A debate is a timed academic activity where two opposing teams make arguments for or against a controversial topic through structured speeches. Each team aims to convince judges of their position through a series of short speeches and rebuttals within a set time limit. Topics are meant to be controversial issues about which reasonable people can disagree to encourage critical thinking and persuasive argument.

1. de
fi
nition
Source: Gabrielle_RRI on Pixabay

2. debate
DEFINITION
A debate is a timed and structured academic
speaking activity where two opposing teams
make speeches to make an argument about
a controversial topic.
(Up for Debate, 3rd Ed. 2022, p. 9)

3. A debate is a timed and structured academic
speaking activity where two opposing teams
make speeches to make an argument about
a controversial topic.
debate
DEFINITION

4. two opposing teams
TEAM A
TEAM B
vs
Sources: Pexels, Unsplash, Pixabay

5. A debate is a timed and structured academic
speaking activity where two opposing teams
make speeches to make an argument about
a controversial topic.
debate
DEFINITION

6. timed and structured

7. • A
ffi
rmative Speech
5 min
• Cross Examination
3 min
• Negative Speech
6 min
• Cross Examination
3 min
• Negative Rebuttal
2 min
• A
ffi
rmative Rebuttal
2 min
• Negative Summary
2 min
• A
ffi
rmative Summary
2 min
timed and structured

8. A debate is a timed and structured academic
speaking activity where two opposing teams
make speeches to make an argument about
a controversial topic.
debate
DEFINITION

9. academic speaking activity

10. A debate is a timed and structured academic
speaking activity where two opposing teams
make speeches to make an argument about
a controversial topic.
debate
DEFINITION

11. make speeches to make an argument

12. –Maki (Af
fi
rmative Team)
“We strongly believe that living in the city
is better than living in the countryside. We
have three points …”
make speeches to make an argument

13. A debate is a timed and structured academic
speaking activity where two opposing teams
make speeches to make an argument about
a controversial topic.
debate
DEFINITION

14. controversial
DEFINITION
Something likely to cause
strong disagreement.
In other words, some people will agree,
while others will disagree.

15. controversial topic
EXAMPLE
Dogs make better pets than cats.
>

16. de
fi
nition

17. Photography and Illustration Credits
Photo by Jugend debattiert international - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36476899
"IAB Social Media Debate" by iabuk is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd-nc/2.0/jp/?ref=openverse.
Gabrielle_RRI on Pixabay: https://pixabay.com//?utm_source=link-
attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=2351442