Public speaking... what is it that makes the bravest of men turn sour in the mouth and weak in the knees?
It’s one of the highest ranked for personal fears and many would admit that they fear nothing more than publicly humiliating themselves.

It’s one thing to deliver a speech in public. It’s another thing to intellectually argue in public. Standing up and expressing your views is already terrifying, what then of expressing your views when other people can get up and object you in the middle of your speech?
And that is what debating is all about. A game of intellects. a meeting of wits and words.

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I’ve been a debater all my life and So.. through all this lifelong debating experience, here are just a few things I’ve picked up.
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1. Know what you’re talking about
This is without doubt the first rule to be a successful debater. you need to be in constant touch with what’s going on in the world. You have to read a lot and tune in to the news a lot. Actually.. reading the newspaper everyday is a good way to keep abreast. Sadly.. not many would do even that.

2. Believe in what you say
The steadfast rule in debating is to always believe in what you say. i know that more often than not you’ll have to defend something you don’t believe in but you shouldn’t let personal views interfere in the debate. Once you don’t believe what you’re saying... it’ll reflect in your speech and people WILL notice. CONVICTION is important. For the length of your speech... make whatever you’re talking about your religion! You can only preach if you believe!

3.Structure your speech
This means setting your speech in such a way that there is a comprehensible flow to it. Make sure you put the important points first. Give a thesis statement to each point, show how the point proves the motion, provide example to the point and summarise each point individually. that’s the basic structure of points presentation. Your speech should also follow the basic spine. Intro, points, summary. Don’t jump from one point to another. Remember how people’s attention wane. They tend to doze off in the middle of your speech so an effective way to structure your speech is by introducing your important points first.. ’’I’m going to talk about A, B and C and to summarise your speech at the end by saying something like What have I told you so far? I have discussed A, B, and C in effect to the motion debated

4.Eye contact
Many forget the importance of this. You need to talk to the judges, NOT YOUR OPPONENTS!! You’re not trying to convince your opponents. it’s their job NOT to agree with you!! Instead, talk to the audience, the judges.

5. Body Language
how you talk should also reflect in the way your body presents itself. No excessive tap dancing or pacing. No rigidity. You should be relax and alternate between gestures to keep audience interested. Use hand gestures to illustrate a point.

6. Choice Of words
It is also important you use the right words to convey your message. DONT use words that are TOO big till people don’t understand you. but do use terms and ’higher’ level word to impress them. Like using the word ’stagnant’ instead of ’the same’. Those kinds of things.

and finally...

7. CONFIDENCE
Unfortunately there’s no magic formula to this. Employ all the tips above n it might help you gain that elusive confidence because it organizes your mind for one thing... it gives you conviction in what you’re talking about. If you believe... you can make others as well..
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That’s the build up to making the speech.. but there’s always all those little things that you can do like:

- Make interesting or funny intros to your speech. If you open with something like that... it grabs the audience’s attention to listen to the rest of your speech

- PLAGARIZE! What I mean by this is... if you read an interesting passage or quote that you can use. USE IT!

- Dress well. When you look good you feel good!

At the end of the day tell yourself this. When you stand up to speak, people respect you, for your ability to express your opinions and argue them. You are up there talking about it when many others would never do that. So be confident with yourself because people are respecting you for what you’re doing!

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Debatin
g is a lifestyle of choice for me. It makes me feel useful. It helps stimulate my brain. And I get to travel a lot through debating as well!

So... hope you found this useful!

Comments and any add ons welcome!