essay on importance of debate

The Importance of Debate

‘Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt,’ or so goes a quote attributed to Abraham Lincoln. Perhaps this is true in some contexts, but we’re going to have to disagree with him where education is concerned!

From improving speaking and listening skills to building self-esteem and rounded knowledge of a specific subject or topic, debating remains an important aspect of many educational systems, both in the classroom and university settings.

Debate, whether abstract or structured, such as in school competitions or political discourse, serves as a valuable tool for personal growth and effective communication. Engaging in debates fosters open-mindedness, the ability to consider multiple perspectives, and hones skills in public speaking and rhetoric. These attributes are fundamental in academia, politics, and public discourse.

Learning the art of debate offers numerous benefits for students, equipping them with essential skills for the modern world. In an era where persuasion and oratory skills hold sway, the ability to understand and empathise with opposing viewpoints is crucial. Mastering debate involves building confidence in public speaking, constructing logical arguments, and, most importantly, listening to and responding to others' arguments with precision.

Therefore, instilling the importance of debate in classrooms from a young age is paramount, fostering students' skills and confidence to engage with free speech respectfully.

The historical roots of modern debate formats trace back to the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates in Illinois . The format used today in schools, colleges, and institutions like the Oxford Union closely mirrors the approach adopted during these influential debates. Notably, Abraham Lincoln's transition from a losing streak to a successful presidential contender coincided with his shift toward assertive and open debate, highlighting the power of effective discourse.

Prominent historical figures, including Aristotle and Nelson Mandela, recognised the significance of debate. Aristotle emphasised the mark of an educated person's ability to entertain thoughts without necessarily accepting them. Mandela stressed the role of open and thorough debate in achieving greater understanding and strength. These historical perspectives underscore the enduring value of debate as a tool for personal and societal growth.

In conclusion, debate is a transformative tool that fosters open-mindedness, critical thinking, and effective communication skills. Whether in prestigious institutions like Oxford University or pivotal moments in history, the art of debate has shaped leaders, thinkers, and society at large. By embracing debate, individuals can become more adept at navigating complex issues and engaging with diverse perspectives, ultimately contributing to a more informed and understanding world.

Interested in finding out more about our summer courses?

Come and discover the importance of debate in the classroom for yourself on one of our summer school programs.

With debating lying at the heart of many of the subjects we offer, such as Law , International Relations , Politics , and Philosophy – we also host debating nights for students on our other subject programs.

Share this article

Summer schools: popular for students to expand horizons & excel academically. Benefits include knowledge enhancement, skill development, preventing learning loss, standing out in competition, subject focus, and cultural exploration.

Limited Places Available!

Don't miss out limited places are available at our renowned summer school. secure your place today and dive into an unforgettable learning experience at oxford summer courses. apply now before it's too late..

Oxford Summer Courses LTD

18 Beaumont Street, Oxford, OX1 2NA, United Kingdom

+44 01865 818403

Juniors 9-12

Oxford 13-15

Oxford 16-17

Oxford 18-24

Cambridge 13-15

Cambridge 16-17

Advanced Cambridge 18-24

GDPR Notice

Privacy Policy

Terms and Conditions

Sign up to our newsletter

Oxford summer courses is an organisation which contracts with the colleges of the universities of oxford, cambridge and london for the use of facilities, but which has no formal connection with the universities of oxford, cambridge and london., oxford summer courses © 2024, oxford summer courses is a company registered in england and wales with company number 08011543.

Essay Papers Writing Online

Learn the best strategies and tips on how to write an effective and persuasive debate essay for your academic success.

When it comes to expressing opinions, engaging in a debate can be an effective way to communicate and support your stance on a particular issue. A debate essay, or argumentative essay, allows you to showcase your critical thinking skills and present a well-reasoned argument. This type of essay requires careful planning and organization to effectively persuade your audience. By following a step-by-step approach, you can develop a strong debate essay that presents your point of view clearly and convincingly.

Before diving into the writing process, it’s essential to understand the purpose of a debate essay. The goal is not only to express your own opinion but also to address counterarguments and anticipate potential objections. Your aim is to convince your audience to understand and accept your perspective by presenting strong evidence and logical reasoning. To achieve this, you need to research and gather relevant information on the topic, evaluate different viewpoints, and outline a clear structure for your essay.

One of the key components of a successful debate essay is a strong thesis statement. This statement presents the main argument or claim that you will be defending throughout your essay. It should be clear, concise, and impactful. Your thesis statement should express your position on the topic and provide a preview of the main points you will be discussing. A well-crafted thesis statement sets the tone for your essay and helps guide your writing process, ensuring that every point you make supports and strengthens your overall argument.

Understand the topic and choose a side

Before diving into the debate essay writing process, it is crucial to thoroughly understand the topic at hand and carefully consider which side you will argue for. This step is essential as it sets the foundation for a well-reasoned and persuasive argument.

Take the time to read and research extensively on the topic to gain a comprehensive understanding of its different aspects and perspectives. Look for reliable sources such as books, scholarly articles, and reputable websites to gather information and insights. By doing so, you will be able to familiarize yourself with various arguments, counterarguments, and evidence presented by experts in the field.

Once you have gained a deep understanding of the topic, it is time to choose a side. Consider the different arguments presented by both sides and evaluate which one aligns with your own beliefs, values, and knowledge. Think about the strengths and weaknesses of each argument, as well as the evidence supporting them. Reflect on your own experiences and personal views to help you make an informed decision.

Choosing a side does not necessarily mean that you have to agree with it wholeheartedly. It simply means that you will be presenting and defending that particular perspective in your debate essay. Keep in mind that choosing a side does not imply being closed-minded or dismissive of the opposing viewpoint. A well-rounded debate essay will acknowledge and address counterarguments, showing a balanced and thoughtful approach to the topic.

Once you understand the topic and have chosen a side, you can move on to the next step of the debate essay writing process: gathering evidence and constructing a persuasive argument.

Research and gather supporting evidence

In order to write a strong and convincing debate essay, it is essential to conduct thorough research and gather relevant supporting evidence. Research serves as the foundation for an effective argument, providing credible information that strengthens your position and persuades your audience.

When conducting research, it is important to explore multiple sources to ensure a well-rounded understanding of the topic. This can include peer-reviewed articles, academic journals, books, and reputable websites. By utilizing a variety of sources, you can gain different perspectives and enhance the credibility of your argument.

During the research process, it is crucial to critically analyze the information you gather. This involves evaluating the credibility and reliability of your sources. Look for evidence that is backed by reputable experts, institutions, or organizations. Additionally, consider the timeliness of the information to ensure that you are presenting the most current and relevant data.

As you gather evidence, it is also important to keep track of your sources. This will allow you to properly cite and reference your information in your debate essay. Utilize a citation style guide, such as APA or MLA, to ensure consistency and accuracy in your citations.

When selecting evidence to support your argument, consider the strengths and weaknesses of each piece of information. Choose evidence that is logical, well-reasoned, and directly relevant to your argument. Avoid using biased or unreliable sources that may weaken your position.

In conclusion, research and gathering supporting evidence is a critical step in writing a debate essay. Thorough research and careful evaluation of sources will strengthen your argument and enhance your credibility. By selecting well-reasoned and relevant evidence, you can effectively persuade your audience and present a compelling debate essay.

Organize your arguments

When writing a debate essay, it is crucial to organize your arguments in a clear and logical manner. By doing so, you will be able to effectively present your ideas and support your stance on the given topic. Organizing your arguments not only helps you convey your message more effectively, but it also makes it easier for your readers to comprehend and follow your line of thinking.

One way to organize your arguments is to group them based on similarities or themes. This can be done by identifying common elements or ideas among your arguments and grouping them together. For example, if you are arguing in favor of stricter gun control laws, you might have separate arguments related to reducing gun violence, preventing accidental shootings, and deterring criminals. By grouping these arguments together, you can present a more cohesive and convincing case.

Another way to organize your arguments is by presenting them in a logical order. This can be done by arranging your arguments from the strongest to the weakest or from the most general to the most specific. By structuring your arguments in this way, you can build a strong foundation and gradually persuade your readers as they progress through your essay. Additionally, presenting your arguments in a logical order makes it easier for your readers to follow your reasoning and understand the progression of your ideas.

Furthermore, it is important to provide evidence and examples to support your arguments. This can be done by incorporating research findings, statistics, expert opinions, and real-life examples into your essay. By including evidence, you not only strengthen your arguments but also make them more persuasive and credible. However, it is crucial to ensure that the evidence you present is reliable and relevant to your topic. Additionally, you should clearly explain how the evidence supports your arguments so that your readers can understand the connection.

In conclusion, organizing your arguments is a crucial step in writing a debate essay. By grouping your arguments based on similarities or themes, presenting them in a logical order, and providing evidence to support them, you can effectively convey your ideas and persuade your readers. Remember to stay focused on your main point and to present your arguments in a clear and concise manner. With proper organization, your debate essay will be more impactful and convincing.

Related Post

How to master the art of writing expository essays and captivate your audience, convenient and reliable source to purchase college essays online, step-by-step guide to crafting a powerful literary analysis essay, buy essay top quality writing services expertly crafted papers for your academic success, buy high quality thesis paper online expert writing services for your academic success, how to write an effective essay from introduction to conclusio nusing clear structure and engaging content, buy essays help online professional writing services for all your academic needs.

Stanford National Forensic Institute

• Need help selecting a program?
• 1-Week Introduction to Argumentation & Debate
• 2-Week Beginners' Flex Package
• 3-Week Beginners' Core Flex Package
• 4-Week Beginners' Experience Flex Package
• Coaches' Institute
• 1-Week Congressional Debate Workout
• 2-Week Core Congressional Debate Program
• 2-Week Forensics Experience
• 2-Week Middle School Forensics Experience
• 1-Week Individual Events Workout
• 1-Week Introduction to Competitive Speech
• 2-Week Beginners' Competitive Speech Program
• 2-Week Core Individual Events Program
• 2-Week Core Interpretive Events Program
• 2-Week Core Limited Prep Events Program
• 2-Week Core Oratory Events Program
• 3-Week Core Beginners' Competitive Speech Program
• 3-Week Individual Events Experience
• 4-Week Beginners’ Competitive Speech Experience
• 1-Week Lincoln Douglas Workout
• 2-Week Core Lincoln Douglas Program
• 3-Week Lincoln Douglas Experience
• LD Intensive Practice Round Session
• 1-Week Middle School Advanced Debate
• 1-Week Middle School Debate Basics
• 1-Week Middle School Public Forum Workout
• 2-Week Middle School Debate Experience
• 2-Week Middle School Public Forum Program
• 1-Week Middle School Competitive Speech
• 2-Week Middle School Competitive Speech Experience
• 1-Week Parliamentary Debate Program
• 2-Week Advanced Parliamentary Program
• 2-Week Core Parliamentary Program
• 2-Week Parliamentary Program
• 3-Week Parliamentary Experience
• Parliamentary Intensive Practice Round Session
• Worlds Schools Parliamentary
• 1-Week Policy Debate Workout
• 2-Week Core Beginners' Policy Program
• 3-Week Beginners' Policy Experience
• 3-Week Core Policy Program
• 4-Week Policy Experience
• Policy Intensive Practice Round Session
• 1-Week Public Forum Workout
• 2-Week Core Public Forum Program
• 3-Week Public Forum Experience
• Public Forum Intensive Practice Round Session
• 1-Week Middle School Public Speaking
• 1-Week Public Speaking Introduction
• 2-Week Middle School Public Speaking + Debate Basics Experience
• 2-Week Public Speaking + Introduction to Debate Experience
• Full Schedule
• Grades 9-12
• Why Debate?
• Online Virtual Programs
• Stanford University
• Job Opportunities
• Photo Galleries
• Testimonials
• Contact Information
• Legal Information
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Video Gallery
• Request Brochure
• Online Application
• Enrollment Policies
• Refund Policy

The Power of Speech & Debate Education

Debate is a valuable activity for students of all skill levels.  Debate teaches useful skills for other academic pursuits and life more generally.   Most obviously, debaters build confidence speaking in public and expressing their ideas eloquently.  That comfort speaking in front of others is useful in so many areas of life, from interviews to school presentations to discussions in college seminars.

But the benefits of debating are not limited to the skills built while students are speaking—the preparation for competition teaches critical thinking and research skills, as well.  As F. Scott Fitzgerald once said, “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.”  Debate tests and builds that ability by forcing students to see both sides of issues.  Debaters flex their analytical muscles, learning to find the weak points in opponent’s arguments.  They learn to explain their own ideas and assess different viewpoints, whether in a debate round, a political discussion, a classroom, or a written essay.  And debate requires students to research their ideas and support them with evidence, teaching them to conduct research and assess sources.  According to Arne Duncan, then-Secretary of Education , debate is “uniquely suited” to build skills required of a modern citizen, including critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity.

Those skills help students express their thoughts better in their academic work and their college applications (not to mention around your dinner table!).   The College Board recently revamped the SAT test to focus more on exactly the sorts of skills debate teaches.  As the New York Times explained , students taking the new version of the test must write “a critical response to a specific argument” based on analysis rather than personal experience.  Debaters are used to responding to unfamiliar arguments in time-sensitive situations; thinking critically about a written passage on the SAT is not so different from responding to an opponent’s argument in a debate round.  Debaters likewise outscore non-debaters on every section of the ACT .  Studies across the country have found that high school debate improves reading ability, grades, school attendance, self-esteem, and interest in school.  Duffin, Frank, Latitudes in Learning, “Debate Across the Curriculum Results” (2005).  Many universities even offer scholarships specifically for college debaters .

For those who commit to speech and debate, it offers a lifetime of benefits.  Forbes published an article titled “How to Find the Millennials Who Will Lead Your Company,” suggesting that the leaders of the future are ex-debaters.  As that article notes, debate teaches “how to persuade, how to present clearly, and how to connect with an audience,” exactly the skills businesses look for in their young employees.  You’ll find ex-debaters in every area of public life, from Bruce Springsteen to Oprah Winfrey to Nelson Mandela.  60% of Congressional representatives participated in debate, as well as at least a third of the Supreme Court.  There are ex-debaters excelling in business, law, politics, academia, and many other fields.

Perhaps most important of all, debate is fun!  You may have to cajole your son or daughter to go to their test prep class or do their homework, but debate makes learning a game; students build their critical thinking and speaking skills without it ever feeling like work.   Debate gives students a rare opportunity to take ownership over their own intellectual development.  And throughout the years of practice and competition, debate builds lifelong friendships and community, teaching teamwork as well. 

For help getting started with competitive speech & debate, please visit our how to select the right program & format guide .

• Read Testimonials
• Deadlines & Enrollment Policies
• Airport Shuttle / Transportation Options

Copyright © 2024 - Stanford National Forensic Institute

• About SNFI |
• Contact Us |
• Job Opportunities |

The Edvocate

• Lynch Educational Consulting
• Dr. Lynch’s Personal Website
• Write For Us
• The Tech Edvocate Product Guide
• The Edvocate Podcast
• Terms and Conditions
• Privacy Policy
• Assistive Technology
• Best PreK-12 Schools in America
• Child Development
• Classroom Management
• Early Childhood
• EdTech & Innovation
• Education Leadership
• First Year Teachers
• Gifted and Talented Education
• Special Education
• Parental Involvement
• Policy & Reform
• Best Colleges and Universities
• Best College and University Programs
• HBCU’s
• Higher Education EdTech
• Higher Education
• International Education
• The Awards Process
• Finalists and Winners of The 2023 Tech Edvocate Awards
• Award Seals
• GPA Calculator for College
• GPA Calculator for High School
• Cumulative GPA Calculator
• Grade Calculator
• Weighted Grade Calculator
• Final Grade Calculator
• The Tech Edvocate
• AI Powered Personal Tutor

Teaching Students About Age of Bruce Springsteen

Teaching students about hotel pennsylvania: a journey through time and hospitality, teaching students about the stanley cup finals: a lesson in hockey history and culture, teaching students about xavier: renegade angel – an exploration into surreal animation, teaching students about flashdance cast: a creative approach to film history, teaching students about hellenistic culture and its impact, teaching students about stokely carmichael: civil rights, black power, and the legacy of a revolutionary, teaching students about blackadder: a timeless educational tool, teaching students about james mccartney: a comprehensive guide, teaching students about scott parker: inspiring the classroom through the life of a resilient sportsman, the benefits of debating.

Research, reasoning, and even public speaking skills are just a few of the many benefits that come with learning to be a good debater. From planning your argument – even if it’s one you disagree with – to choosing your words with care, debating can prepare you to take on any challenge life may present to you.

Debating is, by no means, the same thing as engaging in a full-blown argument. Instead, you will have to prepare a compelling, succinct argument, which will gain support and backing, rather than simply attacking your opponent blindly.

Here are some ways that debating can benefit you:

Improved Critical Thinking Skills

While you may not engage in a debate every single day, you will likely get into differences of opinion and small disagreements on an almost-daily basis. Debating, rather than arguing, can help you ease a situation that was otherwise rapidly escalating. Instead of raising your voice, you should take a step or two back and carefully choose your words.

