Hello again aspiring debaters, I am back! This week, we’ll be focusing on how to write an effective and powerful speech.
First things first, a speech is not meant for you to read off of word for word. If you ever go to a debate and recite a speech, don’t expect to win, no matter how amazing the speech was. A speech in debate is used as a tool to help you, not something that you should solely rely on. So make sure to practice a lot. The speech shouldn’t be memorized either, but if the speech were to be taken away from you, you should still be able to speak on it using your points and format from the speech. There are, as always, a few steps in making a good speech.
1. Do your research
In order to have a speech which is convincing, and strong, you must have your facts. A speech filled with fluff will not win. Do deep and thorough research for both sides of the debate, opposition and proposition, know points of controversy on the matter, and the weakest parts of your speech. However, while you need large amounts of knowledge, make sure that your speech is not overloaded with facts and statistics. No one wants to hear a 8 minute speech firing out all the stats from the last 25 years. Integrate your research into the speech.
2. Know the format
Most debates have a certain format of speech which you should follow. To check what style is expected, you can always go onto the ADSA website and check the Judge’s Rubric. Yep, that’s right, go ahead and see exactly what the judges are looking for and form your speech around that.
3. Write your speech
When it comes to writing a speech for debate, the process is a little different than essay writing in school. We’ll be breaking one of the biggest rules, don’t write like you talk. When you write a speech for debate, you want to write exactly like you talk. Incorporate your own style into the speech. Dictate the speech to yourself, your printed speech is just a tool to help you remember the flow of the speech.
4. Intro
So now comes the actual parts of the speech. First of all, the intro, this is where you introduce yourself, the topic, the terms and your general arguments. One of the most important things which you must remember to include in your introduction is signposts. Signposts are an absolutely essential part of debate. This is where you give catchy names and introduce your three main pillars of argument. Those names, or signposts will be brought back up throughout the rest of the debate, make sure that the judges are aware of what they are.
5. Body
So once you’ve introduced your case, its time to dive into the case itself. There’s not much to say about the body, just make sure it’s organized and there is plenty of signposting.
6. Conclusion
And, of course, you need a conclusion, this is a short ending to the speech around 1 minute long. Here, you will recount all points made in the debate and once again push the fact that yours was the stronger case. Make sure to thank the judges and your opponents for coming.
7. Prepare
And lastly, as with everything, once you have written your speech, prepare, prepare and prepare some more. It is cliche, but practice does make perfect.