Gary’s Q&A

Listener question & Gary’s response · Transcript passage

Bhakkawat-Top Bhasipol asks Do you have any advice for debating for a middle student, who just started debating. My daughter Kati has just joined her school’s debate team this year. She is the first member of the Thai Everything Everywhere Daily completionist club.

First, let me congratulate Kati. I do not recall anyone from Thailand being in the completionsit club, so she very well might be the first.

The key to being successful in academic debate is preparation. In American debate, this involves doing a lot of research. No matter what type of debate you do, you need to anticipate what your opponent is going to say in response before the debate round ever starts.

This is usually not difficult to do. Whatever the topic you are debating, there is probably a body of literature where people have spelled out their opposition to whatever argument you are making.

For example, let’s say there are five generally accepted arguments against whatever you are advocating. You then need to prepare your responses to those arguments well in advance. In this respect, debate is like chess. You make your move, your opponent makes their move, and you respond to their move, and so on.

It is entirely possible that you encounter an argument you weren’t prepared for. In that case, you need to have some generic argument or position you can fall back on, which you can apply to almost anything. This isn’t ideal, but it’s better than nothing, and at least you won’t be taken totally by surprise.