Debating will help you develop critical thinking skills that are essential in daily life. Critical thinking is the ability to make well thought out and reasoned arguments while also questioning the evidence behind a particular conclusion or stance.

It will help you become curious about new ideas while also maintaining skepticism, building a healthy attitude to questioning. It will even help you become more humble – you’re not going to be right all the time!

Improved Articulation

Have you ever experienced that feeling when you simply cannot get the words to leave your mouth, or you can’t get them out quickly enough? Debating can help you become a master at explaining several topics.

From your favorite book’s plotline to complex mathematical equations, debating will help you identify your audience and choose an appropriate tone. If your tone is too formal, you’re going to distance yourself from your listeners, while being too relaxed will undermine any arguments you try to make.

Planning and articulating your thoughts is an essential skill that every debater must have to produce a sharp and well-planned argument.

Improved Research Skills

The argument matters in any debate, even if you don’t personally agree with it based on principle. The way you deliver your winning speech is another essential factor – maintaining eye contact and keeping calm have been proven to be effective techniques for debating.

Just as important is the method with which you construct your debate. Your arguments will need to be coherent, and they must make sense. Good debaters will keep all of these things in mind and the core elements that they have accumulated through education, i.e., finding and reading sources, drafting and writing a speech, and being able to listen and confidently speak.

Quick-Thinking

Challenge your opponent, think outside the box, and be prepared to identify any gaps in their counter-arguments. Responding to comments and questions and thinking on your feet are essential debating skills, as hesitating could cost you precious time and points.

Thinking quickly could prepare you for just about any situation that life presents to you when time is crucial, and a decision must be made fast.

Resolution of Conflict

A skilled debater will be able to remain focused on their goal and not stray from the topic or issue discussed. Like any orator worth their salt, you will need to remember who you want to keep on your side and present a personable argument. Doing so will make you appear immediately more likable and amenable.

Accepting a loss with grace and taking accountability for your failings are essential skills, both in your daily life and in debating. They’ll also help you resolve any conflict before it can even begin, so be sure to accept any constructive criticism that comes your way.

Doing so will make you a far more proficient and polished speaker in the long term.

Greater Empathy

Successful speakers will always be empathetic while participating in any debate. You may not agree with the argument that you have been assigned, but empathy is going to allow you to at least understand the beliefs of the people that do agree with your argument.

You are not being asked to agree with the argument of the opposition, but empathy is a critical life skill nonetheless, as it helps you improve your interpersonal relations on a professional and personal level.

Emotional Control

Good debaters can also maintain an element of composure and poise, addressing the issue at hand rather than letting it carry them away. In fact, managing your emotions is not only a useful skill when it comes to debating but will earn you respect in almost all other aspects of your life.

Of course, you should not be entirely devoid of emotions when debating. Relating to the subject matter on an emotional level is vital. It ties in with empathy, as it will allow you to understand both sides of the argument and enable you to decide how to structure your argument.

Finding Meaning in Complex Situations

Practicing your debating skills will also allow you to form meanings from what are generally pretty complicated topics. From banning nuclear energy to world peace, you’ll be able to form a better argument if you take the time to research the topic and develop the points you want to make carefully.

A critical skill for any good debater is to find solutions to previous problems and compile creative solutions and ideas. Making the best of a bad situation and thinking outside of the box will only be beneficial in the long run, allowing you to take on any challenge, no matter how challenging.

Presentation Skills

Your presentation also plays a vital role in how you are perceived as an individual by others and how you are perceived as competition. Speak slowly and with clear enunciation, and consider what it is you are going to say.

This will make for a clearer understanding of what you are talking about and make for better reasoning. Displaying skills in presentation will earn you immediate respect both while you are debating and in other situations where you need to be in front of a group of people talking.

A Broader View of the World

Debating can also help individuals develop a new view of the world around them. Debating has students studying topics that usually would not cross their minds, providing them with a deeper understanding of our society and the world we live in.

A broadened worldview will also encourage learners to appreciate their achievements and talents while also appreciating their upcoming opportunities.

Concluding Thoughts

Debating is an excellent school tool to encourage higher-order and critical thinking skills. It teaches students to structure and organize their thoughts while also developing their analytical and research skills.

How to Become an Education Administrator in ...

What is heterogeneous grouping all about.

Matthew Lynch

Related articles more from author.

Controversial Topics To Learn When Sharpening Your Debate Skills

Helping Kids Choose a Debate Topic

Tips For Winning Debates and Arguments

College & University Topics of Debate

24 Debate Topics for Kids of All Ages

Funny, interesting topics of debate.

• What is oracy?
• Our educational approach
• Classroom and competition resources
• Competitions
• Programmes and workshops
• Oracy in Action
• Oracy Education Research
• Our mission
• ESU Members’ hub
• ESU branches in England and Wales
• Our international network
• International Public Speaking Competition
• Scholarships
• Our history
• Alumni stories
• News and views
• Member & alumni newsletters
• Who’s Who at the ESU?
• Educational Partnerships
• Join | Donate | Volunteer

Join | Donate | Volunteer:

Become part of a 5,000+ community which believes that speaking and listening skills are central to personal fulfilment and cultural understanding

One-off or regular donations are vital to our work, helping us ensure that young people everywhere have the oracy skills they need to thrive

We’re hugely grateful to those who volunteer their time in helping to organise and run ESU programmes and competitions. Find out how you could help

‘We rely on the generous support of our members, donors and volunteers to ensure we can reach those children who need our help most’

Home > News and views > What is Debating? The ESU’s complete guide to the history and development of debating

What is Debating? The ESU’s complete guide to the history and development of debating

What is debating dr. matt hilborn guides you through its history, structures, roles and rules .

So, you want to debate? Well, you’ve come to the right place. This ‘What is debating?’ explainer sets out the fundamentals of this artform, including its history, varieties, techniques and benefits to students of all ages. The English-Speaking Union has been running public speaking competitions and in-school workshops like Discover Your Voice for several decades. Let us walk you through the steps, explaining the basics of debating and oracy in the classroom, teaching space, lecture theatre, and beyond.  

What is debating? A beginner’s guide    

A debate is an organised argument or contest of ideas in which participants discuss a topic – usually philosophical, social, and/or political in nature, and often a pressing matter in current affairs – from two opposing sides in a controlled, civil setting.  

At their best, debates teach us that the best way to address a poor or reprehensible argument is to put it on a platform and, using all the intellectual, forensic, and rhetorical skills at one’s disposal, expose its incoherence and/or dishonesty. The way to become accomplished at this is precisely to interact with positions, ideologies and worldviews different from one’s own, on the basis of what the Bible, of all places, calls ‘iron sharpening iron’.  

This is crucial firstly to enable anticipation of the other perspective – the better to rebut it – but also to enable a shift or modification in one’s own view, precisely by virtue of having been exposed to alternative arguments that challenge one’s own prejudices and presuppositions. That is the essence of what Socrates, according to Plato, called the ‘examined life’ – or of what we today call critical enquiry.  

Before we get into how you can hone your debating skills, let’s jump back in time and learn more about how debating came about.  

The history of debating  

Debating in various forms can be traced back to intellectual sparring matches waged between the world-famous philosophers of Ancient Greece or the scholars of Ancient India.  

The Greek philosopher Socrates (c. 470-399 BC) sought to understand the world by teasing out the assumptions and principles that, often unwittingly, lay beneath the reasoning of his interlocutors, thus exposing self-interest, deception and false reasoning for the smokescreens they were.  

In 63 BC, the orator and philosopher Cicero was famed for his ability to detect weaknesses in contemporary Roman government, most famously in his blistering, unrestrained attack on the aristocrat Catiline. That said, debating can be a perilous intellectual pursuit: both men paid for such effrontery with their lives (see later section ‘Keeping It Civil’).  

Moving forward to 1858, the debates for an Illinois Senate seat between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas were celebrated for their rhetorical skill and precision. Their verbal jousting inspired a whole form of modern debating, now a common sight in every election cycle across the world.  

Though the first televised debate was broadcast in 1956 between representatives for President Eisenhower and his Democrat challenger, Adlai Stevenson, the centrepiece debate before the 1960 US Presidential election is now more famous. Those who tuned in via radio thought Richard Nixon had won, while who watched on television believed the more charismatic John Kennedy had emerged victorious. Kennedy’s eventual triumph in the polls is often attributed to his charm and strength of character, proving the importance of body language when establishing an emotional connection with one’s audience.  

Where debates take place today  

Many people think that debates take place in traditional settings such as university chambers, boardrooms and the Houses of Parliament. They do, but they happen everywhere, from dinner tables to TikTok comment sections to, increasingly, primary school classrooms right across the world!  

Debating delivers a whole host of benefits including sharpening your critical thinking, improving your public speaking and boosting your self-confidence and teamwork, so there has never been a better time to get involved.  

Isn’t debating just arguing?  

A debate resembles a game in that both involve teams, rules, and adjudication. Like sports, debates can be held competitively or more casually, and debaters require both training and practice to reach their full potential.  

That said, debating is not the same as arguing. Why? Because each side is given equal time to build their case, respect is the order of the day, and listening is just as important as speaking.   

Debaters know that however bombastic, intimidating, or fiercely intelligent the other opposition speaker may seem at first glance, every speaker will have exactly the same amount of time to deliver their case. So, take heart: your voice matters, and here’s how to use it.  

A debate is structured around a proposed statement, which, in debating terminology, is called a Motion. Fittingly, those who propose the Motion are called the ‘Proposition’ side, while those who oppose or disagree with it are the ‘Opposition’ side.  

Each team delivers a series of speeches, trying to convince the audience and judges that their side has made the most persuasive case. They do this by marshalling their points with skill and poise, sniffing out specious arguments in the opposing side, and using examples and evidence to support their ideas while working towards a cogent, coherent conclusion.  

Motions are usually structured in the format ‘This House believes that…’, ‘This House would…’, or ‘This House prefers…’, with the ‘House’ – a convention deriving from debates in Parliament – meaning the group of people in the room whom you are trying to convince. For example, ‘This House would support children striking on Fridays in protest against climate change’, ‘This House believes that pupils should elect their own Head Teacher’, or ‘This House prefers a world where it is impossible to tell lies’.  

Making a speech   

First things first: to debate, you need a speech. Speeches are a little like essays that you read aloud. The ESU recommends the PEEL structure : Point, Explanation, Example, Link.  

For instance:  

– Point: We should ban timed exams because they test only a few hours on one day of a pupil’s life, not true effort or ability.  

– Explanation: Formal educational assessments should evaluate a broader range of abilities and skills across a longer time period. By testing only one snapshot, in truth they assess cramming, memory retention, and writing speed, not creativity, imagination, or problem-solving. And if you’re not feeling 100 per cent on the day itself, tough luck! The vast majority of tasks that students will face in the workplace, as adults, require thoughtful, patient, long-lasting collaboration with colleagues, not the capacity to craft a tricky essay on Hamlet in 30 minutes flat. No world-expert on Shakespeare writes a book in such a short space of time – they write them over several months, if not years!  

– Example: A friend of mine felt ill one day during his A-level French exam and, though she did her best, did not achieve her predicted, required result. She was a first-rate student throughout the year, yet due to this one disappointing mark, failed to get into her first-choice university, with long-lasting repercussions.  

– Link: Timed exams should be banned because schools should be testing a balance of skill sets across the year, not one, unreliable hour.  

Now, a speech is just one of these expanded PEEL structures connected to another, then another, and so on. Stick an introduction at the beginning and a conclusion at the end, and, hey presto – you’ve got yourself a speech.  

So, if the Motion were ‘This House would close all zoos’…  

Team Proposition could argue the following points, developing each fully:  

– It is barbaric and unnatural to keep animals in cramped cages, far from their natural habitats  

– Zoos’ raison d’être is to exploit vulnerable animals for profit, which is cruel  

– If people see animals in zoos, they assume that that species is doing fine out in the wild, and may therefore care less about animal conservation  

– It is wrong to trap beleaguered animals behind glass windows simply for our entertainment (i.e. seal/dolphin shows), not a world away from bearbaiting and cockfighting – which are rightly banned  

Meanwhile, the Opposition could argue that:  

– Zoos are a useful educational tool, encouraging children and adults alike to learn more about animals and endangered species even if they are from countries far away from our own  

– Zoos provide a fun, edifying, (mostly) outdoors day out for all the family, which is surprisingly hard to find these days – much better and healthier, for instance, than spending all day watching screens  

– Animals don’t have it easy out in the wild: every day they face predators, food shortages, extinction, etc. In zoos, on the contrary, everything is provided for, giving them a peaceful, satisfying life. (In Yann Martel’s 2001 novel Life of Pi , the protagonist mounts a potent defence along these lines.)  

– Zoos help with important conservation and scientific research initiatives, ensuring that animals under threat due to poaching don’t become extinct  

Add an intro that anticipates each point, and a conclusion that draws them all together, and that’s it – you’re ready to rumble.  

Remember that while flair, passion, and drama in your delivery are important, don’t sacrifice substance for style. Give us the sizzle, by all means – but don’t forget the steak.  

In ordinary life, it would be pretty rude to interrupt someone mid-speech by standing up and yelling ‘POINT!’. In debating, however, this is par for the course – in fact, it’s encouraged. Often shortened to ‘Point’ or ‘POI’ (pronounced pee-oh-eye), points of information are brief (10 seconds or less) interjections made by one speaker to any member of the opposing side, midway through their speech.  

Often phrased as questions rather than comments (i.e., ‘Hasn’t the speaker considered the economic impacts? Margaret Thatcher famously said that there’s no such thing as public money, only taxpayers’ money – it seems unjust to expect the hardworking electorate to fund such non-essentials…’), a POI tries to derail an opponent’s argument by pointing out a fatal flaw or addressing a key omission.  

Once a POI is offered, the main speaker must immediately say ‘Accept’ or ‘Decline’, or ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ (or equivalent), whereupon the POI-maker gives their POI (or not). The speech then carries on as normal, with the speaker expected to respond directly to that POI.  

Don’t go overboard, though – give too many , or fail to wait a respectful number of seconds/minutes between your team’s POIs, and this is called barracking.  

Oh, and to misquote Napoleon Bonaparte, ‘Never interrupt your opponent when s/he is making a mistake.’  

Rebuttal is where you point out – and, most importantly, explain – the flaws in the opposing team’s argument. Key tips:  

– Attack any logical fallacies, e.g. red herrings or straw-manning, which is where a speaker attacks the weakest possible version of the other side’s argument, thus easily tearing it down. FUN FACT: The opposite of this is called steel-manning, a rhetorical technique whereby a speaker charitably constructs the strongest possible version of the counterargument, patching up any flaws or inadequacies, in order to improve the overall quality of the debate and illustrate that, even then, their own arguments stand up to scrutiny  

– If the Proposition proposes a change (e.g. legalising cannabis), a good starting-point for rebuttal is to ask precisely how this would be enacted in a practical sense, and why, if it’s so wonderful, it hasn’t been done already  

– Use reliable evidence, data, and statistics to support your position – and call out your opponents if what they are saying is hearsay, conjecture, or just isn’t backed up (like yours should be!)  

– For instance, if the other side argue that videogames increase violent behaviour amongst children, a good rebuttal could stress that vanishingly few peer-reviewed studies have proven a cause-and-effect relationship between the two. Mistaking correlation for causation would be erroneous  

Keeping it civil: improving your debating skills  

The ESU believes that debating is a fundamental democratic good, a robust exchange of ideas that brings rational dialogue to a wider audience. A well-turned speech can double as a magnanimous act of teaching, modelling not what to think but how to think. It builds bridges of good-faith discussion, showing that it is possible to disagree without being disagreeable.  

That said, anyone acquainted with the yah-boo politics of PMQs or the BBC’s Question Time k nows that debating can become a combative bear-pit, a spectator sport for a baying audience that , ironically, can threaten to undermine the very idea it purports to elevate.  

During one university debate, I was assigned to propose the motion ‘This House believes that we should all be vegetarians’, despite not being one myself. After some respectful to-ing and fro-ing, team Opposition promptly claimed that they had seen me ‘tuck into a juicy lamb burger over lunch’, which was true, but, as I then pointed out, both irrelevant and a prime example of ad hominem : attacking the person making the argument, not the argument itself.  

Here at the ESU we strive to keep debating civil, open-minded and well-mannered. The exercise should facilitate listening, collaboration, cooperation, and a deeper respect and appreciation for one another’s ideas; to quote English philosopher John Stuart Mill, ‘He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that’.  

What is debating in 2022?  

Debating empowers us all to assess the various lenses through which a single story might be recounted and reinterpreted, cultivating curiosity regarding the nuances of language, rhetoric, persuasion, and politics and building empathy for and understanding of different points of view.

The importance of debating has been proven time and again over recent years. Covid-19 ripped up the rulebook regarding state intervention, forcing politics ‘out there’ into the private lives of every single citizen. Governments refurbished huge, state-of-the-art hospitals in days, restricted supposedly freedom-loving folk to their homes, forcibly closed the economy – yet brought millions onto the public payroll in ways that would, in normal circumstances, be almost unthinkable.  

