It was one heck of a round as two teams did their best in clarifying each of their points while jotting down all the crucial points spoken from one another from each team. They rebut, they pointed out good points, they had great structure, and that was their ingredients of victory. If you are thinking of a debate competition by reading this then yes my friend, you are correct.
Debating is an interesting way for two sides that have different opinions on a particular topic to discuss it with each other. As my lecturer conducted a small debate competition among two classes this week, all of the students in those two classes give their all in the competition with interesting points they have researched on the topics given. From the competition, I had learned a lot as it was my first time debating. The crucial lessons I gained from such an entertaining activity was that I can gain vast knowledge, it helped me to see on new perspectives and encouraged me to structure my speaking and writing skills.
To survive in the debate world, simply having just the general idea to a certain topic to discuss later on is not enough. You need to research in details about that topic so that you can have a well-developed point to increase your chance of winning. Along the process, you can gain new knowledge about things you have known before or something completely new. With the new knowledge, you can spice up your conversation to be interesting and mature. For example, as I tried to find a few interesting points to strengthen my arguments about why banning ice-cream on the elderly is not a great idea, I learned some new idea that ice cream is actually recommended to them as it has some vitamins that can strengthen the bone. Later, I can converse with my grandparents with more interesting topics to talk. As gaining knowledge is a priceless experience, joining a debate competition can definitely become an incredible journey to become brilliant.
Moreover, as debates usually let two teams have a friendly argument about the topics given, it can open your mind to see a new perspective you have never thought of. As you defend your motion with your well-revised arguments, you gain a new insight from the opponents as they blurt out their own arguments that you may find fascinating. For instance, a friend of mine recently debated about the motion of the earth is flat and I initially think this is an absurd idea as the Earth is convincing to be Spherical in shapes by many scientists. As I hear their ideas, I get the gist of why some people still believe the Earth is really flat because of some really convincing theories that support it. It really can open the mind to accept a new belief during a debate competition.
Furthermore, debating is a perfect moment to improve your speaking and writing skills. In a debate competition, you need to structure your points neatly so that you can gain more points to win. You need to state your points firstly, followed by elaborations and example to solidify the idea. With a proper planning, your can speak your idea confidently, it will be easy to understand, and everyone will be further convinced of it. As constructing a speech is similar to constructing an essay, this can benefit you in academic levels later on. A well-constructed essay that can boost your performance in the essay-heavy task -tests, essay assignment- will be easy to do once you are familiar with making a speech draft. With the required skills, you can impress teachers greatly when presenting in class and writing an essay.
All in all, joining the debate competition was one of the amazing experience I ever had as it really improves you as a person as you gain new knowledge, be open to other possibilities and improve your speaking and writing skills.
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