Learn to
debate
Everything you need to walk into your first round and know what is going on.
How a round works
Debating has more jargon than it needs. This is the short version: how a round works, what each of the eight speakers is for, and the words people will use at you on a Saturday morning.
The eight speakers
| Position | Speakers | What they do |
|---|---|---|
| Opening Government | Prime Minister · Deputy Prime Minister | Defines the motion, sets the terms of the debate, and makes the first case for it. |
| Opening Opposition | Leader of the Opposition · Deputy Leader | Takes the definition on and builds the case against, refuting Opening Government as it goes. |
| Closing Government | Member for the Government · Government Whip | Extends the case with new material, then the Whip summarises the debate for their side. |
| Closing Opposition | Member for the Opposition · Opposition Whip | Same job on the other bench: a new angle, then a summary that reframes the whole round. |
The words people use
The jargon you will hear in a briefing room, in plain English. Six words cover almost all of it.
- Motion
- The statement being debated, given at the start of prep. Always begins 'This House'.
- POI
- Point of Information. A short interruption offered to the speaker, who may accept or wave it away. Offered between the first and last minute of a speech.
- Extension
- The new argument a closing team brings that the opening team on their side did not make. It is what closing teams are judged on.
- Break
- Qualifying from the preliminary rounds into the knockout stages of a competition.
- IV
- Intervarsity. A weekend competition hosted by one university for teams from everywhere else.
- Tab
- The draw and the running order. The tab team decides who debates whom, and in which room.
Video library
Where to start
Three ways in. None of them ask you to have debated before, and all of them start at Teviot.
Teviot Row House, Bristo Square
Come to a Tuesday workshop
The fastest route in. Free, open to anyone, 7pm in the West Reading Room at Teviot, and the first hour assumes you have never debated.
Watch a public debate
The public debates in the Debating Hall are the format at its most legible. No membership needed to sit in.
Ask the committee
Members are happy to talk formats, judging and the circuit. Email the committee or find us on Instagram.
Come and find your voice
Whether you want to win tournaments or simply speak with confidence, there is a place for you in the union.