How administrations allocate resources to protect and support their citizens… that’s the nitty-gritty of debating. No time is more relevant for this vital, lifelong skill.  

The ESU has lots of ways in which you can get involved in debating and public speaking. Our Discover Your Voice Workshops are designed for primary and secondary schools, no matter whether your students are beginners or advanced. Our Schools’ Mace debating competition , aimed at students in Years 7-13, hones their debate skills in a fun, competitive environment. And adults can get involved too by attending, or even speaking at some of our show debates at Dartmouth House. Keep an eye on our What’s On page to keep up-to-date with the latest opportunities! 

Related content

8 debating games for primary and secondary school students

Here’s a list debating games for the classroom that our mentors have tried and tested with primary and secondary school students.

Does debating help you deal with stress?

This blog looks at how students think debating has helped them navigate trying times ahead of mental health awareness week.

'I realised non-white children do not find themselves portrayed in children’s books'

Kathleen Smith reports on her extraordinary experience on the Travelling Librarian Award in 1965

3 reasons why...oracy is vital for empowering our young citizens

Three reasons why oracy is vital for creating a rich learning environment, empowered students and confident communicators.

Develop your professional skills by becoming an ESU mentor

Our network of trainers and mentors enable us to deliver our core oracy programmes: helping to improve young people’s speaking and listening skills and boost their confidence.

Amina Maatoug on her Debate Academy experience

Debate Academy helped me understand why people think what they think.

• Oracy in Action Portal
• Work with us
• Volunteer with us
• Dartmouth House
• Privacy and Cookies
• Safeguarding

Dartmouth House, 37 Charles Street, London W1J 5ED. Tel. 020 7529 1550

© 2024 English-Speaking Union. All rights reserved.

How To Debate: Mastering the Art of Persuasive Discourse

A debate is a form of persuasive communication involving two sides arguing for and against a specific position. The exercise is structured with many rules and conventions that a debater must follow. Knowing the ins and outs of how to debate is crucial for success.

Being able to engage in a spirited debate is an essential skill in today’s complex and interconnected world.  Whether in academic settings, professional environments, or personal conversations, the ability to present and defend your ideas effectively significantly affects your reputation and influence.

This article explores key principles and practical tips for developing your debating prowess . It will enable you to articulate your views persuasively, handle counterarguments gracefully, and foster a constructive exchange of ideas. With these tools at your disposal, you’ll be ready to navigate the realm of debates with confidence and intellectual agility.

Table of Contents

What Are The Five Types Of Debates?

Debating is more than just expressing your opinion; it involves the art of persuasive discourse, where logical reasoning, compelling evidence, and respectful communication converge.

Here are five common types of debates:

• Policy debates focus on  analyzing and evaluating specific courses of action  or proposed policies. Participants delve into the potential benefits, drawbacks, and impacts of different policy options, often employing research and evidence to support their arguments.
• Value debates revolve around  discussing and weighing moral, ethical, or philosophical principles.  Participants explore abstract concepts such as justice, liberty, or equality to establish which values should be prioritized and why.
• Fact-based debates center on  examining empirical evidence  and verifying the truth or accuracy of a given statement or claim. Participants present data, research, and expert opinions to support their arguments, often engaging in a rigorous analysis of facts and evidence to determine the most accurate interpretation.
• Team debates involve groups of participants working collaboratively to present arguments and counterarguments. Typically structured as a competitive event, these debates require coordination and strategy, with each team member contributing their unique perspective to put forward a cohesive and persuasive case.
• Formal debates  adhere to specific rules and protocols, often following established formats such as parliamentary or  Lincoln-Douglas debates . These debates emphasize structured discourse, timed speeches, and strict guidelines for rebuttals and cross-examinations.

What Are The Three Main Parts Of A Debate?

The three main parts of a debate are the opening statements, the rebuttals, and the closing statements.

• The  opening statement s serve as the foundation of a debate. Each participant or team presents their initial arguments and outlines their main points. This is the opportunity to establish a clear position, provide supporting evidence, and capture the audience’s attention.
• Opening statements should be concise and persuasive and set the stage for the rest of the debate.
• Rebuttals are the heart of a debate,  where participants directly address and challenge the arguments put forth by their opponents. During this phase, debaters critically analyze the opposing views, identify flaws or weaknesses, and present counterarguments supported by evidence and logic.
• Rebuttals require quick thinking, effective communication, and the ability to dismantle opposing claims while maintaining a respectful tone .
• The  closing statements  are the final opportunity for participants to leave a lasting impression. In this phase, debaters summarize their main points, reiterate their strongest arguments, and emphasize why their position is superior.
• Closing statements should leave the audience with a compelling reason to support the debater’s position. You must also reinforce the key points and provide a sense of closure to the debate.

Is Debating A Skill?

Debating is like mental gymnastics that strengthens several areas. Here’s why:

• Sharpens Thinking: Deft debaters research, analyze arguments, and build strong cases. This hones critical thinking and the ability to see different perspectives.
• Communication Powerhouse: Debating builds confidence in public speaking and clear communication. You learn to organize thoughts, present arguments logically, and use evidence effectively.
• Adaptability on Point: Debates are like intellectual sparring matches. You have to think on your feet, respond to counter-arguments, and adjust your approach as needed.

These skills are valuable in any field, from academics to law to business. So, debating isn’t just about winning arguments, it’s about training your brain to be a stronger, more versatile thinking and reasoning tool.

What Are The Five Basic Debating Skills?

• Researching and gathering relevant information is a fundamental debating skill. It involves conducting thorough investigations, analyzing sources critically, and understanding different perspectives to develop well-informed arguments supported by evidence.
• Critical thinking is crucial for effective debating. It encompasses evaluating arguments objectively, identifying logical fallacies, spotting inconsistencies, and constructing well-reasoned counterarguments. Developing necessary thinking skills enables debaters to approach complex topics with analytical precision and form persuasive responses.
•  Debating necessitates clear and articulate communication skills. Debaters should be able to express their ideas coherently, use appropriate language and tone, and engage the audience. Active listening and responding thoughtfully to the points raised by opponents are also key components of effective communication in debates.
• Persuasive speaking is the art of influencing the audience and convincing them of the validity of one’s arguments. Debaters should employ rhetorical devices, such as ethos, pathos, and logos, to appeal to their listeners’ emotions, credibility, and logic.
•  Time management is critical in debates with limited time constraints. Debaters must learn to structure their arguments effectively within the given timeframe, allocate appropriate time for each point, and deliver concise and impactful speeches.
• Skillful time management ensures that debaters make their strongest case while also leaving sufficient time for rebuttals and closing statements.

Do’s And Don’ts Of A Debate

• Know your stuff: Research your topic and build a strong case with evidence.
• Be respectful: Focus on ideas, not personal attacks. Listen actively and acknowledge your opponent’s points.
• Speak clearly and concisely: Organize your thoughts, use strong arguments, and avoid filler words.
• Anticipate rebuttals: Think of how your opponent might counter your arguments and prepare responses.

Don’t:

• Get emotional: Stay calm and collected, even if challenged.
• Resort to fallacies: Avoid weak arguments like personal attacks or strawman arguments.
• Interrupt your opponent: Let them speak and wait for your turn to respond.
• Stray from the topic: Stick to the issue at hand and avoid irrelevant tangents.

How To Debate Step By Step?

• Understand the topic:  Familiarize yourself with the subject matter, including key terms, concepts, and relevant arguments.
•   Research and gather evidence:  Conduct comprehensive research to support your position. Collect data, facts, examples, and expert opinions that strengthen your arguments.
•   Structure your arguments:  Organize your thoughts by outlining your main points and supporting evidence. Ensure a logical flow and coherence in presenting your ideas.
•   Engage respectfully:  Maintain a respectful and professional demeanor throughout the debate. Listen actively to your opponents, address their points directly, and avoid personal attacks.
•   Deliver compelling speeches:  Present your arguments confidently using clear and persuasive language . Employ rhetorical devices, such as ethos, pathos, and logos, to appeal to the audience’s emotions, credibility, and logic.
•   Rebut opposing arguments:  During rebuttal, deconstruct and challenge your opponents’ arguments. Offer counterarguments supported by evidence and logical reasoning.
•   Stay focused and concise:  Remember time constraints and prioritize your strongest points. Keep to the topic at hand and avoid digressions.
•   Adapt to feedback:  Pay attention to comments from the audience, judges, or moderators. Adjust your approach, if necessary, and address any weaknesses or gaps in your arguments.
•   Conclude with impact:  Summarize your main points and reiterate the strength of your position in the closing statement. Leave a lasting impression on the audience and reinforce the key takeaways from your arguments.
•   Reflect and improve:  After the debate, analyze areas for improvement, learn from your experiences, and continue to develop your debating skills.

How Do You Begin A Debate?

To begin a debate, start with a compelling opening statement that captures the audience’s attention. Clearly state your position or proposition and briefly summarize your main arguments.

Hook the audience by using a thought-provoking question, a powerful statistic, or a relevant anecdote to establish the importance and relevance of the topic.

How Do You Structure A Debate?

When structuring a debate, begin with an introduction that clearly defines the topic and provides context for the discussion. Next, present your main arguments logically, ensuring each point builds upon the previous one.

Different Roles

High school students often become debate team members, taking on different roles such as the first affirmative, second speaker, or third affirmative.

In a parliamentary debate, the first speaker, often the prime minister, sets the tone by introducing the debate topic and outlining the team’s case. This crucial role requires thorough research, brainstorming new arguments, and presenting them coherently.

Affirmative And Negative Teams

Once the affirmative team presents its arguments, it’s time for the negative team to respond. The negative speaker must listen attentively, analyze their opponent’s arguments, and provide strong refutations.

Avoid constructing straw man arguments  and instead engage with the core of the affirmative team’s points. To strengthen their position, the opposing team should use analogies or points of information to challenge the other side effectively.

Speakers use transition phrases to smoothly guide the audience from one point to another, concluding the debate by summarizing key points and reiterating their position.

How Does Teamwork Function In A Debate?

Teamwork plays a vital role in public speaking.

The affirmative speaker should work seamlessly with their team, ensuring a well-structured, logical debate. Each team member contributes to the overall coherence and success of the discussion, taking turns to present their viewpoints and plugs any gaps in the team’s arguments.

Collaboration and effective time management, facilitated by the timekeeper, are key elements in achieving a strong performance.

What Should Be Your Goal In A Debate?

Ultimately, the goal of a debate is to persuade the adjudicator and the audience. Debaters should present the team’s case clearly and confidently.

They can build a solid foundation by analyzing the opponent’s argument and offering well-reasoned refutations. Avoiding filler and staying focused on the main points ensure a persuasive and impactful performance.

Mastering the art of persuasive discourse in debates requires dedication and practice . Aspiring debaters should embrace teamwork, understand the debate structure, and hone their research, refutation, and public speaking skills.

How Do You Debate Successfully?

Thorough preparation is the key to defeating your opposing team! Conduct research and gather evidence to support your arguments. Develop strong critical thinking skills to evaluate and respond to opposing viewpoints effectively.

Communicate confidently and respectfully, utilizing persuasive speaking techniques and positive body language (make eye contact!) to engage the audience and convey the strength of your position.

How To End A Debate

Ending a debate gracefully shows respect and leaves a lasting impression. Here’s how to do it effectively:

• Summarize Your Key Points: Briefly remind everyone of your main arguments and why they’re strongest.
• Reiterate Your Stance: Clearly restate your position on the topic.
• Address Your Opponent (Gracefully): Acknowledge their strengths (if possible!), but explain why yours hold more weight.
• Conclude with a Broader Point: If appropriate, connect your debate topic to a larger issue or implication.
• End on a Positive Note: Thank your opponent and the audience for their time and engagement.

By following these steps, you can leave the debate on a high note, demonstrating your sportsmanship and the strength of your arguments.

Adam Howarth

Adam covers the topic of Public Speaking for Digital Authority. From his first experience of oratory with his school debating society to his more recent experiences of promoting the local business scene in Wrexham, Wales, he has always been involved in public speaking.

Recent Posts

Active Listening Absorbs The Whole Message, Not Just The Words

Active listening goes beyond hearing the words someone is saying to you and understanding the message they are conveying. Many only hear a small percentage of what is being said as they are...

Counteracting Fear Of Public Speaking With Coaching And Therapy

Nearly 75% of people experience the social phobia of fear of public speaking. The result may be nervousness before speaking or a full-blown panic attack. Practicing public speaking may lessen the...

The importance of debate

Debate allows for opinion – no matter how controversial or subjective – to be fully formed and acknowledged, writes kirsten levermore.

Debate:  a formal discussion, often in front of an audience, in which two or more people put forward opposing views on a particular subject; any general discussion on a subject, not necessarily in one place or at one time. 13 th Century, from French ‘debatre’ meaning ‘to discuss’. Chambers Dictionary.

The importance of fair discussion and a chance to challenge and explore new opinions and ideas cannot be overstated.

Leaders, debating is your chance to explain what you know, win supporters for your strategies and probe and improve the goings-on throughout the company.

Team-members, innovate in a collaborative and iterative manner by putting your solutions through a debate.

Shareholders, find out whether a strategy is in your best interest, or decide how to move forward.

Staff, solve problems and improve transparency and communication by talking openly about issues and opinions.

Debating in the workplace can have a number of uses:

An opportunity to listen and ask questions

A “leaders debate” in the canteen or auditorium can be a chance for colleagues to listen to leaders discuss and bring to life their strategies and opinions, as well as providing a chance to ask for clarification, or gain some insight into what is being done at different levels.

Improve product and service design and development 

Allowing various team members with differing opinions of a design or development strategy the opportunity to discuss these opinions in a healthy and constructive debate can lead to support or even collaboration and iteration down the line. Alternatively, debating can be used to asses a solution or idea by assigning different view points to team members, and allotting time for discussion and probing, potentially exposing design weaknesses or new avenues for explanation.

Provocative debate can clear the air and find cultural solutions

An exercise recently undertaken at a UK consultancy: in order to expose any cultural issues within the team, members of staff were assigned controversial ‘opinions’ and set loose amongst a gathering of colleagues, provoking conversation and debate between individuals and groups.

Protect your own interests

Similar to a governmental leaders debate or City Hall debate, a forum for intelligent and rational conversation can provide opportunity for employees and shareholders to make a leader’s proposal or strategy personal to them

Be yourself

Perhaps most importantly, the opportunity to participate in a debate  – whether as a questioning observer or as active speaker – is a chance to represent yourself and your views. Debate can provide you with a platform to be seen and heard as you are.

Own the result

Debate allows all people to feel included, no matter the outcome: active participation and inclusivity ultimately improves the overall sense of “buy in” to the chosen outcome – in other words, if you allow people to engage and participate in a solution, they take ownership of that solution ( Li et al, 2012 ), which can be an ideal way to motivate employees and team members.

Holding an informal or formal debate?  Remember the most important principle: winning…isn’t everything.

Traditionally, debating is seen as a form of verbal swordplay: very ‘win or lose’ scenario, where the winner won by convincing the other parties they were in the right or by completely undermining the opposing argument. In the workplace, however, Debating is something very different: debating can be used as a chance to share information and opinions, and to compromise and collaborate in new ways. Debating can also be persuasive and offer colleagues a chance to get to know you, or your argument.

It is also important to note that being “right” doesn’t guarantee you win.

The point of a debate is a display of logic and reasoning of two or more sides of a topic. And it is this aspect of debating that makes it so useful an exercise for organizations.

A well-constructed argument is the executive’s equivalent of weaving a spell. Debating in the workplace is the chance to cast the spell, improve it, or transform it into an entirely new and more powerful enchantment.

Fact: ‘Dialogue’ is published by LID Publishing, where “lid” comes from the Spanish for ‘duel’, chosen to represent belief in fair discussion and debate. As such, we are passionate about hosting and facilitating debates. Would you or your organization would like to participate in a debate? Are you already debating in the workplace? Have you developed any great solutions or compiled any research through debate? Let us know! [email protected]

How to Write a Winning Debate Speech

What is a Debate?

A classroom debate involves students delivering persuasive speeches to present and support their opinions on a given subject. This activity helps develop critical thinking and communication skills, enabling students to gain a more comprehensive grasp of various topics.

Debate speeches are written according to a set of rules so a moderator can assess their effectiveness and allow others to question or challenge their statements within a formal debate.

A classroom debate is not an unruly fight or pointless argument but a structured formal conversation on a chosen topic in which two teams argue for or against it to convince the neutral moderator that they hold the stronger position.

Debating is a form of persuasive communication, and while we will be sticking to the fundamentals of how to write a debating speech, we also have a great guide to persuasive essay writing that elaborates on specific persuasive techniques.

Complete Teaching Unit on Class Debating

This unit will guide your students to write excellent DEBATE SPEECHES and craft well-researched, constructed ARGU MENTS ready for critique from their classmates.

Furthermore, this EDITABLE UNIT will provide the TOOLS and STRATEGIES for running highly engaging CLASSROOM DEBATES.

