Activity 1
Study the debate motions below.
• The media serves us well
• Cannabis should be legalised
• Tradition is holding us back
For each of the motions above, do the following:
1. Make a list of information you need to find.
2. Make a list of sources you can turn to.
3. Do an Internet search and take note of any useful information.
Activity 2
Form groups of six and do the following:
• Divide your group into two teams, the proposition team and the opposition team.
• Based on the information you have gathered on one of the above topics, formulate arguments in support of your team’s position, guess the arguments your opponents would use and think of ways to rebut or damage them. Take note of your ideas.
• Compare notes with the other team and see if you predicted correctly and whether your opponents think their arguments would be damaged by the strategies you suggested.
Activity 3
In this part, your group conducts a mini-debate on another one of the three topics above. Do the following within your group:
• Members from the two teams sit facing each other.
• A member from the proposition team introduces the topic and presents an argument in support of the position of his team.
• A member from the opposition team sets out an alternative point of view and rebuts the initial point made by the proposition team.
• Each team then take it in turns to present their arguments, rebutting the opposing team’s arguments as far as possible. The mini-debate will go on until all the arguments are exhausted.
Teachers’ notes
*Teachers might like to go over the notes on “Using rebuttal in debate speeches” on pp.32-33 with the students before asking them to attempt the activities.
Using rebuttal in debate speeches
Rebuttal is the act of proving opposite arguments to be false or incorrect. Good rebuttal is the sign of good debaters, as it shows that they have listened to the other team’s speech, understood it and worked out why they disagree with it.
A. What to rebut
Not every argument is worth rebutting. Speakers should use their time wisely and look out for the arguments that are central to the opposition’s strategy. Rebutting these successfully will almost certainly win the debate, since they lie at the heart of the opposition’s case, and if they fall, so will most of the opposition’s other arguments.
These are, by nature, also the opposition’s strongest arguments, and so it will take plenty of analysis to disprove them. However, the rewards for doing so are great, and so speakers should learn to analyse each argument put forward by the opposing team, to see which will be most rewarding, and try to take it on.
Speakers should not spend time on rebutting arguments that are obviously ridiculous, inconsistent or irrelevant. However, if an irrelevant argument is particularly clever, it is usually worthwhile to swiftly explain why it is irrelevant.
B. How to rebut
Here are some suggestions for opposing an argument:
Direct consequences
Looking at the direct consequences of the argument being put forward is a very effective means of attack. Speakers may analyse the argument by asking:
• Will it really impact in the way that the opposing team claim it will?
• Is their logic correct in the way that they draw out the links from cause to consequence?
If a speaker can show the audience that the opposing team have bad logic, then that completely undermines them and reduces the effectiveness of all their other arguments as well.
Indirect consequences
Speakers may also consider the indirect consequences of the argument being put forward and show that it will lead to other, much worse, effects elsewhere than in the areas the opposing team are discussing.
Contradiction of other arguments or principles
Students should also listen out for whether the opposing team’s current argument is in any way contradicting something that they have said earlier. Self-contradiction is a very common mistake in debates.
Lack of examples
Speakers should also listen out for whether the opposing team are backing up their argument with examples. If that is the case, speakers should attempt to find counter-examples, ones that prove the reverse of the speaker’s arguments, and force the opposing team onto the defensive. If there are no examples to support an argument,
speakers should challenge the opposing team to come up with some.
C. When to rebut
Rebuttal can be made at the beginning of a speech or integrated into an argument that a speaker is trying to make.
Rebutting at the beginning of a speech
Rebuttal may be most easily inserted directly after the introduction, before the main arguments are developed. Speakers may begin the rebuttal like this:
“Now, before I move on to my first argument, I would like to respond to something that the opposing team have said…”
Integrating rebuttal into a speech
If the rebuttal is relevant to one of the areas that the speaker will cover, it may be used as part of his/her argument. This has the advantage of showing that the principles being used for rebuttal are the same as those underlying the team’s case, thus preventing rebuttal from being rebutted again by the opposing team on the grounds that the principles being used are contradictory. Here are two suggestions for integrating rebuttal into a speech:
1. Make notes – To find rebuttal arguments they can use, speakers should take notes during debates, in particular on the speeches made by the opposing team.
Notes should be made on file cards rather than on large pieces of paper so that they can be added to the existing speeches with the minimum of disruption.
2. Know the structure of the speech well – It is vital that students know the structure that they intend to use in their speech well in advance. If they do, they will be much more able to add in extra material, particularly rebuttal, at the most appropriate point in their speech. If they do not know the structure of their speech in advance, they are likely to add elements at the wrong points, making less use of that new material and also reducing the impact of their speeches as a whole.
To use rebuttal partway through their speech, speakers may say something like this:
“…and now I would like to address area B. Before I give my constructive argument, I would just like to respond to something that the opposing team said on this topic…”