I recently joined a Debating Club in Glasgow, organised by a former European Debating Champion. Although I have had an interest in public speaking for a long time, this was my first foray into official debating and in my first session, I learned the basics of debating and a simple way to prepare a 5 minute debate in 5 minutes.
My S2 Business Management class are currently working on the European Union and have been researching the costs and benefits of being part of the EU from a business perspective. As a strong believer in the responsibilities we have as Business Education to teach the softer skills of business e.g. communication skills, teamwork, I decided to use the skills I had learned in the debating club in the class.
The class were divided into pairs and either had to research positive aspects of joining the EU or negative aspects. Everyone had to prepare a 2 minute speech with an introduction, 2 or 3 valid points and a summary.
Although not a full bloodied debate with interjections, the debates were a great success and the pupils really got into it. Tables were set up to replicate a real debate and many of the pupils linked what we were doing with what they watched in the Election Leadership Debates. Some of the points raised, either as positives or negatives, were very thought provoking and the pupils in the audience asked some very probing questions. At the end, a poll was taken amongst the class to see which team had most convinced them.
As well as developing a greater understanding of the pro's and con's of the European Union, the pupils gained more confidence and experience in speaking in front of their peers which will only help them going forward.
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