How To Run A Classroom Debate

Before jumping in headfirst to write your debating speech, ensure you understand how a debate is run to maximise your strategy and impact when it counts.

Debates occur in many different contexts, such as public meetings, election campaigns, legislative assemblies, and as entertainment on television shows. These contexts determine the specific structure the debate will follow.

This guide provides a basic step-by-step debate structure we can comfortably run with students in a classroom. By familiarizing students with this structure, they will effortlessly transition to other debate frameworks.

Running a classroom debate can be an engaging and educational activity that helps students develop critical thinking, communication, and research skills. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to organize and facilitate a successful classroom debate:

1. Choose a Topic For Your Debate.

Also called a resolution or a motion , the topic is sometimes chosen to debate. This is usually the case in a school activity to practice debating skills. 

The resolution or motion is usually centered around a true or false statement or a proposal to change the current situation. Often, the motion starts, ”This House believes that….”

Select a topic relevant to your curriculum and the students’ interests. Ensure that it is debatable and has multiple perspectives. Further down this article, you can find a list of popular classroom debating topics.

2. Form Two Debating Teams

Two teams of three speakers each are formed. These are referred to as ‘ The House for the Motion ’ or the ‘ Affirmative ’ team and ‘The House Against the Motion ’ or the ‘ Negative ’ team.

Preparation is an essential aspect of debating. The speech and debate team members will need time to research their arguments, collaborate, and organize themselves and their respective roles in the upcoming debate.

They’ll also need time to write and rehearse their speeches. The better prepared and coordinated they are as a team, the greater their chances of success in the debate.

3. Assign Roles to Students.

Each team member should have a specific role, such as speaker, researcher , or rebuttal specialist . This encourages teamwork and ensures that each student is actively involved.

4. Research and Preparation:

• Allocate time for teams to research and prepare their arguments. Encourage students to use multiple sources, including books, articles, and reputable websites. Make sure you read our complete guide to powerful student research strategies.

5. Set Debate Format:

• Define the debate format, including the structure of each round. Common formats include opening statements, cross-examination, rebuttals, and closing statements.

6. Establish Rules:

• Set ground rules for the debate, such as time limits for each speaker, etiquette, guidelines for respectful communication, and consequences for rule violations.

7. Conduct a Practice Debate:

• Before the actual debate, conduct a practice round. This helps students become familiar with the format and allows you to provide feedback on their arguments and presentation skills.
• On the day of the debate, set up the classroom to accommodate the format. Ensure that each round has a clear structure, and designate a timekeeper to keep the debate on schedule.

9. Facilitate Q&A Sessions:

• After each team presents their arguments, allow time for questions and cross-examination. This encourages critical thinking and engagement among the students.

10. Evaluate and Debrief:

• After the debate, provide constructive feedback to each team. Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of their arguments, presentation skills, and teamwork. Also, please encourage students to reflect on what they learned from the experience.
• Have a class discussion about the debate, exploring different perspectives and opinions. This can deepen students’ understanding of the topic and enhance their critical thinking skills.

Consider integrating the debate topic into future lessons or assignments. This reinforces the learning experience and allows students to delve deeper into the subject matter.

Remember to create a supportive and respectful environment throughout the debate, emphasizing the importance of listening to opposing views and engaging in constructive dialogue.

Each speaker takes a turn making their speech, alternating between the House for the Motion, who goes first, and the House Against the Motion. Each speaker speaks for a pre-agreed amount of time.

Ensure your debate is held in front of an audience (in this case, the class), and occasionally, the audience is given time to ask questions after all the speeches have been made.

Finally, the debate is judged either by moderators or by an audience vote. 

Download our Debate Organizer

Stay fousssed with this handy template to keep all your ideas organized.

How To Write A Debate

How to start a debate speech.

In highly competitive speech and debate tournaments, students are only provided the topic on the day, and limited time is allowed for preparation, but this is not recommended for beginners.

Regardless of the stakes of your classroom debate, the speechwriting process always begins with research. Thorough research will provide students with both the arguments and the supporting evidence for their position on a topic and generate forward-thinking about what their opponents might use against them.

Writing Your Introduction

The purpose of the introduction in a debate speech is to achieve several things:

• Grab the attention of the audience,
• Introduce the topic
• Provide a thesis statement
• Preview some of the main arguments.

Grab The Attention Of Your Audience With Strong Hooks

Securing the audience’s attention is crucial, and failure to do this will have a strong, negative impact on how the team’s efforts will be scored as a whole. Let’s explore three proven strategies to hook your audience and align their thinking to yours.

Introduce Your Topic With Efficiency and Effectiveness

Once the audience’s attention has been firmly grasped, it’s time to introduce the topic or the motion. This should be done straightforwardly and transparently to ensure the audience understands the topic of the debate and the position you are approaching it from.

For example, if the topic of the debate was school uniforms, the topic may be introduced with:

Provide Your Thesis Statement

A thesis statement is a concise declaration summarizing the points and arguments of your debating speech.

• It presents a clear stance on a topic and guides the reader on what to expect in the content.
• A good thesis statement is debatable and allows for opposing viewpoints and discussion.
• It serves as a roadmap for the writer, ensuring coherence and focus in the piece.
• It helps the audience understand the purpose and direction of the work from the beginning.

The thesis statement should express the student’s or the team’s position on the motion. Clearly explaining the speaker’s side of the debate. An example can be seen here.

Provide A Preview Of Your Arguments

The final part of the introduction section of a debate speech involves previewing the main points of the speech for the audience.

There is no need to go into detail with each argument here; that’s what the body of the speech is for. It is enough to provide a general thesis statement for each argument or ‘claims’ – (more on this to follow).

Previewing the arguments in a speech is especially important as the audience and judges only get one listen to a speech – unlike a text, which can be reread as frequently as the reader likes.

debate introduction examples for students

Attention grabbers task.

After explaining the different types of attention grabbers and the format for the rest of the introduction to your students, challenge them to write an example of each type of opening for a specific debate topic. 

When they’ve finished writing these speech openings, discuss with the students which one best fits their chosen topic. Then, they can continue by completing the rest of the introduction for their speech using the format described above.

You might like to try a simple topic like “Homework should be banned.” you can choose from our collection further in this article.

Writing T he Body of the Speech

The body paragraphs are the real meat of the speech. They contain the in-depth arguments that make up the substance of the debate, and How well these arguments are made will determine how the judges will assess each speaker’s performance, so it’s essential to get the structure of these arguments just right.

Let’s take a look at how to do that.

How to structure an Argument

With the introduction out of the way, it’s time for the student to get down to the nitty-gritty of the debate – that is, making compelling arguments to support their case.

There are three main aspects to an argument in a debate speech. They are:

• The Warrant

Following this structure carefully enables our students to build coherent and robust arguments. Ttake a look at these elements in action in the example below.

Brainstorming Arguments

Present your students with a topic and, as a class, brainstorm some arguments for and against the motion.

Then, ask students to choose one argument and, using the Claim-Warrant-Impact format, take a few moments to write down a well-structured argument that’s up to debate standard.

Students can then present their arguments to the class. 

Or, you could also divide the class along pro/con lines and host a mini-debate!

Concluding a Debate Speech

The conclusion of a speech or a debate is the final chance for the speaker to convey their message to the audience. In a formal debate that has a set time limit, the conclusion is crucial as it demonstrates the speaker’s ability to cover all their material within the given time frame.

Avoid introducing new information and focus on reinforcing the strength of your position for a compelling and memorable conclusion.

A good conclusion should refer back to the introduction and restate the main position of the speaker, followed by a summary of the key arguments presented. Finally, the speaker should end the speech with a powerful image that will leave a lasting impression on the audience and judges.

Examples of strong debate Conclusions

The Burden of the Rejoinder

In formal debates, the burden of the rejoinder means that any time an opponent makes a point for their side, it’s incumbent upon the student/team to address that point directly.

Failing to do so will automatically be seen as accepting the truth of the point made by the opponent.

For example, if the opposing side argues that all grass is pink, despite how ridiculous that statement is, failing to refute that point directly means that, for the debate, all grass is pink.

Our students must understand the burden of the rejoinder and ensure that any points the opposing team makes are fully addressed during the debate.

The Devils Advocate

When preparing to write their speech, students should spend a significant proportion of their team collaborating as a team. 

One good way to practice the burden of the rejoinder concept is to use the concept of Devil’s Advocate, whereby one team member acts as a member of the opposing team, posing arguments from the other side for the speaker to counter, sharpening up their refutation skills in the process.

20 Great Debating Topics for Students

• Should cell phones be allowed in schools?
• Is climate change primarily caused by human activities?
• Should the voting age be lowered to 16?
• Is social media more harmful than beneficial to society?
• Should genetically modified organisms (GMOs) be embraced or rejected?
• Is the death penalty an effective crime deterrent?
• Should schools implement mandatory drug testing for students?
• Is animal testing necessary for scientific and medical advancements?
• Should school uniforms be mandatory?
• Is censorship justified in certain circumstances?
• Should the use of performance-enhancing drugs be allowed in sports?
• Is homeschooling more beneficial than traditional schooling?
• Should the use of plastic bags be banned?
• Is nuclear energy a viable solution to the world’s energy needs?
• Should the government regulate the fast food industry?
• Is social inequality a result of systemic factors or individual choices?
• Should the consumption of meat be reduced for environmental reasons?
• Is online learning more effective than traditional classroom learning?
• Should the use of drones in warfare be banned?
• Is the legalization of marijuana beneficial for society?

These topics cover a range of subjects and offer students the opportunity to engage in thought-provoking debates on relevant and impactful issues.

OTHER GREAT ARTICLES RELATED TO DEBATING

The Ultimate Guide to Opinion Writing for Students and Teachers

Top 5 Persuasive Writing Techniques for Students

5 Top Persuasive Writing Lesson Plans for Students and Teachers

23 Persuasive writing Topics for High School students

How to Write Perfect Persuasive Essays in 5 Simple Steps

Debating strategies for students.

Research and preparation are essential to ensure good performance in a debate. Students should spend as much time as possible drafting and redrafting their speeches to maximize their chances of winning. However, a debate is a dynamic activity, and victory cannot be assured by pre-writing alone.

Students must understand that the key to securing victory lies in also being able to think, write (often in the form of notes), and respond instantly amid the turmoil of the verbal battle. To do this, students must understand the following keys to victory.

When we think of winning a debate, we often think of blinding the enemy with the brilliance of our verbal eloquence. We think of impressing the audience and the judges alike with our outstanding oratory.

What we don’t often picture when we imagine what a debate winner looks like is a quiet figure sitting and listening intently. But being a good listener is one of our students’ most critical debating skills.

If students don’t listen to the other side, whether by researching opposing arguments or during the thrust of the actual debate, they won’t know the arguments the other side is making. Without this knowledge, they cannot effectively refute the opposition’s claims.

Read the Audience

In terms of the writing that happens before the debate takes place, this means knowing your audience. 

Students should learn that how they present their arguments may change according to the demographics of the audience and/or judges to whom they will be making their speech. 

An audience of retired school teachers and an audience of teen students may have very different responses to the same arguments.

This applies during the actual debate itself too. If the student making their speech reads resistance in the faces of the listeners, they should be prepared to adapt their approach accordingly in mid-speech.

Practice, Practice, Practice

The student must practice their speech before the debate. There’s no need to learn it entirely by heart. There isn’t usually an expectation to memorize a speech entirely, and doing so can lead to the speaker losing some of their spontaneity and power in their delivery. At the same time, students shouldn’t spend the whole speech bent over a sheet of paper reading word by word.

Ideally, students should familiarize themselves with the content and be prepared to deliver their speech using flashcards as prompts when necessary.

Another important element for students to focus on when practising their speech is making their body language, facial expressions, and hand gestures coherent with the verbal content of their speech. One excellent way to achieve this is for the student to practice delivering their speech in a mirror.

And Finally…

Debating is a lot of fun to teach and partake in, but it also offers students a valuable opportunity to pick up some powerful life skills.

It helps students develop a knack for distinguishing fact from opinion and an ability to assess whether a source is credible or not. It also helps to encourage them to think about the other side of the argument. 

Debating helps our students understand others, even when disagreeing with them. An important skill in these challenging times, without a doubt.

Debating Teaching Strategies

Clearly Define Debate Roles and Structure when running speech and debate events: Clearly define the roles of speakers, timekeepers, moderators, and audience members. Establish a structured format with specific time limits for speeches, rebuttals, and audience participation. This ensures a well-organized and engaging debate.

• Provide Topic Selection and Preparation Time: Offer students a range of debate topics, allowing them to select a subject they are passionate about. Allocate ample time for research and preparation, encouraging students to gather evidence, develop strong arguments, and anticipate counterarguments.
• Incorporate Scaffolded Debating Skills Practice: Before the actual debate, engage students in scaffolded activities that build their debating skills. This can include small group discussions, mock debates, or persuasive writing exercises. Provide feedback and guidance to help students refine their arguments and delivery.
• Encourage Active Listening and Note-taking during speech and debate competitions: Emphasize the importance of active listening during the debate. Encourage students to take notes on key points, supporting evidence, and persuasive techniques used by speakers. This cultivates critical thinking skills and prepares them for thoughtful responses during rebuttals.
• Facilitate Post-Debate Reflection and Discussion: After the debate, facilitate a reflection session where students can share their thoughts, lessons learned, and insights gained. Encourage them to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of their arguments and engage in constructive dialogue. This promotes metacognitive skills and encourages continuous improvement.

By following these tips, teachers can create a vibrant and educational debate experience for their students. Through structured preparation, active engagement, and reflective discussions, students develop valuable literacy and critical thinking skills that extend beyond the boundaries of the debate itself.

A COMPLETE UNIT FOR TEACHING OPINION WRITING

Teach your students to write EXCELLENT PERSUASIVE ESSAYS and master INFLUENTIAL WRITING SKILLS using PROVEN TEACHING STRATEGIES with this 140-PAGE UNIT.

ALL RESOURCES AND ASSESSMENT TOOLS INCLUDED – NO PREP REQUIRED.

30+ 5-star Ratings ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

How to Write a Debate Essay: Simple Principles to Follow

Debating means almost the same as arguing. You have a standpoint on a certain issue and want everybody else to accept it. To have a better understanding of what debates are all about, we advise you to watch some videos of political debates. These are the best examples of how one should argue for a certain point.

However, oral debates between people are certainly different from debating on paper and writing a good debate essay. If this is your next written assignment and you face some difficulties with it, we are ready to provide necessary assistance.

So, if you want to know how to write a debate essay and win the “battle”, follow these simple principles.

⭐ Know the features of a good debate

👀 choose debate essay topics wisely, 🔎 investigate background of the problem, 🗣️ collect arguments and counterarguments.

A winning debate has several characteristics that you should know and use when writing own debate essay:

• a certain position on an issue;
• proofs and evidences;
• refuting arguments;

Basically, a good debate essay topic is any current issue that is of great interest to public and causes… heated debates. Yet, it does not mean you should pick any burning issue for discussion. It should be something you feel strongly about and will be able to argue for in your debate essay.

It is very important to study the topic of your debate essay thoroughly. What are the causes of the problem? What makes it so important to people? Why does this issue call opposing views?

Needless to say, you have to study as many materials devoted to the problem as you can and collect your arguments. However, you should also take into account all the counterarguments so that to refute them later in your debate essay.

If you lack ideas for your debate essay, read our articles about an essay on Affirmative Action and essay on animal experimentation.

• All Insights
• Top-Rated Articles
• How-to Guides
• For Parents

The Top 5 Benefits of Debate

What are the Benefits of Debate?

In the decade that LearningLeaders has been helping students to develop lifelong public speaking and communication skills, one of the most common questions we hear from parents (and other educators) is, “What are the benefits of debate?”

Having been involved in speech and debate education for most of our adult lives, we must admit to being pretty evangelical about the many and varied benefits that learning how to debate can bring to students of all ages! Here are some of the key benefits for students that we’ve identified over the years.

Benefits for Academics and Admissions

Many parents first encounter speech and debate early on in their educational journey, when they are trying to identify extra-curricular activities that will help their children both within the classroom as well as in their goal of reaching a top university.

There’s no doubt that having a track record of speech and debate on a college application does wonders for a student’s chances of success. Universities love to see debate on student resumes, and LearningLeaders students have gone on to gain acceptance at the world’s top universities - whether in their home countries, the US and Canada, or other countries like the UK and Australia.

https://www.speechanddebate.org/wp-content/uploads/Forensics-And-College-Admissions-Minh-Luong.pdf

This effect is only magnified by competitive participation and success ; LearningLeaders alumni with stacked trophy cabinets at home have had to leave them behind when heading to Ivy League colleges! Our 2018 World Champion students went on to Yale, Stanford, Chicago and Duke respectively, and all identify debate as a crucial element of their success.

The ability to speak well is only becoming more important as the importance of standardized testing declines. Live communication and public speaking, via interviews or recorded submissions, is the most authentic form of differentiation that’s available to ambitious students.

