these are some of the key roles.

The speakers will make speeches and the summary speakers will summarise what they've said.

There are motions, and that's one of our key words.

Motions are the thing that is being debated.

We're gonna go all over this again today.

An audience, well that's the group of people that are watching the debate.

A point of information is the way that you can interrupt someone's speech, you can challenge them.

That's what makes a debate different to just a speech competition.

And a chair person, of course.

There are chair people.

They chair the debate, which means they are providing order and structure, talking directly to the audience, explaining what the motion is.

That's a chairperson.

Let me check your understanding.

Which two of these are words you might associate with a debate.

Is it A, chapters, B, timekeeper, C, instructions, or D, motions? Pause the video and decide now.

Welcome back.

Okay, let's see if you found the right answers.

And there were two of them.

Well done if you said timekeeper and motions.

The timekeeper is the person who keeps track of how long each person is speaking for, and tells the speakers whether they are in and out of protected time, and the motions, well they are the thing that is being debated.

The topic or subject that's being debated.

A debate is a structured argument between two teams. Both teams are debating a motion, which is the name for the belief or proposal that is being debated.

One team agrees with the motion, and this team is called the proposition.

The other team disagrees with the motion, and is called the opposition.

Each team has the same amount of speakers who deliver persuasive and convincing speeches about why they agree or disagree with the motion.

Which is a name for the team that agree with the motion and debate? Is it A, conversation, B, opposition, or C, proposition? What's name for the team that agrees with the motion? Pause the video and decide now.

Welcome back.

Well done if you said C, the proposition.

The opposition disagree with the motion.

The proposition agree with the motion.

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.

And then 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 of the debate? Is it A, the chairperson, B, summary speaker, or C, timekeeper? Pause the video and decide now.

Welcome back.

Okay, well done if you said the correct answer, which is C, the timekeeper.

Who signals the timings in a debate? It's of course the timekeeper.

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

It can be judged by the audience, via a show of hands to vote on the winning team, or it can be judged by a judge, or a panel of judges, who may use a criteria to score each speaker.

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

Which of these are ways that a winning team is decided upon in a debate? Is it A, scored by judges, B, vote by an audience, or C, toss a coin.

Which of these are ways that a winning team can be decided upon in debate? A, B, or C? Pause the video and decide now.

Welcome back.

Okay, well done if you said A, scored by judges and B, vote by an audience.

It would not be C.

We don't just toss a coin.

That's random.

There's no way of actually deciding which was the best team.

So it's A or B.

Time for a practise task.

I'd like you to take part in a question and answer session with a partner to demonstrate your knowledge of how to hold a debate.

For example, partner A would ask a question in a full sentence, using the technical vocabulary used in debating.

And I put a list on the right hand side of the screen of all the technical vocabulary.

So you've got motion, proposition, opposition, speakers, summary speakers, points of information, chairperson, timekeeper, and audience.

Partner B, well, they will answer that question, in a full sentence again, using the technical vocabulary used in debating too.

So I want to hear lots of that technical vocabulary.

Let's look at an example.

Partner A may say, "What is a motion and how is it used in a debate?" And partner B would say, "The two teams can debate a variety of topics, which are referred to as motions, and are phrased as beliefs or proposals." Perfect.

That is a great example of how you can give a full-sentence answer with some technical vocabulary that's used in debating too.

So you'll go back and forth.

Now we'll switch and partner B will ask a question and partner A will answer it, and then we'll switch over again, and vice versa.

Okay, I think you are ready to take part in a question and answer session to demonstrate your knowledge of how to hold a debate.

Pause the video and complete this task with your partner now.

Welcome back.

I hope you got on well.

I hope you enjoyed it.

I hope you found it easy to be able to answer those questions.

Let's have a look at another example.

"Can a speaker be interrupted during their speech?" What a great question.

Well done, Alex.

"Yes, speakers can be challenged by any member of the opposing team through points of information, which can only happen out of protected time." Really good.

Full-sentence answer with lots of technical vocabulary.

Let's move on to delivering a successful speech.

In debating a team's success is determined by how well each speaker delivers their speech, which can also be referred to as their argument.

So your speech can be referred to as your argument.

A successful speaker, or successful speech, sorry, will follow a set structure, which is used to help a speaker organise their argument.

Following a structure will help an argument flow.

It'd be easier for an audience to follow.

It will ensure that key parts aren't missed and help a speaker to manage their time effectively, 'cause remember, each speech is timed.

Also, using a structure will help a speaker to appear prepared and professional and reduce nervousness when delivering a speech.

