How to give an opening speech in a formal debate
The situation
Motion: This House would ban private schools. You are First Proposition. You have sixty seconds to open — define the motion, set out your case in two or three clear points, and signpost them. No opponent yet: this is the speech. Go.
Why it's hard: Nobody's argued back yet, so there's nothing to react to — just you, a clock and a room — and the fear is drying up at twenty seconds with forty still to fill.
Two things you could say
“By ban we mean ending fee-charging selective schooling — not tutoring, not faith schools. We'll show two things. First, that private schools turn money into advantage and then lock it in. Second, that ending them raises the floor for the ninety-three per cent.”
Definition first and then a numbered roadmap means the judge can flow you: they write two headings down before you argue, so every point afterwards lands somewhere on their paper instead of in the air.
“The question in this round isn't whether some private schools are excellent — plainly some are. It's whether a system that sells a better childhood is one we can justify. Judge us on that, and on the child who never got to apply.”
Naming the question the round turns on gets your metric written down before the opposition offers theirs, and a case measured on your ground is far harder to beat than one measured on theirs.
What to avoid
"There are so many reasons private schools are bad, and I'll try to get through as many as I can." — a list with no definition and no signposts can't be flowed, so the judge hears nine half-points and writes down none of them.
The principle
Definition, framing, then two or three numbered arguments each with a claim, a reason and an impact. Signpost out loud — "first… second…" — so the judge can write it down. Structure IS persuasion in a formal round.
The skill underneath it
More formal debate moments
- Rebuttal drill. You have thirty seconds. Take their strongest point apart: say what it claims, say why it fails, and say what's true instead…
- You're mid-speech and the other side keeps offering points of information. Take one — the best-timed one — deal with it in ten seconds, and …
- Motion: This House regrets the rise of influencer culture. You're proposing. Before any argument, define the terms — what counts as "influen…