Beyond the admissions office, debating has all sorts of positive benefits on educational attainment . Studies show that students engaged in debate do better on standardized tests such as the SAT and ACT, as well as having higher grades at school.

https://academicjournals.org/journal/ERR/article-full-text-pdf/BF2278466879

Debate teaches students all manner of useful academic skills , from organizing essays to citation of evidence. The lessons we teach in our debate classes help students understand how to construct clear, logical arguments, and the skills required to research effectively and be able to distinguish credible, authoritative sources from fake news sources – a vital skill not merely in school but, increasingly, in life.

It is extremely common for parents of LearningLeaders students to share with us that they have noticed improved academic performance from their children within just six months of beginning debate classes.

Benefits for English

In many parts of the world, particularly East Asia, speech and debate is strongly associated with English learning . While the benefits of debate to students go far beyond language learning, there’s no doubt that debate and speech coaching can have a very significant positive effect on English proficiency.

Uniquely, debate requires students to practice all elements of linguistic learning – reading, listening, writing and, of course, speaking - almost simultaneously. Debate students must read news sources, topic guides and online research in order to prepare for debates. Listening to other debaters is a key skill, since it is impossible to win a debate simply by giving a prepared speech but vital to listen to, and engage with, the arguments of opposing speakers.

In addition, debaters must learn to write quickly, accurately and well, since they often have limited preparation time before making their speeches. And, of course, the ability to stand up and talk confidently, fluently and clearly in English, is perhaps the most central skill that debate teaches.

https://e-journal.usd.ac.id/index.php/LLT/article/view/2504

https://www.atlantis-press.com/proceedings/conaplin-20/125956083

Different formats of speech and debate help students practice varying aspects of language learning. For example;

• Public Forum Debate is particularly valuable for students’ ability to research and read English articles from a variety of sources quickly and accurately. It also puts a premium on writing and editing skills, with students preparing speeches that must express complex arguments in clear and concise paragraphs, and organizing their ideas into short, time-limited speeches.
• World Schools and BP Debate require students to speak for up to eight minutes with relatively little time to get ready, and no prepared script. They must listen to opponents and quickly write down rebuttals to what they hear. During speeches, they may receive questions from the other team and have to respond immediately to what they’ve been asked.
• Persuasive Speaking tests a student’s ability to write a long-form speech of up to 10 minutes or even longer. Here, the quality of written English is important; a well-crafted opening, or original turn of phrase, can be as important as a piece of research dropped into the speech. After the speech is written, it’s vital to practice again and again, working with our coaches on pace, diction, tone and clarity.
• Extemporaneous Speaking requires competitors to put together knowledge from a huge variety of sources and explain it in simple, persuasive terms. Reading skills come to the fore in this event, but when it comes to presentation, students must give a polished speech on complex global topics with almost no notes. It’s one of the hardest speech events, but a terrific way to practice fluent English presentational skills.

It’s important to note that debate is not only for native or fluent English speakers. Many debaters from ESL or EFL backgrounds are highly successful debating in their second or even third language, and English proficiency is not a formal criterion in speech or debate competitions.

Nonetheless, students who take part in speech and debate classes become more confident; and reading articles, watching videos related to topics, and listening to native English-speaking opponents in competitions, all help them to enhance their vocabulary list !

Communication and Leadership Skills

At LearningLeaders, our mission is to empower students to be heard, respected and understood. Communication skills are perhaps the central skill that today’s young learners need to master for success in the workplaces of tomorrow. The #1 requested skill on global job boards is effective communication – more highly rated even than leadership or problem-solving skills.

With more and more tasks sure to be done by AI in the coming decades, it will be more important than ever for young graduates to be able to demonstrate their ability to think critically and communicate clearly .

Some of the benefits conferred by speech and debate practice include:

• INCREASED CONFIDENCE . Debate and public speaking lead to heightened self-confidence. Practicing speaking your mind can lead to developing further self-confidence.
• LEADERSHIP SKILL PRACTICE . We're preparing students to learn & lead for life. Results show that debate participants observe a clear change in how they perceive themselves as leaders!
• BUILDS TEAMWORK . Teamwork makes the dream work, especially in debate. Teamwork & relational skills are amongst the top four most frequently cited perks of debate!
• POLISHED PRESENTATIONS . With your new-found critical thinking & communication skills, you'll be able to organize your thoughts & materials into a delightful & inspiring presentation!

Many parents notice increased confidence in their children after just one or two courses of speech or debate. The ability to express your ideas in front of their peers is one of the most exciting “a ha!” moments that a student can have.

Being asked a question in class may elicit a right or wrong answer, and less confident students may “hide” from the teacher for fear of making a mistake. In speech or debate classes, by contrast, where there are no “wrong” answers and students are being asked merely to share and explain their ideas, it’s easier to build confidence in being able to participate in group discussions and present your ideas to others.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1472811716300167

Crucially, debating is almost always a team activity . Young debaters quickly learn that there is no benefit or advantage in keeping all the best arguments for themselves, or making a good speech if their teammate doesn’t properly grasp the topic.

Rather, debates are won by those who work together well. Debaters must subsume their egos and learn to work with teammates from different backgrounds and with different personalities – often under significant pressure! The teamwork lessons that students take from these activities are lifelong skills that help them learn – and lead – for life.

https://www.theedadvocate.org/the-benefits-of-debating/

Many political and business leaders around the world have been successful – or sometimes, not so successful – debaters at school or college. Legendary national leaders like John F. Kennedy and Lee Kuan Yew, business leaders, US Supreme Court justices – and even Brad Pitt! – were successful debaters in their youth.

Critical Thinking Skills

In contrast to traditional models of learning, particularly those still employed in some Asian countries, debate class emphasises proactive student participation rather than purely top-down, teacher-led education.

Novice debaters often attend their first debate class with notebook or blank Word document at the ready, preparing to faithfully transcribe what the teacher is going to say to them. Imagine their surprise when, instead, the teacher asks them to explain what they think about the topic before anything else!

This is particularly true at LearningLeaders, where we have always advocated a student-led learning experience . In speech or debate, there are few if any “wrong” answers; our class structure is designed not to impart knowledge but to empower young learners to share ideas.

In debate, there are always two sides to every question, and this realisation is a key milestone in the educational journey of every student.

The building block of many student speeches, in both public speaking and debate class, is what we call the argument . The essential components of an argument need to be built across formats, topics and themes by students who aren’t merely reproducing talking points they have read in articles, but who understand the material they are being asked to present on.

Debate requires students not only to build their own arguments, founded on solid logic and clear examples or evidence, but also to critique and dismantle arguments presented by others. This constant process of interrogation of the logical foundations for speakers’ positions is central to how debate works – and it’s such a useful life skill.

Debate teaches students – teaches all of us – to be cautiously skeptical of what we hear from others, to ask not just whether things are true but why they are true and how we know they’re true. We often remark ruefully that the world would be a better place if more people grew up with this crucial skill.

It’s an inescapable fact that students from many of the Asian countries that we partner with families in, have historically found the experience of going abroad to study in college in the US, UK or Canada to be unduly challenging. This is partly because traditional, top-down models of education still hold sway in many schools in this region.

It’s often hard to manage the transition to student-led learning, where learners are required to take responsibility for their own education and critically evaluate what they are reading and learning as they go along. Experience of debating, in particular, can help to ease this transition . The critical thinking skills that students encounter in debate class are not just transferable to higher learning, but crucial to it.

Global Experiences for Students

As well as all the benefits in terms of educational outcomes, lifelong skills and critical thinking ability, speech and debate offers another component that’s hard to find elsewhere; a truly global experience for students.

Debate has no borders. Not only can young people debate and compete against students across the globe, they also can learn all about international affairs through exciting debate motions, and simply talking to fellow global classmates. LearningLeaders works with students from multiple countries, and our debate tournaments typically comprise participants from a dozen countries or more.

This “ global mindset ” is often cited as a key benefit of speech and debate by students and parents that we work with. Even in international schools, it can sometimes be difficult to guarantee a truly globalized experience for students; in debate, by contrast, such interaction is almost guaranteed for any student who takes part in more than a few weeks of classes.

Since 2020, a large section of global debating tournaments have moved online , with all the benefits for accessibility, convenience and cost savings that online competition can offer. Even now that the biggest major tournaments have returned to an in-person format, there continues to be a thriving ecosystem of online tournaments for students of all ages and experience levels.

More exciting even than debate competitions are – competitions and travel! With events and tournaments also hosted in-person around the world, debating and public speaking allows students to travel around the world, including to the World Championships of Debating and Public Speaking (WIDPSC), to which we train and accompany a team every year.

We’re proud to have one of the best and most experienced competitive coaching teams of any speech and debate organization in the world, working with some of the most notable personalities in global debate to prepare students for competitions.

Our coaches include national, regional and world champions , and we’ve trained students who’ve won pretty much every trophy going in global debate, up to and including the World Schools Debating Championships (WSDC)! For students and families who want to experience the best possible competition preparation, there’s no better option than the LearningLeaders Competitive Debate program.

Speech and debate has so many benefits that we’ve struggled to fit them into a website article. Most obviously, debating helps students with their academic performance, both within in the classroom as well as in their college admissions journey. It teaches crucial critical thinking, teamwork and leadership skills, and is regularly cited as a formative experience by business leaders and many high achieving people in diverse fields. It’s a great tool for English learning for those who feel like they still have a way to go in their language learning, and it offers a unique international experience for students that it’s quite hard to replicate elsewhere.

Simply put, debating is a “ silver bullet ” that offers myriad benefits to students and educators alike, which is why we love it so much. Whether you’re part way through your speech and debate adventure, or just considering starting out – we hope you’ll embrace that adventure with LearningLeaders .

Related Insights

Best ways on how to structure persuasive speeches (writing a clear and organized beginning), winning british parliamentary debate competitions guide: top 4 strategies to dominate your judge's notes, the history of debate - from ancient greece to remote learning.

• 5 Prep Tips for BP
• Top Speech Introductions
• Public Speaking and Debate Competitions
• Incorporating Humor
• Logical Fallacies
• How-To: Prepare for Debate Tournaments
• How-To: Judge a Debate
• How-To: Win a BP Debate
• How-To: Win An Argument
• How-To: Improve at Home
• Team China Wins World Championship
• Ariel Wins Tournament
• Jaxon Speaks Up
• Tina Improves

• school Campus Bookshelves
• menu_book Bookshelves
• perm_media Learning Objects
• login Login
• how_to_reg Request Instructor Account
• hub Instructor Commons

Margin Size

• Download Page (PDF)
• Download Full Book (PDF)
• Periodic Table
• Physics Constants
• Scientific Calculator
• Reference & Cite
• Tools expand_more
• Readability

selected template will load here

This action is not available.

9.3: The Argumentative Essay

• Last updated
• Save as PDF
• Page ID 58378
• Lumen Learning

\( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \)

\( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)

\( \newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)

( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\)

\( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\)

\( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\)

\( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\)

\( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)

\( \newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\)

\( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\)

\( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\)

\( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\)

\( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\)

\( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\)

\( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\)

\( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

\( \newcommand{\vectorA}[1]{\vec{#1}}      % arrow\)

\( \newcommand{\vectorAt}[1]{\vec{\text{#1}}}      % arrow\)

\( \newcommand{\vectorB}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \)

\( \newcommand{\vectorC}[1]{\textbf{#1}} \)

\( \newcommand{\vectorD}[1]{\overrightarrow{#1}} \)

\( \newcommand{\vectorDt}[1]{\overrightarrow{\text{#1}}} \)

\( \newcommand{\vectE}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash{\mathbf {#1}}}} \)

Learning Objectives

• Examine types of argumentative essays

Argumentative Essays

You may have heard it said that all writing is an argument of some kind. Even if you’re writing an informative essay, you still have the job of trying to convince your audience that the information is important. However, there are times you’ll be asked to write an essay that is specifically an argumentative piece.

An argumentative essay is one that makes a clear assertion or argument about some topic or issue. When you’re writing an argumentative essay, it’s important to remember that an academic argument is quite different from a regular, emotional argument. Note that sometimes students forget the academic aspect of an argumentative essay and write essays that are much too emotional for an academic audience. It’s important for you to choose a topic you feel passionately about (if you’re allowed to pick your topic), but you have to be sure you aren’t too emotionally attached to a topic. In an academic argument, you’ll have a lot more constraints you have to consider, and you’ll focus much more on logic and reasoning than emotions.

Argumentative essays are quite common in academic writing and are often an important part of writing in all disciplines. You may be asked to take a stand on a social issue in your introduction to writing course, but you could also be asked to take a stand on an issue related to health care in your nursing courses or make a case for solving a local environmental problem in your biology class. And, since argument is such a common essay assignment, it’s important to be aware of some basic elements of a good argumentative essay.

When your professor asks you to write an argumentative essay, you’ll often be given something specific to write about. For example, you may be asked to take a stand on an issue you have been discussing in class. Perhaps, in your education class, you would be asked to write about standardized testing in public schools. Or, in your literature class, you might be asked to argue the effects of protest literature on public policy in the United States.

However, there are times when you’ll be given a choice of topics. You might even be asked to write an argumentative essay on any topic related to your field of study or a topic you feel that is important personally.

Whatever the case, having some knowledge of some basic argumentative techniques or strategies will be helpful as you write. Below are some common types of arguments.

Causal Arguments

• In this type of argument, you argue that something has caused something else. For example, you might explore the causes of the decline of large mammals in the world’s ocean and make a case for your cause.

Evaluation Arguments

• In this type of argument, you make an argumentative evaluation of something as “good” or “bad,” but you need to establish the criteria for “good” or “bad.” For example, you might evaluate a children’s book for your education class, but you would need to establish clear criteria for your evaluation for your audience.

Proposal Arguments

• In this type of argument, you must propose a solution to a problem. First, you must establish a clear problem and then propose a specific solution to that problem. For example, you might argue for a proposal that would increase retention rates at your college.

Narrative Arguments

• In this type of argument, you make your case by telling a story with a clear point related to your argument. For example, you might write a narrative about your experiences with standardized testing in order to make a case for reform.

Rebuttal Arguments

• In a rebuttal argument, you build your case around refuting an idea or ideas that have come before. In other words, your starting point is to challenge the ideas of the past.

Definition Arguments

• In this type of argument, you use a definition as the starting point for making your case. For example, in a definition argument, you might argue that NCAA basketball players should be defined as professional players and, therefore, should be paid.

https://assessments.lumenlearning.co...essments/20277

Essay Examples

• Click here to read an argumentative essay on the consequences of fast fashion . Read it and look at the comments to recognize strategies and techniques the author uses to convey her ideas.
• In this example, you’ll see a sample argumentative paper from a psychology class submitted in APA format. Key parts of the argumentative structure have been noted for you in the sample.

Link to Learning

For more examples of types of argumentative essays, visit the Argumentative Purposes section of the Excelsior OWL .

Contributors and Attributions

• Argumentative Essay. Provided by : Excelsior OWL. Located at : https://owl.excelsior.edu/rhetorical-styles/argumentative-essay/ . License : CC BY: Attribution
• Image of a man with a heart and a brain. Authored by : Mohamed Hassan. Provided by : Pixabay. Located at : pixabay.com/illustrations/decision-brain-heart-mind-4083469/. License : Other . License Terms : pixabay.com/service/terms/#license

• Link to facebook
• Link to linkedin
• Link to twitter
• Link to youtube
• Writing Tips

How to Write an Argumentative Essay

4-minute read

• 30th April 2022

An argumentative essay is a structured, compelling piece of writing where an author clearly defines their stance on a specific topic. This is a very popular style of writing assigned to students at schools, colleges, and universities. Learn the steps to researching, structuring, and writing an effective argumentative essay below.

Requirements of an Argumentative Essay

To effectively achieve its purpose, an argumentative essay must contain:

●  A concise thesis statement that introduces readers to the central argument of the essay

●  A clear, logical, argument that engages readers

●  Ample research and evidence that supports your argument

Approaches to Use in Your Argumentative Essay

1.   classical.

●  Clearly present the central argument.

●  Outline your opinion.

●  Provide enough evidence to support your theory.

2.   Toulmin

●  State your claim.

●  Supply the evidence for your stance.

●  Explain how these findings support the argument.

●  Include and discuss any limitations of your belief.

3.   Rogerian

●  Explain the opposing stance of your argument.

●  Discuss the problems with adopting this viewpoint.

●  Offer your position on the matter.

●  Provide reasons for why yours is the more beneficial stance.

●  Include a potential compromise for the topic at hand.

Tips for Writing a Well-Written Argumentative Essay

●  Introduce your topic in a bold, direct, and engaging manner to captivate your readers and encourage them to keep reading.

●  Provide sufficient evidence to justify your argument and convince readers to adopt this point of view.

●  Consider, include, and fairly present all sides of the topic.

●  Structure your argument in a clear, logical manner that helps your readers to understand your thought process.

Find this useful?

Subscribe to our newsletter and get writing tips from our editors straight to your inbox.

●  Discuss any counterarguments that might be posed.

●  Use persuasive writing that’s appropriate for your target audience and motivates them to agree with you.