And that's really important, because delivering a speech in front of an audience can be something that people find nervy, makes them feel uncomfortable and nervous.

So anything we can do to reduce that nervousness is a good thing.

There are four parts to the structure to follow when making a speech in a debate.

They are point, you'll deliver your point first.

Then you'll give an explanation for that point, explaining why you think the way you do, why you have that opinion.

Number three is proof.

And this is where you'll be able to give something that can't be contested, it can't be argued with, because it's fact.

That might be statistics, might be research that you've done, or it could even be an anecdote, your own experience.

And again, that's still proof, because it can't be argued with, because you are saying that it actually happened.

And finally, summary.

So this is where you will summarise everything in your speech very briefly, just to ensure that the audience can take everything in and that the speech ends on a kind of complete note.

The acronym PEPS can help us to remember this structure and its order.

P-E-P-S.

Point, explanation, proof, summary.

True or false? The four parts to the structure are points, explanation, proof, summary.

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

Welcome back.

Okay, true or false? It is of course true, well done.

Let's justify our answer with A, this structure will help an argument to flow or B, this structure will make a speech difficult to deliver? How will you justify your answer? A or B? Pause the video and decide now.

Welcome back and well done if you justified with A, that structure will help an argument to flow.

The first part of the PEPS structure involves making the main point of an argument.

The point will clearly say whether they agree or disagree with the motion, and give one reason to justify their opinion using the word because.

So if the motion was this house would ban homework, our points could be, "I believe that homework should not be banned, because," so that's the opinion, "I believe that homework should not be banned," then we have because, which means we're going to reason and justify our opinion.

"I believe that homework should not be banned, because it helps pupils revise the things they've learned at school so they can remember it." Perfect.

I believe that homework should not be banned is the opinion.

And the one reason to justify that opinion, is because it will help pupils to revise the things they've learned and remembered it.

Which word is used to justify your point? Is it A, and, B, but, C, so, or D, because? Pause the video and decide now.

Welcome back and well done if you said D, because we use the word because in our point to justify our opinion.

After making a point, the speaker explains that point by adding reasoning to convince the audience.

Now, reasoning means explaining why a person has a certain opinion.

And this is where you will go into much more detail than that one reason you gave to justify your opinion in the point.

This is not a new point, and the reasoning given should support the point already made.

So you're not making any new points, you are just adding lots of explanations to explain why you have that opinion.

When explaining the reasoning for an opinion, a speaker may use persuasive techniques such as flattery, so complimenting the audience, emotion, bringing all different emotions to the surface for the audience, and using those to convince them, presumption, so presuming that they are going to do the right thing and agree with you, and rhetorical questions to convince the audience to agree with them.

So hooking the audience in with a rhetorical question, engaging them.

So if the point is I believe that homework should not be banned, because it helps pupils revise the things they've learned at school, so they can remember it, an explanation might be, "I am sure that you've all struggled to remember the things you've learned in school when you get home in the afternoon.

I know I have.

Have you ever wished you could go over something tricky from a lesson just one more time to help you remember it? Homework gives us that chance.

Homework gives us a chance to revise things.

Homework even gives us a chance to make mistakes and learn from them too." Okay, and that would be your explanation.

Can you find the sentences with examples of presumption and repetition in this explanation? So presumption and repetition are techniques you can use to persuade an audience.

But can you find the sentences with examples of presumption and repetition in this explanation? Have a look.

Pause the video.

You can chat with a person next to you.

Can you find examples of presumption and repetition? Pause the video and have a go at this task now.

Welcome back.

Okay, let's see if you found them.

Well done if you spotted that presumption is right at the start where we say, "I am sure that you've all struggled to remember the things you've learned in school when you get home in the afternoon." So we are presuming something.

We are presuming that everyone in the audience has struggled to remember some things when they get home after school.

And then repetition.

We have homework gives us, homework gives us, homework even gives us.

Three times we use that phrase, and we are explaining what homework gives us.

It gives us a chance, it gives us a chance to revise things.

It gives us a chance to learn from our mistakes.

Once a speaker has delivered their point and explanation, they can add proof to their argument.

Now proof can be defined as something that is real, factual, and cannot be disputed.

The benefits of adding proof include reinforcing the key messages with facts, adding credibility, and appearing well prepared.

Proof can consist of facts and statistics that have been researched to ensure accuracy.

We don't want to just make up facts or statistics, or it might be a personal story about a real thing that has happened to you, which is called an anecdote.

An anecdote is a personal story about something real that has happened to you.

