COMPETITIVE DEBATING

Competitive debating is one of the core activities of the Hist. We have an extremely successful record, and have competed all around the world! We’ve had finalists at both the European and World Debating Championships, as well as the most winners of the Irish Times Debating Competition. In the last year alone, we have reached the out-rounds of debating competitions 173 times, and won 27 different competitions. However, these competitions aren’t the only way to get involved with competitive debating. We run competitions for all skill levels as well as catering to different styles, and it can be an amazing way to meet new people and make friends.

The main debating format we engage in, British Parliamentary, is a team based format consisting of 2 teams speaking for the motion and 2 teams speaking against it. There are plenty of opportunities to speak on different types of motions and with different partners. This format is the most popular around the world, and is used by both the European and World Championships. Your score is not based on speaking style, rhetoric, or accent, but rather on the strength of your arguments. Many of the world’s best speakers have learned English as a second language.

In our Intro to Debating workshop during Freshers’ Week and over the course of the year in Novice Training, you’ll be taught about the principles underpinning debating, such as structuring your own arguments, identifying weaknesses in other arguments and analysing arguments in comparison to each other, all of which are extremely useful for assignments and essays. Many of our novices last year went on to have great success breaking at international competitions and meeting people from other debating societies, which goes to show it is completely possible to start succeeding in first year!

There are several opportunities to compete every year. We run internal competitions for Trinity students, which are a great way to make friends in college. We also compete at other universities’ competitions, in Ireland and all around the world! If you’re feeling a bit nervous about the prospect of competing, we also frequently pair more experienced debaters with novices, so that new debaters have someone to help guide them and explain things they may not understand.

With the Phil, we also convene three prestigous international debating competitions in the world; the Trinity Open, the Trinity Intervarsity, and the Trinity Women and Gender Minorities Open.

Volunteering at these competitions is a great way to get involved in the society!

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to Anna at dc@thehist.com