Steps to Write an Argumentative Essay

Follow these basic steps to write a powerful and meaningful argumentative essay :

Step 1: Choose a topic that you’re passionate about

If you’ve already been given a topic to write about, pick a stance that resonates deeply with you. This will shine through in your writing, make the research process easier, and positively influence the outcome of your argument.

Step 2: Conduct ample research to prove the validity of your argument

To write an emotive argumentative essay , finding enough research to support your theory is a must. You’ll need solid evidence to convince readers to agree with your take on the matter. You’ll also need to logically organize the research so that it naturally convinces readers of your viewpoint and leaves no room for questioning.

Step 3: Follow a simple, easy-to-follow structure and compile your essay

A good structure to ensure a well-written and effective argumentative essay includes:

Introduction

●  Introduce your topic.

●  Offer background information on the claim.

●  Discuss the evidence you’ll present to support your argument.

●  State your thesis statement, a one-to-two sentence summary of your claim.

●  This is the section where you’ll develop and expand on your argument.

●  It should be split into three or four coherent paragraphs, with each one presenting its own idea.

●  Start each paragraph with a topic sentence that indicates why readers should adopt your belief or stance.

●  Include your research, statistics, citations, and other supporting evidence.

●  Discuss opposing viewpoints and why they’re invalid.

●  This part typically consists of one paragraph.

●  Summarize your research and the findings that were presented.

●  Emphasize your initial thesis statement.

●  Persuade readers to agree with your stance.

We certainly hope that you feel inspired to use these tips when writing your next argumentative essay . And, if you’re currently elbow-deep in writing one, consider submitting a free sample to us once it’s completed. Our expert team of editors can help ensure that it’s concise, error-free, and effective!

Share this article:

Post A New Comment

Got content that needs a quick turnaround? Let us polish your work. Explore our editorial business services.

9-minute read

How to Use Infographics to Boost Your Presentation

Is your content getting noticed? Capturing and maintaining an audience’s attention is a challenge when...

8-minute read

Why Interactive PDFs Are Better for Engagement

Are you looking to enhance engagement and captivate your audience through your professional documents? Interactive...

7-minute read

Seven Key Strategies for Voice Search Optimization

Voice search optimization is rapidly shaping the digital landscape, requiring content professionals to adapt their...

Five Creative Ways to Showcase Your Digital Portfolio

Are you a creative freelancer looking to make a lasting impression on potential clients or...

How to Ace Slack Messaging for Contractors and Freelancers

Effective professional communication is an important skill for contractors and freelancers navigating remote work environments....

3-minute read

How to Insert a Text Box in a Google Doc

Google Docs is a powerful collaborative tool, and mastering its features can significantly enhance your...

Make sure your writing is the best it can be with our expert English proofreading and editing.

By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy .

Why participating in debates is important

Elections are not your typical cockfighting sport where you place your bets on the winning cock and that is all that matters. Elections are much more than that as it is a manifestation of our democracy. Hence, for elections to work properly in a democracy, every citizen should be rightly informed.

Election debates are supposed to serve this purpose. It is proven in the literature that debates have served as “information tools” for the electorate. They can also spark interest among citizens to engage in civic activities and discuss issues.

Lastly, election debates can increase rational voting, which by definition is a vote that is based on issue positions. Relevant studies show how debates can persuade voters to consider and acquire issue positions from their preferred candidate. In other words, debates increase voters’ rationality. This factor is crucial in a country considered rife with personality politics.

These benefits tell us that debates are more than just strategic tools for political campaigns. It is used to bolster democracy by empowering the people. Therefore, strategic withdrawals from debates can be seen as a deliberate rejection of collective welfare in exchange for strategic, selfish interests.

Given these things, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s deliberate aversion to election debates is telling of two things — his intention and character.

His intention is no doubt aimed at winning the presidential election at all costs. He wants to win no matter what, even if it means trading off his integrity and being branded as a coward. He wants to win even if the collective welfare is at stake. For him, his family’s return to power is of utmost priority.

More importantly, this speaks of his character. His aversion to debates is by no mistake a sign of weakness. He can’t handle the heat. Many netizens would point out how Marcos Sr., in comparison, was eloquent and quick-witted. Marcos Jr., on the other hand, does not seem eager to prove that he can hold a candle to his father. This could only mean two things—he is not his father or he simply has no backbone.

Disturbingly, his current attitude also seems to imply that any critical discourse or forms of dissenting opinion would not be welcomed in a potential “Marcos Jr. administration.” The narrative of “positive campaigning,” although it sounds good, is no more than a façade—a veil that hides a fraudulent attempt to undermine critics and create an image of an unquestionable, benevolent dictator in the making.

JOHN JARED GARCIA Quezon City

Subscribe to our daily newsletter

Fearless views on the news

Disclaimer: Comments do not represent the views of INQUIRER.net. We reserve the right to exclude comments which are inconsistent with our editorial standards. FULL DISCLAIMER

© copyright 1997-2024 inquirer.net | all rights reserved.

We use cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. By continuing, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. To find out more, please click this link.

• U.S. Locations
• UMGC Europe
• Learn Online
• Find Answers
• 855-655-8682
• Current Students

Online Guide to Writing and Research

Other frequently assigned papers, explore more of umgc.

• Online Guide to Writing

Writing Arguments

Purposes of Argument

Why do we write argument essays? This form of writing may be challenging but it will strengthen your writing skills. An argument has two purposes:

change people’s points of view or persuade them to accept new points of view

persuade people to a particular action or new behavior

Because people don’t always agree on a single point of view, an effectively worded argument helps us arrive at what is fair or true. It is used to settle disputes and discover truth. Instructors assign argumentative writing so students can learn to examine their own and others’ ideas in a careful, methodical way. 

Argument teaches us how to evaluate conflicting claims and judge evidence and methods of investigation. Argument helps us learn to clarify our thoughts and articulate them accurately. Arguments also consider the ideas of others in a respectful and critical manner.

Mailing Address: 3501 University Blvd. East, Adelphi, MD 20783 This work is licensed under a  Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . © 2022 UMGC. All links to external sites were verified at the time of publication. UMGC is not responsible for the validity or integrity of information located at external sites.

Table of Contents: Online Guide to Writing

Chapter 1: College Writing

How Does College Writing Differ from Workplace Writing?

What Is College Writing?

Why So Much Emphasis on Writing?

Chapter 2: The Writing Process

Doing Exploratory Research

Getting from Notes to Your Draft

Introduction

Prewriting - Techniques to Get Started - Mining Your Intuition

Prewriting: Targeting Your Audience

Prewriting: Techniques to Get Started

Prewriting: Understanding Your Assignment

Rewriting: Being Your Own Critic

Rewriting: Creating a Revision Strategy

Rewriting: Getting Feedback

Rewriting: The Final Draft

Techniques to Get Started - Outlining

Techniques to Get Started - Using Systematic Techniques

Thesis Statement and Controlling Idea

Writing: Getting from Notes to Your Draft - Freewriting

Writing: Getting from Notes to Your Draft - Summarizing Your Ideas

Writing: Outlining What You Will Write

Chapter 3: Thinking Strategies

A Word About Style, Voice, and Tone

A Word About Style, Voice, and Tone: Style Through Vocabulary and Diction

Critical Strategies and Writing

Critical Strategies and Writing: Analysis

Critical Strategies and Writing: Evaluation

Critical Strategies and Writing: Persuasion

Critical Strategies and Writing: Synthesis

Developing a Paper Using Strategies

Kinds of Assignments You Will Write

Patterns for Presenting Information

Patterns for Presenting Information: Critiques

Patterns for Presenting Information: Discussing Raw Data

Patterns for Presenting Information: General-to-Specific Pattern

Patterns for Presenting Information: Problem-Cause-Solution Pattern

Patterns for Presenting Information: Specific-to-General Pattern

Patterns for Presenting Information: Summaries and Abstracts

Supporting with Research and Examples

Writing Essay Examinations

Writing Essay Examinations: Make Your Answer Relevant and Complete

Writing Essay Examinations: Organize Thinking Before Writing

Writing Essay Examinations: Read and Understand the Question

Chapter 4: The Research Process

Planning and Writing a Research Paper

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Ask a Research Question

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Cite Sources

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Collect Evidence

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Decide Your Point of View, or Role, for Your Research

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Draw Conclusions

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Find a Topic and Get an Overview

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Manage Your Resources

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Outline

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Survey the Literature

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Work Your Sources into Your Research Writing

Research Resources: Where Are Research Resources Found? - Human Resources

Research Resources: What Are Research Resources?

Research Resources: Where Are Research Resources Found?

Research Resources: Where Are Research Resources Found? - Electronic Resources

Research Resources: Where Are Research Resources Found? - Print Resources

Structuring the Research Paper: Formal Research Structure

Structuring the Research Paper: Informal Research Structure

The Nature of Research

The Research Assignment: How Should Research Sources Be Evaluated?

The Research Assignment: When Is Research Needed?

The Research Assignment: Why Perform Research?

Chapter 5: Academic Integrity

Academic Integrity

Giving Credit to Sources

Giving Credit to Sources: Copyright Laws

Giving Credit to Sources: Documentation

Giving Credit to Sources: Style Guides

Integrating Sources

Practicing Academic Integrity

Practicing Academic Integrity: Keeping Accurate Records

Practicing Academic Integrity: Managing Source Material

Practicing Academic Integrity: Managing Source Material - Paraphrasing Your Source

Practicing Academic Integrity: Managing Source Material - Quoting Your Source

Practicing Academic Integrity: Managing Source Material - Summarizing Your Sources

Types of Documentation

Types of Documentation: Bibliographies and Source Lists

Types of Documentation: Citing World Wide Web Sources

Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations

Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations - APA Style

Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations - CSE/CBE Style

Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations - Chicago Style

Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations - MLA Style

Types of Documentation: Note Citations

Chapter 6: Using Library Resources

Finding Library Resources

Chapter 7: Assessing Your Writing

How Is Writing Graded?

How Is Writing Graded?: A General Assessment Tool

The Draft Stage

The Draft Stage: The First Draft

The Draft Stage: The Revision Process and the Final Draft

The Draft Stage: Using Feedback

The Research Stage

Using Assessment to Improve Your Writing

Chapter 8: Other Frequently Assigned Papers

Reviews and Reaction Papers: Article and Book Reviews

Reviews and Reaction Papers: Reaction Papers

Writing Arguments: Adapting the Argument Structure

Writing Arguments: Purposes of Argument

Writing Arguments: References to Consult for Writing Arguments

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Anticipate Active Opposition

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Determine Your Organization

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Develop Your Argument

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Introduce Your Argument

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - State Your Thesis or Proposition

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Write Your Conclusion

Writing Arguments: Types of Argument

Appendix A: Books to Help Improve Your Writing

Dictionaries

General Style Manuals

Researching on the Internet

Special Style Manuals

Writing Handbooks

Appendix B: Collaborative Writing and Peer Reviewing

Collaborative Writing: Assignments to Accompany the Group Project

Collaborative Writing: Informal Progress Report

Collaborative Writing: Issues to Resolve

Collaborative Writing: Methodology

Collaborative Writing: Peer Evaluation

Collaborative Writing: Tasks of Collaborative Writing Group Members

Collaborative Writing: Writing Plan

General Introduction

Peer Reviewing

Appendix C: Developing an Improvement Plan

Working with Your Instructor’s Comments and Grades

Appendix D: Writing Plan and Project Schedule

Devising a Writing Project Plan and Schedule

Reviewing Your Plan with Others

By using our website you agree to our use of cookies. Learn more about how we use cookies by reading our  Privacy Policy .

What this handout is about

This handout will define what an argument is and explain why you need one in most of your academic essays.

Arguments are everywhere

You may be surprised to hear that the word “argument” does not have to be written anywhere in your assignment for it to be an important part of your task. In fact, making an argument—expressing a point of view on a subject and supporting it with evidence—is often the aim of academic writing. Your instructors may assume that you know this and thus may not explain the importance of arguments in class.

Most material you learn in college is or has been debated by someone, somewhere, at some time. Even when the material you read or hear is presented as a simple fact, it may actually be one person’s interpretation of a set of information. Instructors may call on you to examine that interpretation and defend it, refute it, or offer some new view of your own. In writing assignments, you will almost always need to do more than just summarize information that you have gathered or regurgitate facts that have been discussed in class. You will need to develop a point of view on or interpretation of that material and provide evidence for your position.

Consider an example. For nearly 2000 years, educated people in many Western cultures believed that bloodletting—deliberately causing a sick person to lose blood—was the most effective treatment for a variety of illnesses. The claim that bloodletting is beneficial to human health was not widely questioned until the 1800s, and some physicians continued to recommend bloodletting as late as the 1920s. Medical practices have now changed because some people began to doubt the effectiveness of bloodletting; these people argued against it and provided convincing evidence. Human knowledge grows out of such differences of opinion, and scholars like your instructors spend their lives engaged in debate over what claims may be counted as accurate in their fields. In their courses, they want you to engage in similar kinds of critical thinking and debate.

Argumentation is not just what your instructors do. We all use argumentation on a daily basis, and you probably already have some skill at crafting an argument. The more you improve your skills in this area, the better you will be at thinking critically, reasoning, making choices, and weighing evidence.

Making a claim

What is an argument? In academic writing, an argument is usually a main idea, often called a “claim” or “thesis statement,” backed up with evidence that supports the idea. In the majority of college papers, you will need to make some sort of claim and use evidence to support it, and your ability to do this well will separate your papers from those of students who see assignments as mere accumulations of fact and detail. In other words, gone are the happy days of being given a “topic” about which you can write anything. It is time to stake out a position and prove why it is a good position for a thinking person to hold. See our handout on thesis statements .

Claims can be as simple as “Protons are positively charged and electrons are negatively charged,” with evidence such as, “In this experiment, protons and electrons acted in such and such a way.” Claims can also be as complex as “Genre is the most important element to the contract of expectations between filmmaker and audience,” using reasoning and evidence such as, “defying genre expectations can create a complete apocalypse of story form and content, leaving us stranded in a sort of genre-less abyss.” In either case, the rest of your paper will detail the reasoning and evidence that have led you to believe that your position is best.

When beginning to write a paper, ask yourself, “What is my point?” For example, the point of this handout is to help you become a better writer, and we are arguing that an important step in the process of writing effective arguments is understanding the concept of argumentation. If your papers do not have a main point, they cannot be arguing for anything. Asking yourself what your point is can help you avoid a mere “information dump.” Consider this: your instructors probably know a lot more than you do about your subject matter. Why, then, would you want to provide them with material they already know? Instructors are usually looking for two things:

• Proof that you understand the material
• A demonstration of your ability to use or apply the material in ways that go beyond what you have read or heard.

This second part can be done in many ways: you can critique the material, apply it to something else, or even just explain it in a different way. In order to succeed at this second step, though, you must have a particular point to argue.

Arguments in academic writing are usually complex and take time to develop. Your argument will need to be more than a simple or obvious statement such as “Frank Lloyd Wright was a great architect.” Such a statement might capture your initial impressions of Wright as you have studied him in class; however, you need to look deeper and express specifically what caused that “greatness.” Your instructor will probably expect something more complicated, such as “Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture combines elements of European modernism, Asian aesthetic form, and locally found materials to create a unique new style,” or “There are many strong similarities between Wright’s building designs and those of his mother, which suggests that he may have borrowed some of her ideas.” To develop your argument, you would then define your terms and prove your claim with evidence from Wright’s drawings and buildings and those of the other architects you mentioned.

Do not stop with having a point. You have to back up your point with evidence. The strength of your evidence, and your use of it, can make or break your argument. See our handout on evidence . You already have the natural inclination for this type of thinking, if not in an academic setting. Think about how you talked your parents into letting you borrow the family car. Did you present them with lots of instances of your past trustworthiness? Did you make them feel guilty because your friends’ parents all let them drive? Did you whine until they just wanted you to shut up? Did you look up statistics on teen driving and use them to show how you didn’t fit the dangerous-driver profile? These are all types of argumentation, and they exist in academia in similar forms.

Every field has slightly different requirements for acceptable evidence, so familiarize yourself with some arguments from within that field instead of just applying whatever evidence you like best. Pay attention to your textbooks and your instructor’s lectures. What types of argument and evidence are they using? The type of evidence that sways an English instructor may not work to convince a sociology instructor. Find out what counts as proof that something is true in that field. Is it statistics, a logical development of points, something from the object being discussed (art work, text, culture, or atom), the way something works, or some combination of more than one of these things?

Be consistent with your evidence. Unlike negotiating for the use of your parents’ car, a college paper is not the place for an all-out blitz of every type of argument. You can often use more than one type of evidence within a paper, but make sure that within each section you are providing the reader with evidence appropriate to each claim. So, if you start a paragraph or section with a statement like “Putting the student seating area closer to the basketball court will raise player performance,” do not follow with your evidence on how much more money the university could raise by letting more students go to games for free. Information about how fan support raises player morale, which then results in better play, would be a better follow-up. Your next section could offer clear reasons why undergraduates have as much or more right to attend an undergraduate event as wealthy alumni—but this information would not go in the same section as the fan support stuff. You cannot convince a confused person, so keep things tidy and ordered.

