“The Great Debaters” will always be a project that stood out to me because it was the first to properly introduce a structured public speaking presentation. This project was about learning about the art of debate and then presenting it in person to an audience at the PLP Winter Exhibition 2023, however, I was away on vacation and wasn’t able to present. Instead, I went head-to-head with PLP 12’s Nathan at an earlier date and endured an intense debate on whether Nuclear Energy is a viable source of energy in today’s world.
Nuclear Energy is a viable source of energy today
Whether you know me or not, I’m all for finding an alternative clean and sustainable source of energy to save our planet from greenhouse gas emissions. When I saw this topic in the list of many others, it caught my eye because Nuclear Energy is a rather controversial topic and was the only one that stood out from the rest to me. By random choice, I decided to debate the negative of this topic and I’m glad I did because I thought my points brought different perspectives and worldviews to the situation. Since my debate was pre-exhibition, filming was not in the conversation yet and my dad only captured a few moments but you can check out what my presentation looked like in the document below. ⬇️
How can we use a formal debate to convince an audience we’re right?
The argument above serves as an excellent illustration of how to persuade an audience to agree with my points of view through the use of a well-written and organized debate speech, rebuttal, and conclusion. In general, I think public speaking is a highly important life skill because it allows you to persuade others of your thoughts and makes you look and sound more confident with yourself and your opinions.
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The assignment’s first task was to write a ten-sentence persuasive essay called “The Best __ Ever.” My paragraph was based on why Arctic Blitz was the best Gatorade Flavour, whether or not you agree with me (You’re wrong). Throughout the project, we then made several edits to this paragraph to strengthen its argument. This comprised a precise use of logos, or logic, and pathos, or emotion. We also made changes to enhance the tone, opinion, and parallel structure. You can click HERE to view the adjustments I made if you’d like.
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We then moved on to researching our topic which also involved the creation of an annotated bibliography. I didn’t think this part was too hard to do because to my surprise there were a lot of credible sources that were also against the idea of Nuclear Energy. I found lots of very useful and important information which was later used to make my argument.
I then made an argument for each source’s suitability for my annotated bibliography using the skill “Questioning: I can share ideas, ask questions, and research information from a variety of sources” and the abbreviation C-R-A-P (Currency, Reliability, Authority, and Purpose). My research is displayed below:
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At this point (my point) of the project it was time to write my first draft of my speech. The actual debate wasn’t going to be a two-parter, we would go back and forth multiple times just like in the real ones. Refer to our debate structure below ⬇️.
- Affirmative Speech (4min)
- Negative Speech (4min)
- Negative Gives Rebuttal (1min)
- Affirmative Gives Rebuttal (1min)
- Negative Closing Remarks (30s)
- Affirmative Closing Remarks (30s)
I am fortunate enough to have a dad who teaches English communications at multiple universities and helped me write speech drafts. Since I was a bit pressed for time, I didn’t get as many drafts to write as the rest of the class so if you’re interested you can read my first draft HERE and compare it to my final one.
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In short, the main feedback I received from my teacher, Ms. Madsen, was to touch up the intro and closing arguments. This step used the competency “Communicating: I can express and reflect for communication by determining appropriate and effective forms for purpose, audience, and message.”
If you missed it above, you can read my final draft below ⬇️
In addition to my speech, I wrote a Rebuttal prep and closing remarks to conclude my debate and hopefully seal the deal on my side. Compared to what I heard from other classmates, I didn’t find it very hard to think of/research points my opponent would use against me since most of my sources did that job for me. Whatever he was for – I was against and vice versa and I managed to find credible arguments to counterattack his argument
I practiced my speech delivery several times, focusing on memorizing lines, holding pauses, changing the tone and pace of my voice, and making sure my annunciation was on point. I consider myself a strong speaker so this wasn’t too big of a struggle for me. I practiced with my dad at home and school with my teacher to prepare for debate day.
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All in all, considering the shorter amount of time to work I thought I did a great job because I was certain my points were strong and they were truly effective. I feel like I could have done better during my turn of the rebuttal stage because although I had the right idea, my delivery was a little rough and wasn’t as convincing as the rest of my speech.
Although fast and heavy, I did enjoy this project since it properly introduced a life skill I plan to keep working on to make myself more presentable, confident, and persuasive, and become a better leader in general.