Debating for boys

In the first place, the debate of the boys’ club, of the school society, or of the city lyceum, is the same in form and method as the debates in legislature or Congress. Any lad...

I have failed in my argument so far unless I have accomplished two things. First, and most important, I must have convinced you that I am right as far as I have gone. Second, to...

In the first place remember that you must debate something which is debatable, something which can be proved. Too many times a question is framed which could never in the reason...

You have been challenged to debate by the Patrol from Readville or by the Debating Society of Berkeley. What is the next step? You should meet your opponents as early as possibl...

In getting ready, one of the most important steps is for you and _your opponents_ to get together and talk over the question and agree beforehand on just what it covers and what...

After you have determined your starting point and defined your terms, the next step—and an important one—is technically termed “the clash of arguments.” This phrase means a care...

In the first place there is the direct statement of the facts by witnesses, or the opinions of those witnesses who are qualified to speak as experts. Then there is circumstantia...

Suppose you have decided to debate one phase of the child labor problem, and your question reads something like this: “Resolved: that no children below the age of sixteen years...

Not only will your careful analysis of the question formulate your own argument, but it will prepare you to refute that of your opponent. Put just as much care into this part of...

Let your speech have form and body. When you have prepared your brief, you have indeed articulated a skeleton which may be beautiful in its logical symmetry although not as yet...

The way to learn to debate is by actual practice in debate. The way to learn to speak is by trying to speak. Never miss a proper opportunity of speaking. Don’t make yourself dis...

I knew several of the boys at Fairfield, and because I was much interested in debating generally, I was delighted when Jack Mason asked me if I would like to go with him to a me...

Knowledge of parliamentary law is, at some time or other, useful to almost every member of an American community, yet few ever get more than a confused and mistaken idea of its...

The Ford Hall Town Meeting is a school of democracy at work; it is a school of applied brotherhood. That statement may sound like an attempt at fine writing but I want to show y...

How can you obtain the necessary information for your debate? Where can you get your evidence? How will you proceed to obtain the facts upon which your debate will win or lose?