People want to be entertained. This is a simple fact that you should always keep in mind when preparing for a debate. You are asking a person for their undivided attention for several minutes. The audience may be willing to give you this attention to start with, but you must then earn the right to keep it. The delivery of your speech will be a crucial factor in maintaining your audience’s attention. Even the most intellectual speaker in the world won’t get very far in debating if they present their knowledge in a boring way.

The key to good manner is confidence. You need to communicate to the audience (and adjudicator) that you have a solid understanding of the issues of the debate and are convinced that you have a strong argument to present.

Body Language

Body language is often one of the most underutilised aspects of manner. Using body language properly can create powerful impressions of confidence, trust and credibility. The three most important things to keep in mind in relation to body language are:

1. Eye contact
2. Gestures
3. Stance

(1) Eye Contact

Eye contact is important because it is the most efficient and reliable way to communicate that you are confident and honest about what you are saying. An audience will be much more likely to believe someone who is able to look them in the eye when they are speaking. In contrast, looking at the ground or down at notes too much makes you appear nervous and unconvinced by your own material, and staring at the ceiling makes a person seem aloof and untrustworthy, as if they are making their arguments up as they go along.

Maintain and keep eye contact with your audience by moving your eyes over the audience as a whole. Be careful that you do not become fixated on one person (for example the adjudicator or an object in the room) as this can become off-putting.

The use of notes will limit your eye contact. Remember that debating is NOT an essay reading competition: it is an exercise in persuasion, and you need to engage with your audience directly. The overuse of notes is distracting and will distance the audience from you (if you’re not willing to look at them and direct your speech at them, why should they be listening?). Some tips to keep in mind with notes include:

• Always use palm cards (i.e. cards which fit within the palm of your hand). They are less distracting and force you to write down dot-points only, rather than a whole speech.
• Never use a full A4 sheet of paper for your notes: it is extremely distracting, makes a surprising amount of noise, and makes you appear unprepared.
• Record dot points only on your cards – never a full speech. Ideally you want to get to the point of having only key words of headings written down.

(2) Gestures

Hand gestures can be a good way of punctuating your speech and can make you appear more confident and engaged in your subject matter. The overriding rule with hand gestures is to simply appear natural and appropriate in relation to the content being discussed. Appropriately used gestures can work as a form of visual punctuation, helping you to draw the audience’s attention to certain parts of your speech. If use correctly they can make you appear more relaxed and/or confident, and can grab the audience’s attention. However big, extravagant, overly dramatic or theatrical gestures can appear forced and unnatural, ruining the flow of your speech and distracting the audience from what you are saying. They can also make you appear less genuine and hence less trustworthy.

There are no strict rules regarding the use of gestures. Gestures will help your matter mark if they enhance your speech, and they will lose you marks if they distract from your speech. You need to take time to figure out what works for you, and what is appropriate for the material you are discussing. Everyone will be different, so practise, try new things, and decide what you think works best.

(3) Stance

Stance refers to how you hold your body, where you stand, and whether you move around the ‘stage’ or remain static (still). Much like the use of hand gestures, there is no single correct way of using stance. Again, the key thing to remember is that your stance should appear natural and appropriate in relation to the content being discussed.

It is normally always good to maintain an ‘open stance’. An ‘open stance’ will usually consist of open arms (at your side), open shoulders, feet apart and facing the audience. It portrays a confident and engaged personality who wishes to communicate openly with his or her audience. In contrast, a ‘closed stance’ (e.g. with arms folded, shoulders hunched, legs crossed and/or facing off-centre) will tend to block-out your audience and make them feel like you don’t want to be there, or that you don’t wish to speak to them.

You will be given some space at the front of the room in which to present your speech. You can either remain static and deliver your speech while standing still, or you can move around the space you have in order to address different parts of the audience. There is no single correct option, and the best choice will depend on what you’re comfortable with, the space in which you’re presenting and the nature of the content you’re delivering.

