Who Participates in a Debate?

The people who participate in a debate are two debaters responsible for defending opposing positions on a topic, a moderator and a secretary.

The two debatientes can be individuals or teams. Both the moderator and the secretary should be impartial throughout the discussion. Occasionally there is also the figure of the adjudicator.

A debate is a form of public discourse. It is a formal and direct oral contest where two or more people must defend a posture with arguments within a set time. It may comprise individual participants or teams (QatarDebate, 2017).

The Oxford Dictionary defines the word debate as a formal discussion on a specific topic that takes place during a public meeting or assembly and where opposing arguments are supported by the debaters. A debate usually concludes with one vote.

A typical student debate includes two teams who are presented with a proposition to discuss. Each team has an established period of time to prepare their arguments and then present and defend them (Davis, Zorwick, Roland, & Wade, 2016).

The subject of a debate has no restriction. However, most debates are made on controversial issues that are attractive to the audience. In some debates, the audience is also invited to participate and to ask questions to the debaters.

What kind of people are involved in a debate?

Debatientes

In short, debaters are the two opposing parties who are given a proposition to debate. There is a part that argues for and supports the proposition and there is another part that argues against and attacks the proposition.

Both the affirmative or proponent, as well as the negative or opposing party must state their arguments within a limited period of time (Byers, 2016).

Another way of naming the debaters is as a proposition (to those who are in favor) and opposition (to those who are against). The proposition will always accept what is initially suggested, while the opposition will oppose the proposed and refute it, denying its validity.

Moderator

One of the participants in the debate is called moderator. This individual is in charge of introducing the debaters to each other and to the audience.

Likewise, it is responsible for timing time when one of the parties is exposing its arguments (LaMay, 2016).

The moderator should make sure the watch stops when it has to. In this way, the debaters can support their arguments within the same time frame.

When one of the debaucents spends more than 30 seconds of the time assigned to him to expose his position, the moderator must emit a constant alarm sound that indicates that his turn is over. The debriefer must immediately interrupt and end his speech.

Secretary

The secretary is the one who takes note of everything that happens in a debate. This individual must complete the forms of both teams, noting all relevant information and the time it takes to present their arguments.

The secretary keeps a record of the times in a table that must be delivered to the adjudicator at the end of the interventions by the debaters. This is the person in charge of collecting any type of information necessary for the adjudicator to issue a final verdict.

In some cases, the work of moderator and secretary is executed by a single person. You can even change the structure of the participants and include a timekeeper to control the times of the debate. In this case, the moderator must keep track of all the events that take place during the debate (OSDN, 2014).

Both the moderator and the secretary must act professionally and impartially at all times.

Adjudicator

In a debate there can be no tie; Only one party can win. The job of the adjudicator is to decide who wins the debate. In order to be able to make the right decision it is essential that the adjudicator has paid full attention to the debaters.

In order to make such a decision, the adjudicator must identify the key issues that were addressed during the discussion. These issues are those that highlight the position of each of the parties and their response to the arguments given (Matthew, 2008).

In this way, the adjudicator briefly summarizes the positions and arguments of each side and the explanation that each party has given to determine which carries the advantage.

It also qualifies the discursive capacity of the parties, their ability to convince and deducts points in case of mistakes and have not been remedied during the speech.

Procedure of a debate

The basic style of a debate varies widely in terms of format. Time limits, the order of the speeches and the manner in which the arguments are presented are different for each debate.

In addition, the format for conducting a debate varies from one institution or organization to another. Rules can also vary, especially when it comes to a competition or contest.

Despite possible differences, all discussions will have common elements. Generally, its participants are closely related to social, religious, educational and ecological contexts. The participants will always be counterparts distributed in teams arranged with an equal number of debatientes.

The order given for conducting a debate is usually the same: first the party speaks in favor of the proposition and then the opposition speaks. This order is repeated several times in order that the participants can defend their position fully.

Each debtor has a set time frame to set out his arguments. The moderator should advise you when one minute is gone before your time is up. These times are set by the organizer of the debate and are based on the experience and level of knowledge of the parties that discuss.

Throughout the debate, a secretary participates, which is responsible for taking note of the important points of the debate, exercising the support role for the moderator.

Occasionally, a debate is attended by a adjudicator, who must deliberate at the end of the debate to determine who the winner is. The adjudicator's decision is final and unchangeable (Freeley & Steinberg, 2014).

References

1. Byers, D. (October 7, 2016). CNN Media . Retrieved from"How the town hall presidential debate works: money.cnn.com".
2. Davis, K.A., Zorwick, M.L., Roland, J., & Wade, M. M. (2016). Discuss the Platform for Dialogue and Mentoring. In K. A. Davis, M. L. Zorwick, J. Roland, & M. M. Wade, Using Debate in the Classroom: Encouraging Critical Thinking, Communication and Collaboration (Page 103). New York: Routledge.
3. Freeley, A.J., & Steinberg, D.L. (2014). Argumentation and Debate. Boston: Wadsworth.
4. LaMay, C. (September 23, 2016). S. News . Obtained from Moderate - Period: usnews.com.
5. Matthew, A. D. (August 18, 2008). DEBATE AND ISSUE 101 . Obtained from Role of an Adjudicator: parliamentarydebate.blogspot.com.
6. (March 8, 2014). OSDN . Obtained from Speech and Debate Timekeeper: osdn.net
7. (2017). QatarDebate . Retrieved from What is Debate?: qatardebate.org.