Rules of British Parliamentary

Listen Think Debate

Why formal debating? • Develops on the spot critical thinking skills • Huge amounts of speaking practice, building confidence & presentation skills • Fantastic for helping you plan essays • Can spur you on to become well informed about world issues you didn’t even know existed • Looks great on a CV

Plan for today • Short introduction to British Parliamentary debating. • Split off into groups of eight. • Discuss motion as a group. • Have a three minute speech debate. • Feedback from judges. • Casual drinks at the Dirty Duck.

I’m scared by the prospect of speaking • Don’t be, almost everyone in this room has never given a public speech before • Almost everyone is worried they’re bad at public speaking • If English isn’t your first language that’s fine, it’s a great way to practice • Even if you do freeze on the spot and can’t think of anything to say or how to continue, everyone has done it – even me

What does this training programme teach you? • To succinctly and clearly express your own ideas • To spot the assumptions in what people say and respond accordingly • To improve the style and way in which you give speeches • The modest aim of learning all about the world: International relations, social policy, labour rights, feminism, moral philosophy and lots lots more.

AN INTRODUCTION TO BRITISH PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE!

Overview • Every round/game has a motion which will be debated. An example motion you may debate is: “This House Would Pay Smokers to Quit Smoking”.

• Four teams are involved in each debate. Each team is made up of two speakers. • All speeches are of the same length.

Teams • There are two teams on the Government bench: Opening Government (OG) and Closing Government (CG). • The two teams on the Opposition bench are: Opening Opposition (OO) and Closing Opposition (CO). • Despite there being two benches, ALL four teams compete against one another.

Opening Government (OG)

Opening Opposition (OO)

1. Prime Minister

2. Leader of Opposition (LO)

3. Deputy Prime Minister

4. Deputy Leader of Opposition (DLO)

Closing Government (CG)

Closing Opposition (CO)

5. Member of Government (MG)

6. Member of Opposition (MO)

7. Government Whip (GW)

8. Opposition Whip (OW)

Dates for the diary • Social meal in varsity after session TODAY! • All Wednesday’s in H0.52 and Friday’s in Lib 1 as these are our training sessions • UCL Pres cup this Saturday (week 2) – the chief adjudicator is our very own president, Edward Mancey – anyone with school’s experience eligible • Saturday week 4 – NAMDA novice in Hull – open for all novice speakers

NAMDA Novice and Pres Cup • Both great starting competitions for people new to university debating. • Great way to meet people from all over the other country and visit cities • Everyone there have schools experience at most • NAMDA Novice is for people who either haven’t debated before, or had only a little experience in school, if you’re more experience you want to go to Pres cup – talk to exec if unsure • Both are great fun and promise an awesome weekend, reply to a society e-mail to sign up