Method

Method is a wholistic score which considers your internal speech structure, organisation of material within the context of the debate and your team’s case, as well as the engagement you present towards the opposing case.

 

Structure

Your speech should be structured in such a way that it makes it more convincing. This means covering all the key elements of your speaker role, as well as presenting your argument in a way that makes sense and is clear to your listeners.

For instance, one way to quickly improve your structure is to signpost, which is where you tell the audience what you have done in your speech and what you are going to do next at key intervals. This makes your speech easy to follow. And easy-to-follow speeches tend to be more persuasive, because the adjudicator can keep better track of what you said in your speech.

 

Organisation

Organisation is about where you place your arguments. In a typical case, each team will present four arguments with two at first speaker and two at second. It’s important that arguments are given to speakers in a logical way that makes the case flow. For instance, it is often a clever idea to categorise the arguments and give one category of arguments to one speaker, and another category to the other speaker.

It is also wise to present your strongest arguments as early as you can in the debate (even if that means giving your argument to another speaker!). Good arguments need to be debated the most, and thus, they should be spoken by the first speaker so there is plenty of time for both teams to engage.

 

Engagement

Engagement is all about rebuttal. Whilst this does form a part of your matter as well, it is important to demonstrate your understanding of the opposing argument and present responses which highlight a thoughtful consideration, and nuanced solution. When you address the opposing case, you must do so in a manner that improves your own team’s case under the topic.

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