Counterargument

One way to strengthen your argument and show that you have a deep understanding of the issue you are discussing is to anticipate and address counterarguments or objections. By considering what someone who disagrees with your position might have to say about your argument, you show that you have thought things through, and you dispose of some of the reasons your audience might have for not accepting your argument. Recall our discussion of student seating in the Dean Dome. To make the most effective argument possible, you should consider not only what students would say about seating but also what alumni who have paid a lot to get good seats might say.

You can generate counterarguments by asking yourself how someone who disagrees with you might respond to each of the points you’ve made or your position as a whole. If you can’t immediately imagine another position, here are some strategies to try:

• Do some research. It may seem to you that no one could possibly disagree with the position you are arguing, but someone probably has. For example, some people argue that a hotdog is a sandwich. If you are making an argument concerning, for example, the characteristics of an exceptional sandwich, you might want to see what some of these people have to say.
• Talk with a friend or with your teacher. Another person may be able to imagine counterarguments that haven’t occurred to you.
• Consider your conclusion or claim and the premises of your argument and imagine someone who denies each of them. For example, if you argued, “Cats make the best pets. This is because they are clean and independent,” you might imagine someone saying, “Cats do not make the best pets. They are dirty and needy.”

Once you have thought up some counterarguments, consider how you will respond to them—will you concede that your opponent has a point but explain why your audience should nonetheless accept your argument? Will you reject the counterargument and explain why it is mistaken? Either way, you will want to leave your reader with a sense that your argument is stronger than opposing arguments.

When you are summarizing opposing arguments, be charitable. Present each argument fairly and objectively, rather than trying to make it look foolish. You want to show that you have considered the many sides of the issue. If you simply attack or caricature your opponent (also referred to as presenting a “straw man”), you suggest that your argument is only capable of defeating an extremely weak adversary, which may undermine your argument rather than enhance it.

It is usually better to consider one or two serious counterarguments in some depth, rather than to give a long but superficial list of many different counterarguments and replies.

Be sure that your reply is consistent with your original argument. If considering a counterargument changes your position, you will need to go back and revise your original argument accordingly.

Audience is a very important consideration in argument. Take a look at our handout on audience . A lifetime of dealing with your family members has helped you figure out which arguments work best to persuade each of them. Maybe whining works with one parent, but the other will only accept cold, hard statistics. Your kid brother may listen only to the sound of money in his palm. It’s usually wise to think of your audience in an academic setting as someone who is perfectly smart but who doesn’t necessarily agree with you. You are not just expressing your opinion in an argument (“It’s true because I said so”), and in most cases your audience will know something about the subject at hand—so you will need sturdy proof. At the same time, do not think of your audience as capable of reading your mind. You have to come out and state both your claim and your evidence clearly. Do not assume that because the instructor knows the material, he or she understands what part of it you are using, what you think about it, and why you have taken the position you’ve chosen.

Critical reading

Critical reading is a big part of understanding argument. Although some of the material you read will be very persuasive, do not fall under the spell of the printed word as authority. Very few of your instructors think of the texts they assign as the last word on the subject. Remember that the author of every text has an agenda, something that he or she wants you to believe. This is OK—everything is written from someone’s perspective—but it’s a good thing to be aware of. For more information on objectivity and bias and on reading sources carefully, read our handouts on evaluating print sources and reading to write .

Take notes either in the margins of your source (if you are using a photocopy or your own book) or on a separate sheet as you read. Put away that highlighter! Simply highlighting a text is good for memorizing the main ideas in that text—it does not encourage critical reading. Part of your goal as a reader should be to put the author’s ideas in your own words. Then you can stop thinking of these ideas as facts and start thinking of them as arguments.

When you read, ask yourself questions like “What is the author trying to prove?” and “What is the author assuming I will agree with?” Do you agree with the author? Does the author adequately defend her argument? What kind of proof does she use? Is there something she leaves out that you would put in? Does putting it in hurt her argument? As you get used to reading critically, you will start to see the sometimes hidden agendas of other writers, and you can use this skill to improve your own ability to craft effective arguments.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Anson, Chris M., and Robert A. Schwegler. 2010. The Longman Handbook for Writers and Readers , 6th ed. New York: Longman.

Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Colomb, Joseph M. Williams, Joseph Bizup, and William T. FitzGerald. 2016. The Craft of Research , 4th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Ede, Lisa. 2004. Work in Progress: A Guide to Academic Writing and Revising , 6th ed. Boston: Bedford/St Martin’s.

Gage, John T. 2005. The Shape of Reason: Argumentative Writing in College , 4th ed. New York: Longman.

Lunsford, Andrea A., and John J. Ruszkiewicz. 2016. Everything’s an Argument , 7th ed. Boston: Bedford/St Martin’s.

Rosen, Leonard J., and Laurence Behrens. 2003. The Allyn & Bacon Handbook , 5th ed. New York: Longman.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Make a Gift

10 Benefits of Debating in Classrooms: Importance of Debate in Education

• February 25, 2022
• Classical Homeschooling , Why Homeschool (Reasons)

Parents curious about Classical education often ask about the benefits of debating and why so many high schools today allow students to battle it out in some capacity. Today, we’ll be exploring the merits of political debate and discussing the fun students will have by participating in it!

I hope you enjoy reading this blog post. If you want to do my course on how to homeschool, click here .

Specifically, we’ll look at:

• The Benefits of Debating
• What is Debating
• The Purpose of Debating
• The Benefits of Debating in Detail and
• Tips and Techniques to Help Debate

Let’s get started!

What are the Benefits of Debating?

The benefits of debating are as follows:

Improved critical thinking skills

• Pupils acquire better poise, speech delivery, and public speaking skills

Increased student retention of information learned

• Improved listening note-taking skills and increased self-confidence
• Enhanced teamwork skills and collaboration

More confidence to stand up for the truth when a discussion is promoting falsehoods or inaccuracies

Learning better ways to state one’s point with gentleness graciously.

• Helping students identify holes in their theories and concocting more balanced arguments
• Helping students better structure their thoughts
• Debating is lots of fun!

Before we look at these benefits in more detail, let’s look at what debating is, the purpose of debating and why debating is helpful to practice.

What is Debating?

Debating means ‘to fight’. Today, debating implies a discussion between two parties to form a conclusion . This skill involves two parties (usually) holding different views about the same topic.

An example of debating is when you have one person who believes in God while another does not. They might be debating a topic on, ‘Does God Exist’. One person will argue God exists, while the other argues God doesn’t exist.

The ‘winner’ of the debate will be the person who has the most compelling argument as to whether God does or does not exist.

But I Disagree With That Debating Topic…

Sometimes people are given topics they disagree with . When I was at college, we were given the slip of paper with the debate question. We were then told to debate the positive or negative side of that view. This created an interesting debate when I was asked to argue for abortion even though I am vehemently against abortion.

This exercise was great for helping me think like a person who supports abortion thinks. It gave me empathy for those who have an abortion and strengthened my case against abortion as I could learn arguments that I would use later.

For homeschoolers, debating varying topics helps broaden their worldview and understand the perspectives of others – especially as many people think homeschoolers have a narrow worldview .

What is the Purpose of Debating

The purpose of debating is to succinctly express yourself clearly to those around you, using persuasive arguments . It aims to help you refine and hone your ideas to be more acceptable to those listening .

It also aims to pick holes in your theories and point out your inconsistencies, so you eventually develop a more well-rounded argument that is persuasive to listeners.

The importance of debate in education centres around its ability to teach children critical thinking . In a world where children are spoon-fed information passively, critical thinking is lacking as learning is no longer interest-based .

However, debating can sharpen a student’s critical thinking skills and let them examine the topic they’ve been given. Instead of passively accepting information, they’re forced to hone their thoughts, discard concepts and theories that don’t make sense and adopt ones that do.

Debating also helps them question their beliefs and justify why they think a certain way.

Acquire better poise, speech delivery, and public speaking skills

When debating, you learn to have confidence in what you’re saying as you’ve prepared well for your topic and know it. As such, you learn to hold yourself well with poise.

After you’ve debated for a while, you also learn to deliver your speech confidently and in a persuasive manner.

Having better poise and speech delivery means your public speaking skills will significantly improve . This is because lousy public speaking is often largely a result of poor topic preparation and practice .

Poor preparation and training also mean you will be more likely to get nervous as you’re more likely to fail because you’re not prepared. It’s a vicious circle.

Compared to traditional education, debating can increase information retention of the topics studied. This is because debating is active, interest-based learning that engages the mind thoroughly.

Subjects that make students learn actively tend to increase information retention. Therefore, debating helps students remember what they’ve learned longer than passive learning or rote learning.

Improved listening and note-taking skills

One of the other benefits of debating is that it improves students’ note-taking while listening to others . When students start, they can struggle to take notes effectively and discern the main points.

When you’re new to debating, you might start by trying to frantically write down large portions of what the opponent is saying. Then you lose track of the main argument.

However, if you’ve been debating for a while, you’ll know to try to listen for the main points and think about how you’re going to defend those points more generally. This teaches you to sift information simultaneously as you listen to your opponent.

In essence, debating improves your listening and note-taking skills .

Increased self-confidence

As previously mentioned, knowing your topic helps you have more confidence when you’re talking about a subject.

If you know what you’re talking about and you’re confident you have your topic well-in-hand, your self-confidence will naturally increase .

This can be helpful for adolescents who might struggle with self-esteem in their high school years (and one reason classical educators promote debating in middle and high school years ).

In the video further down this page, one of the students said he suffered from social anxiety. However, since debating, a lot of this had disappeared entirely.

Enhance teamwork skills and collaboration

You can see the importance of debate in education when you see how much debaters have to collaborate to make a debate go well naturally.

Collaboration isn’t dull when you’re debating. Instead, it’s a lot of fun, and when you’re in a team, you feel like you ‘have each other’s back’ in an argument as you’re on the same team as them. This can lead to great team bonding and fun collaboration work.

The importance of debate in education comes into its own when you step into the real world.

If you’ve studied many controversial topics in detail, you can confidently stand up for the truth when pushed . For me, this is the most crucial benefit of debating.

I want to teach my children to graciously but unwaveringly stand up for the trut h when a discussion in their workplace or family/friend life promotes falsehoods or inaccuracies.

I want them to gently suggest the falsehood or inaccuracy is untrue and then to indicate the truth of the matter and the evidence they have to support the view they are holding.

Unfortunately, many Christians don’t know their Bible, and they don’t know how to stand up for what they believe (1 Peter 3:15), even though the Bible offers many answers. Children who learn to debate, on the other hand, can quickly learn to defend their beliefs in a winsome manner. When the truth is on your side, a defence is easy.

If taught well (and this is the caveat of this point being true), students can learn to express their point in a winsome manner intended to ‘win’ the argument and persuade the hearer.

This will mean judging whether it is the right time to state specific information or wait until the recipient is more open to hearing the news. In this way, debating is also about reading the emotions on the other person’s face.

When it comes to telling others about Jesus, discernment is the name of the game. Those who have verbal diarrhoea in this department will soon find they meet vacant stares or (even worse) increasingly hostile countenances.

The wise debater is the one who assesses the countenance of his opponent and argues gently accordingly .

It’s wise to do this as we see in Proverbs 15 :

A soft answer turns away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger. The tongue of the wise uses knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools pours out foolishness. (Prov 15: 1-2 KJV) (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

This may not be the purpose of debate competition, but it’s where the rubber hits the road, and it’s where debate can be used practically in life.

Help students identify holes in their theories and concoct more balanced arguments.

The role of debating is to help us identify bad arguments and refine good ideas .

When we start arguing, we might believe we have a balanced view without holes. However, putting our theories on the table to be poked and prodded makes them prove whether they can hold water.

When our theories are tested and found wanting in certain areas, it forces us to refine our arguments and make them more balanced and easily understandable. This is an excellent benefit of debating that students experience as they actively learn through trial and error.

Help students better structure their thoughts

We can also see the importance of debate in education when we see how much it helps students structure their thoughts from the bits and pieces they’ve learned throughout their lives to a more compelling argument as they’re forced to look up new information .

In many cases, students structure their thoughts proficiently by finding one or more reasons for their beliefs. They then test that belief as their opponent stands up and tries to make mincemeat of their argument.

This then forces them to structure their theories further to have rebuttals for the questions and objections in the first round of debate.

All up, new debating students learn to develop a well-rounded viewpoint. Experienced debaters learn to start their arguments already anticipating their opponent’s objections.

This makes for an intelligent debate that is lots of fun…which leads me to my last point!

Oh, and Debating is Lots of Fun!

The best thing about debating is that it is plenty of fun ! In the video further up this page, one of the students remarked that debating had made school a lot more fun. I felt the same way about my debate team in college!

I loved debating at college – indeed, debating night was one of my favorite nights of the week! It was a great way to connect with other students and bond with them, especially if they were on the same team as you!

You also get an incredible thrill when you’ve done your best on a debate , and you’ve succinctly made points (so it doesn’t even matter if you don’t win – so long as you’ve tried, it will be fun.)

Debating Tips and Techniques

In our article, 10 Debating Tips and Techniques: Discover Classical Debating Skills , we discuss the following debate tactics:

• Preparing your debate topic
• Staying on topic
• Speaking slowly, clearly, and charismatically
• Being confident with your topic
• Think about your body language and what it’s telling your audience
• Listening and taking good notes
• Anticipating your opponent’s questions before they’re spoken
• Telling a story or giving an illustration with an example to make your point
• Using a solid conclusion and
• Not taking cheap shots at your opponents.

Click here to read more about classical debating skills .

The value of debating is evident when considering the ten benefits of debating. Debating can encourage students to become more familiar with people throughout their lives as they’ve learned various viewpoints through their debates. Throughout high-school years, students have the time to consider several issues they will face consistently throughout their lives. And so, debating is a great idea!

Rebecca Devitt

Most adults don't particularly want to relive their schooling experience on a daily basis. They would gladly move on to a new life devoid of homework and teachers. Very, very few adults will passionately blog about their schooling some 15 years after graduating. This makes Rebecca Devitt somewhat unique. As it happens, she was homeschooled. And she loved it. Still does. And she wishes every kid could get a taste of homeschooling at its very best. Her website How Do I Homeschool , is a springboard for parents to see what a life of homeschooling could be for both them & their children. When she's not blogging Rebecca is still homeschooling her-adult-self by learning Latin, growing weird vegetables and most importantly looking after her two children Luke & Penny. She has a husband Tristan and is a participant at Wollongong Baptist Church. She's also written a book about why parents should homeschool called 'Why on Earth Homeschool' .

Related Posts

BEST Christian Homeschool Curriculum Packages Reviewed (2024)

• 12 Comments

7 Best Classical Homeschool Curriculum: Classical Education Programs

Homeschool Entrepreneur Ideas & Examples: The College Alternative

One comment, leave a reply cancel reply.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Name  *

Email  *

Add Comment

I accept the Privacy Policy

Post Comment

Awesome article.

Choose Your Test

Sat / act prep online guides and tips, 55 great debate topics for any project.

General Education

A debate is a formal discussion about a topic where two sides present opposing viewpoints. Debates follow a specific structure: each side is given time to speak either for or against the topic at hand.

Many students study debate in high school to improve their speaking skills. As a debater, you learn how to clearly structure and present an argument. The skills you develop as a debater will help you on everything from a college admissions interview to a job presentation.

Selecting debate topics is one of the most important parts of debating. In this article, we’ll explain how to select a good debate topic and give suggestions for debate topics you can use.

How to Select Good Debate Topics

A good debate topic is one that lets the participants and the audience learn about both sides of an issue. Consider the following factors when selecting a debate topic:

Interest: Are you interested in the topic? Would the topic be interesting to your fellow classmates, as well as to the audience listening to the debate? Selecting a topic that you’re interested in makes the preparation part of the debate more exciting , as well as the debate more lively.

Argument Potential: You want to choose a debate topic that has solid argument potential. If one side is clearly right, or if there isn’t a lot of available information, you’ll have a hard time crafting a solid debate.

Availability of Data: Data points make an argument more robust. You’ll want to select a topic with lots of empirical data that you can pull from to bolster your argument.

Now that we know how to select a debate topic, let’s look at a list of good debate topics.

Debate Topics Master List

If you’re searching for your next debate topic, here are some suggestions.

Social and Political Issues Debate Topics

• All people should have the right to own guns.
• The death penalty should be abolished.
• Human cloning should be legalized.
• All drugs should be legalized.
• Animal testing should be banned.
• Juveniles should be tried and treated as adults.
• Climate change is the greatest threat facing humanity today.
• Violent video games should be banned.
• The minimum wage should be $15 per hour.
• All people should have Universal Basic Income.
• Sex work should be legal.
• Countries should be isolationist.
• Abortion should be banned.
• Every citizen should be mandated to perform national public service.
• Bottled water should be banned.
• Plastic bags should be banned.

