Teen's Guide to Debating and Public Speaking

Everything students, parents, and teachers need to know about debating and public speaking.

Welcome to the world of school debating and public speaking, the best training ground for developing self-esteem and learning to look critically at big issues. Speaking well builds confidence and opens up a world of opportunity, in education, leadership, careers, and community and political engagement. In an increasingly competitive world, being a convincing, passionate, and persuasive speaker is essential to standing out from the crowd.

Claire Duffy not only demystifies the process but makes it fun. Learn all about the best ways to prepare for a debate or speech, the persuasive power of reason, the art of argument and rebuttal, and, when worse comes to worst, how to be gracious in defeat. Including practical tips from the pros and helpful step-by-step examples, this is the essential handbook for making every spoken word count.

• Introduction
• Part 1: Debating
• 1. Debating - Why Do It?
• 2. The Art of Arguing
• 3. How to Prepare a Case
• 4. Rights Debates
• 5. The Point - The Building Block of Debates
• 6. Really Good Rebuttal
• 7. Speaker Roles
• 8. A Debate from Start to Finish
• Part 2: Public Speaking
• 9. Introducing Public Speaking
• 10. How to Prepare a Speech
• 11. You're On!
• 12. Speech Making in Real Life
• Planning Sheets
• Glossary
• Acknowledgements

Claire Duffy is a teacher, coach, adjudicator, and competition organizer. Working with young people is her specialty. She has coached people at all levels, from student champions to twelve-year-old beginners and CEOs facing important professional speaking challenges. Claire lives in Sydney, Australia.