So let's have a look at some proof.

Here is an example.

"I find that when I have to complete a homework task on the same day that I learned something new, I remember that thing so much more.

I asked my class, and 80% of them felt the same.

Recently we learned about the Romans in history and I struggled to remember the content from the lesson.

When it came to the next lesson, I'd forgotten it all.

I know homework would've helped with this." And you can see in this proof, the speaker is using themselves as the proof.

In that first sentence they say, "I find, I have, I remember." They have statistics about how many children feel the same.

"I ask my class and 80% of them felt the same." So that is an example of statistics.

And they even tell an anecdote about their own experience, talking about learning about the Romans in history and struggling to remember it.

Whereas if they had some homework about it, it would've helped them to retain that information.

Now the last part of the PEPS structure is summary.

To summarise something means to briefly and concisely convey the main points or important information from a longer piece of content.

So you will have seen people summarise a football match at the end, or a news report.

That's a good example.

They are not showing you the whole match.

They are summarising the important bits, the bits you need to know.

A speaker summarises their speech to briefly remind the audience of the most important things they've said so far.

These would include the point, which can be repeated in full, because the point is only short, brief highlights of the explanation, and brief highlights of the proof.

And then a closing sentence, one last sentence to try and persuade the audience one very last time.

Let's have a look at a summary.

"To summarise, I believe that homework should not be banned, because it helps pupils revise the things they've learned at school.

Homework gives us a chance to revise things and gives us a chance to make mistakes and learn from them too.

I myself have experienced firsthand the benefits of completing a homework task on the same day that I learn something new, and I want others to experience this too.

Therefore, I disagree strongly with the emotion, and believe that homework should not be banned." And that would be how you'd end your speech.

And you can see we have a summary of the points, which is the point in full, a brief summary of the explanation, so I've pretty much taken the last couple of sentences and merged those together.

Then I've got a little bit of the proof, and that's just using myself, my anecdote again, and a closing sentence.

What is the name for the part of the PEPS structure that recaps the important parts of your speech? Is it A, the point, B, the summary, or C, the proof? Pause the video and decide now.

Welcome back and well done if you said B, the summary.

The summary is the part where you will recap the important parts of your speech.

Time for a practise task.

I would like you to deliver your own speech by following the PEPS structure.

You can make notes to help you deliver your speech successfully.

Choose one of these motions to create a speech about.

So we have three motions here, and you can choose whether you want to be for the proposition, for the motion, or the opposition, against the motion.

The motions are this house believes that bullying is unforgivable.

This house would pay Year 6 pupils for high attendance.

This house believes that the school day should be shorter.

Your job is to decide whether you want to be for the proposition or the opposition, and deliver your own speech by following the PEPS structure, point, explanation, proof, and summary.

So it's over to you.

Pause the video, make some notes, prepare and then deliver your own speech following the PEPS structure.

Pause the video and complete this task now.

Welcome back.

Okay, let's have a look at an example.

So we have chosen this house would pay Year 6 pupils for high attendance.

Let's have a look at this girl's speech.

"I believe that paying Year 6 pupils who have high levels of attendance is a good idea, because it will serve as an incentive to attend school every day.

Have you ever missed a day of school and struggled to catch up with your classmates when you returned? Attendance is a key part of school, and the damage that low attendance can have on a child's education can be huge.

Poor attendance will likely lead to pupils becoming anxious and falling behind.

Furthermore, it may make it difficult to maintain positive friendships, as ever-changing social dynamics mean that missing a day of school could have a more significant social impact.

I went on holiday with my family and missed a week of school just before our assessments.

Sadly, the impact of this was very significant for me.

I missed key revision time and struggled to complete the assessments to the standard that I knew I was capable of.

My family went on holiday during school time because it was cheaper.

However, if I had been being paid for having high attendance, we could have used that money to delay the holiday until school had finished.

To summarise, I believe that paying pupils in Year 6 for their high attendance will act as a huge incentive to not miss school, something which can be very damaging for a child's education.

I've experienced this myself, and know the impact missing lessons can have.

Therefore, agreeing with this motion is something that I know you will all join me wholeheartedly with." And that is a speech, all the way from point to explanation to proof and summary, following the PEPS structure.

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

A debate is a structured argument between two teams who either agree or disagree with a motion.

The motion is the name for the belief or proposal that is being debated.

An opinion is a view or belief that a person has, and robust reasoning supports an opinion.

The PEPS structure stands for point, explanation, proof and summary.

Super work today.

I'm sure that you all are now confident on how to debate.

I will see you again very soon.