We are so excited that you are joining the next generation of students who will learn about speech & debate.
Speech & debate education is a form of active learning that has been embraced by millions of students around the world to help them develop foundational skills in public speaking, argumentation, research, and collaboration.
Many students who have participated in speech & debate consider it to be one of the most important educational experiences of their lives. As you prepare to embrace your role as teacher, it is important to understand that you will directly contribute to the lives of your students and that many of them will remember you as their most influential teacher.
As you begin your debate course, one critical thing to keep in mind is that speaking and debating are skills. To develop these skills you must be actively involved in practicing the development of these skills. Although there will certainly be content that you need to learn, instruction in speaking and debating will focus more on helping the you develop as a speaker and debater rather than primarily on content.
You might even go so far as to compare learning debating to learning a sport. When learning a sport, you will need to learn the rules of the game and develop and teach them some plays, but your primary learning should focus on learning these rules and plays
In the process of learning these skills, you will also need to push yourself, to incorporate important values, and, hopefully, celebrate their many competitive successes if you enter speaking and debating competitions. And it is through these competitions that they will continue to be motivated to improve.
In this online guide, we aim to provide you with the tools you need to assist students with learning the critical components of speech and debate.
The guide is meant to be adapted to the specifics of your learning schedule and the pace at which you are able to learn the material.