Training
Training is held on Wednesdays, 2 – 4 pm; we meet in SM2 of the Maths building, on University Walk.
If you want any details of the coming weeks training, email Non Humphries on nh0442@bristol.ac.uk
Resources
Many of our sessions are workshops, and don’t particularly suit uploading. However, from time-to-time sessions will use PowerPoint and be heavy on “taught” content. In those instances we will do our best to make them available in a prompt manner.
One of our previous Directors of Training, James Ashton-Bell, prepared a document series he entitled “A Guide To Debating”. It is a useful place to start and gives a reasonable overview to the skeleton of a debate.
- Part One: The BP Format
- Part Two: Argumentation
- Part Three: Analysis
- Part Four: Rebuttal and Points of Information
While the above documents, especially the first three, will be useful for beginners, they are limited in their approach. A summary of the information above may be found in a powerpoint created by our current trainer, Ben:
On the 8th February 2012, previous trainer Ben delivered a session on how to structure a debate and attack it with rebuttal and points of information. It goes into a lot more depth than the content above and breaks debates down into their component parts. This won’t give you any magic tricks on how to debate well, but it should show you how to look at a debate and see where the clash is, and what needs to be proven to win. The presentation contains notes underneath the slides, written up from the delivered content.