Vocal Style

The other thing that will influence your manner mark is your ‘vocal style’ (i.e. how you say your speech). The most important thing is to make sure that everyone can hear and understand what you are saying, but beyond this there are many things that you can do to ensure that the audience not only hears you, but is engaged and interested in what you are saying. Three of the most important things to keep in mind in relation to your vocal delivery are:

1. Volume and Pace
2. Tone
3. Clarity and your Use of Language

(1) Volume and Pace

Volume refers to how loudly you speak. You want to make sure that everyone in the room can hear you, but you also need to be careful that you don’t end up shouting and hurting the ears of the people in the first row. There may be different points in your speech where you want your voice to become louder or softer: brief, loud comments can really help to hammer in a point, while speaking softer, if used correctly, can force the audience to lean forward and pay more attention to what you are saying for brief periods of time. However, regardless of what your ultimate goal is, remember the golden rule: what you say must be clearly audible to the entire audience.

Pace refers to how quickly you speak. Speaking too slowly can become very boring to listen to and will likely result in you running out of time for your speech. Likewise, if you speak too fast it can make the audience feel overwhelmed as they may not be able to hear you properly and keep up with what you are saying (and if you’re not careful, you may end up finishing your entire speech with minutes left to fill!). A steady, natural pace will often be the best bet, with variation in tone – either faster or slower – being used to add emphasis or create a sense of urgency.

Another useful technique is to add pauses in order to draw attention to specific parts of your speech. This technique works best if it is not overused: add a pause at the end of a point when you have just summed it up in order to let it sink in, before dropping back into your regular manner of speaking.

Whatever you ultimately decide to do in relation to volume and pace, remember that it will almost always be best to adopt a natural and genuine way of speaking, as this will make you seem more trustworthy and will help the audience connect with what you are saying. Being too theatrical can often make it seem like you are putting on an act, and artificiality is often unconvincing.

(2) Tone

‘Tone’ is a difficult idea to pin down in a definition, but it is something with which most of us will be very familiar. In a nutshell, tone refers to what is implied by the sound of your voice. It is not about what you say, but about how you say it. Does your voice suggest anger, outrage, forgiveness, sadness, hope, humour or kindness? What is appropriate will depend on what you are trying to argue and how you want your audience to feel about this issue. For example, taking a humorous tone in a debate about abortion will probably lead to a disastrous speech, whereas a serious or reserved tone in a debate about whether monkeys should be forced to wear pants may result in you missing the point of the debate entirely.

As a general rule, it is often best to appear confident and relaxed with your audience. Confidence is good because it shows that you have faith in what you are saying. A relaxed, informal or conversational tone can be good because it builds up a rapport (connection) with you audience and makes them want to trust you: it is as if you are speaking to them as a friend or someone who knows them. In contrast, having a very aggressive, confrontational or arrogant tone can alienate your audience and put up a wall between you and them. Having the best points will be of little use if the audience doesn’t trust what you are saying.

(3) Clarity and Use of Language

You need to be understood when speaking, so make sure you pronounce your words properly. Speaking too fast or too softly will often result in words being inaudible, mispronounced or indistinguishable. What you want is a fluent and conversational tone where you are speaking at a comfortable speed, and can ensure that your language is clear and easy to follow. Try whenever possible to avoid saying “umms” and “ahhs” as this makes you appear less confident, but remember that you don’t need to get every single word perfect in order to excel in debating: the audience will be forgiving, so if you slip up then just let it go and move on with your speech.

It is good to avoid complex language, jargon and acronyms as the audience may not be familiar with what you are discussing. Remember that you are not trying to teach them: rather, you are trying to persuade or convince them. This means you need to speak to the audience on their own level. You can assume that your audience is reasonably well educated, but you shouldn’t assume that they know the difference between the ICCPR and ICESCR and their connection with the UDHR when discussing the role of jus cogens in a human rights debate, regardless of how much research you have done.

Putting it into Practice!

Click here for some practical exercises you can do to improve your manner score.

Quick Tips (Manner):

• Always make eye contact with your audience in order to avoiding merely reading your speech.
• Vary the tone and volume of your voice to add emphasis to your arguments.
• Use hand gestures and utilise the space afforded to you at the front of the room in a way that seems natural and appropriate in the context of your speech.
• Add pauses to allow your arguments to sink in, give you time to think and to help you avoid speaking too fast.
• Face the audience when you are giving your speech and direct everything to them (after all, they are the ones you want to convince!).
• Never face or address the opposition: they cannot be convinced to change their minds.
• Rehearse and develop your own style that sounds genuine.