Education Debate Topics

• Homework should be banned.
• Public prayer should not be allowed in schools.
• Schools should block sites like YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram on their computers.
• School uniforms should be required.
• Standardized testing should be abolished.
• All students should have an after-school job or internship.
• School should be in session year-round.
• All high school athletes should be drug tested.
• Detention should be abolished.
• All student loan debt should be eliminated.
• Homeschooling is better than traditional schooling.
• All schools should have armed security guards.
• Religion should be taught in schools.
• All schools should be private schools.
• All students should go to boarding schools.
• Sexual education should be mandatory in schools.
• Public college should be tuition free.
• All teachers should get tenure.
• All school districts should offer school vouchers.

Health Debate Topics

• Healthcare should be universal.
• Cosmetic procedures should be covered by health insurance.
• All people should be vegetarians.
• Euthanasia should be banned.
• The drinking age should be 18.
• Vaping should be banned.
• Smoking should be banned in all public places.
• People should be legally required to get vaccines.
• Obesity should be labeled a disease.
• Sexual orientation is determined at birth.
• The sale of human organs should be legalized.
• Birth control should be for sale over the counter.

Technology Debate Topics

• Social media has improved human communication.
• The development of artificial intelligence will help humanity.
• Individuals should own their own DNA.
• Humans should invest in technology to explore and colonize other planets.
• Governments should invest in alternative energy sources.
• Net neutrality should be restored.
• Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies should be encouraged or banned.
• Alternative energy can effectively replace fossil fuels.
• Cell phone radiation is dangerous and should be limited.

How to Prepare for a Debate

Once you’ve selected your debate topic, the next step is to prepare for your debate. Follow these steps as you get ready to take the podium.

Read Your Evidence

The most important step to building your debate confidence is to familiarize yourself with the evidence available. You’ll want to select reputable sources and use empirical data effectively.

The more well read on your topic you are, the better you’ll be able to defend your position and anticipate the other side’s arguments.

Anticipate the Other Side’s Arguments

As part of your debate, you’ll need to rebut the other side’s arguments. It’s important to prepare ahead of time to guess what they’ll be talking about. You’ll bolster your own side’s argument if you’re able to effectively dismantle what the other side is saying.

Plan to Fill Your Speech Time

Each speaker at a debate is limited to a certain amount of time. You should plan to use every second of the time that you’re allotted. Make sure you practice your talking points so that you know you’re within the time frame. If you’re short, add in more evidence.

Practice to Build Confidence

It can be scary to take the stage for a debate! Practicing ahead of time will help you build confidence. Remember to speak slowly and clearly. Even if your argument is great, it won’t matter if no one can understand it.

Final Thoughts

Debate is a great way to hone your public speaking skills and get practice crafting and defending an argument. Use these debate topics if you're searching for a focus for your next debate.

What's Next?

Looking for ways to keep the debate going in non-academic life? Then you'll love our list of 101 "this or that" questions to argue over with your friends.

Thinking about how you can use your argumentative skills in a future career? Read up on the five steps to becoming a lawyer to see if that's a path you want to pursue.

Getting ready to take an AP test? Here’s a list of practice tests for every AP exam, including the AP literature exam .

It can be hard to schedule time to study for an AP test on top of your extracurriculars and normal classwork. Check out this article on when you need to start studying for your AP tests to make sure you’re staying on track.

Hayley Milliman is a former teacher turned writer who blogs about education, history, and technology. When she was a teacher, Hayley's students regularly scored in the 99th percentile thanks to her passion for making topics digestible and accessible. In addition to her work for PrepScholar, Hayley is the author of Museum Hack's Guide to History's Fiercest Females.

Ask a Question Below

Have any questions about this article or other topics? Ask below and we'll reply!

Improve With Our Famous Guides

• For All Students

The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 160+ SAT Points

How to Get a Perfect 1600, by a Perfect Scorer

Series: How to Get 800 on Each SAT Section:

Score 800 on SAT Math

Score 800 on SAT Reading

Score 800 on SAT Writing

Series: How to Get to 600 on Each SAT Section:

Score 600 on SAT Math

Score 600 on SAT Reading

Score 600 on SAT Writing

Free Complete Official SAT Practice Tests

What SAT Target Score Should You Be Aiming For?

15 Strategies to Improve Your SAT Essay

The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 4+ ACT Points

How to Get a Perfect 36 ACT, by a Perfect Scorer

Series: How to Get 36 on Each ACT Section:

36 on ACT English

36 on ACT Math

36 on ACT Reading

36 on ACT Science

Series: How to Get to 24 on Each ACT Section:

24 on ACT English

24 on ACT Math

24 on ACT Reading

24 on ACT Science

What ACT target score should you be aiming for?

ACT Vocabulary You Must Know

ACT Writing: 15 Tips to Raise Your Essay Score

How to Get Into Harvard and the Ivy League

How to Get a Perfect 4.0 GPA

How to Write an Amazing College Essay

What Exactly Are Colleges Looking For?

Is the ACT easier than the SAT? A Comprehensive Guide

Should you retake your SAT or ACT?

When should you take the SAT or ACT?

Stay Informed

Get the latest articles and test prep tips!

Looking for Graduate School Test Prep?

Check out our top-rated graduate blogs here:

GRE Online Prep Blog

GMAT Online Prep Blog

TOEFL Online Prep Blog

Holly R. "I am absolutely overjoyed and cannot thank you enough for helping me!”

Home — Blog — Topic Ideas — 500 Mental Health Argumentative Essay Topics & Ideas

500 Mental Health Argumentative Essay Topics & Ideas

Mental health is an increasingly prominent topic in contemporary discourse, reflecting its critical impact on individuals and society as a whole. Addressing mental health issues through argumentative essays allows for a deeper exploration of the complexities involved, fostering greater understanding and advocacy. These essays not only provide an opportunity to challenge existing stigmas and misconceptions but also encourage critical thinking and informed debate.

In this article, we present a comprehensive collection of 500 mental health argumentative essay topics and ideas. This extensive list is designed to inspire students, educators, and professionals to engage with diverse aspects of mental health, from policy and treatment to the social and personal dimensions of mental well-being. Whether you're looking to explore current trends, delve into school-related issues, or discuss specific mental health conditions, you'll find a wide array of topics to suit your needs.

Our curated selection is divided into various categories, ensuring a broad coverage of relevant themes. Additionally, we offer practical tips on how to choose a compelling topic for your essay, ensuring that your work is both impactful and insightful. Dive into this resource to find the perfect mental health essay topic  that will not only engage your readers but also contribute meaningfully to the ongoing conversation about mental health.

🏆 TOP Argumentative Mental Health Topics

• The Importance of Mental Health Awareness
• Mental Health: Thesis Statement
• Dissociative Identity Disorder in The "Split" Movie: a Psychological Analysis
• How Did The Pandemic Affect Your Mental Health: a Reflection
• Breaking The Stigma of Mental Health: an Essential Endeavor
• Mental Illness as a Social Problem
• Borderline Personality Disorder of The Protagonist in ‘Good Will Hunting’ Movie
• Shutter Island: Psychology and Dissociative Identity Disorder
• The Effects of Mental Health on Our Life
• The Main Causes of Mental Health Issues in Students

🔥 20 Trendy Mental Health Argumentative Essay Topics in 2024

• The Role of Social Media in Influencing Teen Mental Health
• The Effectiveness of Mindfulness Practices in Managing Anxiety and Depression
• Should Schools Implement Mental Health Education Programs for Students?
• The Stigma Surrounding Mental Health in Different Cultures and How to Overcome It
• The Link Between Religiosity and Mental Health
• Tracking Mental Well Being by Using Sensing Technology
• The Importance of Workplace Mental Health Initiatives
• The Impact of Academic Pressure on Student Mental Health
• Early Intervention Strategies for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders
• The Role of Exercise in Mental Health
• The Efficacy of Teletherapy in Mental Health Treatment
• Addressing Mental Health Disparities in Public Health Policies
• The Relationship Between Nutrition and Mental Health
• The Impact of Childhood Trauma on Adult Mental Health
• Mental Health in Marginalized Communities
• The Role of Pets in Improving Mental Health
• The Benefits of Group Therapy for Mental Health
• The Relationship Between Mental Health and Creativity
• The Effects of Social Isolation on Mental Health
• The Use of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) in Treating Depression and Anxiety

🖋 Good Argumentative Mental Health Topics to Write About

• Reduction of Inhibitory Control in People with ADHD
• Ileana Chivescu Case Study
• The Concept of Shyness in Psychology and Its Relation to Anxiety
• The Power of Following Your Fear and Anxiety
• Understanding The Facts Surrounding Bipolar Disorder
• A Comprehensive Exploration of The Phenomenon in The Teaching Profession
• The Complex Relationship Between Nursing, Burnout, and Professional Well-being
• The Relationship Between Academic Burnout and Personality Traits
• Analyzing Toyota's Recall Challenge
• Exploring Crisis and Systems Theories in Social Work Practice
• Understanding, Intervening, and Empowering Through Crisis
• The Story of a 6 Month Old Baby not Wanting to Live
• The Issue of Identity in a Separate Peace by John Knowles
• The Ongoing Researches of Dissociative Identity Disorder, Its Symptoms and Effects
• Dyslexia Disorder Description
• Scholarly Pursuits in Special Education
• How Light is Used in The Circadian Rhythm
• NFL and MLB Performance Regarding Jet Lag Condition
• Simulated Clinical Encounter Research Protocol
• Causes of Witchcraft Mass Hysteria in Salem
• Gile Coreys Death in The Crucible
• Grudges and Personal Rivalries as The Basis for a Mass Hysteria
• Human Nature is Prone to Mass Hysteria: The Crucible and Lindy Chamberlain Case
• Mass Hysteria, Fear and Paranoia, and Its Effect on People
• The Royal Free Epidemic of 1955 as a Mass Hysteria
• Understanding of Mass Hysterias Throughout History: Witches, Communists, and Clowns
• The Meaning of Psychological Well-being and Its Theoretical Conceptualization
• Using a Traditional Therapy Model and a Community Psychology
• Violence in Mental Health Settings
• Trapped Protagonists in Atwood's "Handmaid's Tale" and Kane's "4.48 Psychosis"
• Isolation from The Society: Heroism Or Foolishness
• Racism in American Society in 'Just Walk on By' by Brent Staples
• Social Isolation in The Elderly: Causes and Consequences
• Social Isolation, Independence, and Interdependence in Learning Outcomes
• Where I Lived and What I Lived: Experiment of Social Isolation
• Key Features of Good Quality Edible Fungi
• Narrative Essay on Stress
• Review on The Trichotillomania
• Worst Experience of My Life Essay
• The Influence that Arousal, Stress, and Anxiety Can Have on Sport Performance
• The Main Factors and Causes of Professional Burnout
• The New Sources of Stress in Modern Society
• Investigation into The Stress Response of Bacteria
• The Relationship Between Physiology and Behavior in Stress
• Conjugal Visits and The Issue of Sexual Encounters in Prison
• Hips and Pelvis
• Studies on Recovered Memory and Trauma
• The Things They Carried Theme Essay
• Theories of Trauma
• Trauma at The Tunnel in Los Angeles: Emergency Response

🪄 Simple Argumentative Mental Health Essay Topics

• The Effect of ADHD on The Life of an Individual
• Behavioral Disorders: Causes, Symptoms, and Support
• Understanding ADHD: a Comprehensive Analysis
• Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD) and The Impact Nature Have on It
• The Importance of Managing Stress and Anxiety in Early Age
• Anxiety Disorder Among Children and Ways to Prevent It
• The Issue of Generalized Anxiety Disorder
• Social Anxiety Disorder: Causes and What It Feels Like
• The Effects of Bipolar Disorder on The Human Brain and Behavior
• Understanding Bipolar Disorder: Causes, Symptoms, and Impact
• Treating Muscle Dysmorphia
• Examining Borderline Personality Disorder, a Mental Disorder
• The Basics of Borderline Personality Disorder
• Overcoming Burnout Syndrome
• Understanding and Addressing Burnout and Compassion Fatigue in The Healthcare Workplace
• The Impact of Occupational Burnout on Teachers
• The Toll of Accountability: Burnout in The Nursing Profession
• What is Nursing Compassion Fatigue and Burnout
• Mental Illness that Affects Millions of People
• The Connection Between Dissociative Identity Disorder and Criminal Behavior
• Discussion on Whether Dissociative Identity Disorder is a Valid Disorder
• Dyslexia: Advocacy, Representation, and Awareness Raising
• Dyslexia: Understanding and Addressing Challenges in 2023
• Types of Insomnia
• Addressing Mental Health: Awareness, Support, and Intervention
• Problems, Research and Treatment of Major Depression Disorder
• The Effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in The Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder
• Major Depressive Disorder and Its Prevention
• Supportive Homes for People with Serious Mental Illness
• Mental Health Challenges in Higher Education
• Mental Health Awareness Importance: The Bahraini Case
• Prioritizing Early Intervention for Children's Mental Health
• The Impact of Covid-19 on Mental Health
• Mental Illness in The Criminal Justice System
• The Problem of Ignorance About Mental Illness
• Perception Vs Reality: The Challenge of Mental Illness
• Wake Up Mental Health Awareness: Why It is Important
• The Issue of Stigma Against Mental Patients and Its Solution
• The Effect of Mental Illnesses on Art Throughout Different Time Periods
• How Mental Health Affects Us Everyday
• Mental Illnesses: Definition, Kinds and Its Effects on Society
• The Problem of Mental Disorders Among School Students
• The Interrelation Between Mental Illness and Drug Addiction
• The Stigma of Mental Illness and Forms of Treatment
• Research of Stigmatization of Mental Illness
• The Use of Restraint in Mental Health In-patient Environments
• The Dangers of Smart Phones
• The Disadvantages of Social Networking
• Personality Disorder Diagnosis: Personal Experience
• 10 Things You Do if You Have Maladaptive Daydreaming

🏫 Argumentative Essay Topics about Mental Health in Schools

• ADHD: The Child/teacher Struggle
• Diagnosing Dyscalculia and ADHD Diagnosis in Schools
• The Importance of Online Schooling for ADD/ADHD Students
• Description and Prevention of The Most Common Mental Health Disorders
• The Problem of Social Anxiety Disorders of Teenagers
• A Study of Social Anxiety Disorder and Simple Shyness
• Anxiety Disorders: Types, Causes, Impacts, Treatment
• Overview of Generalized Anxiety Disorder
• Solution for Anxiety Disorders
• Symptoms and Treatment for Generalized Anxiety Disorder
• The Characteristics, Causes, and Prevalence of Panic Disorder, an Anxiety Disorder
• Treatment, Symptoms, and Prevention Strategies for Bipolar Disorder
• Understanding Bipolar Disorder: Symptoms, Treatment, and Management
• Children’s Social and Emotional Well-being
• Nexus of Educator Stress, Burnout, and Leadership Styles in Girls’ State Secondary Schools
• The Impact of Leadership Styles on Educator Burnout in a Girls' State Secondary School
• The Relationship Between Academic Burnout and Personality Traits of Neuroticism and Agreeableness
• Exploring Theoretical Perspectives and Interventions in Social Work
• Legal, Ethical, and Practical Dimensions of Online Psychological Interventions in Crisis Situations
• Theoretical Foundations and Methodological Approaches in Social Work Practice
• Understanding Crisis Dynamics and Response Strategies
• Advancing Inclusive Learning: Tech and Educational Strategies
• Conquering Dyslexia: The Road to Succeeding in Life with The Learning Disability
• Embracing Inclusivity: Effective Strategies for Students
• Learning Disabilities: Governance, Employment, and Support
• My Experience: How to Live with Dyslexia
• Study of Developmental Phonological Dyslexia
• A Brain Disorder that Prevents The Comprehension of People
• Understanding Learning Disabilities
• My Experience with a Patient with Depressive Disorder
• Addressing The Stigma and The Importance of Treatment
• Breaking The Stigma of Mental Health: Awareness and Acceptance
• Exploring Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder
• Mental Health Awareness: Importance and Impact
• Mental Health Crisis Among College Students
• Mental Health Crisis of University Students: Analysis of The Impact of Covid-19
• Mental Health Issues Among Malaysian Students: Finding Coping Methods
• Mental Health of The Lower Class
• My Struggle with Anxiety and Depression
• Personality Dysfunctions on The Characters in Winnie The Pooh
• Prioritizing Mental Health: Individual and Collective Responsibility
• Should Standardized Testing Be Abolished?
• Teenage Mental Health: The Increase in Mental Illnesses
• The Impact of Mental Health in Schools
• The Importance of Psychology in Developing Countries
• The Importance of Understanding of Self-knowledge and The Subconscious Mind
• Understanding Mental Health: Definition, Causes, and Impacts
• Understanding Self-injury from Personal Experience
• Factors Affecting Mental Health of a Nurse
• Social Isolation: Effects on an Individual from a Social, Medical and Psychological Perspective

👩‍🎓 Mental Health Debate Topics for Students

• How Americans Relate to Depression in "Comfortably Numb" by Charles Barber
• Narcissistic Personality Disorder: Unpacking The Traits
• Research on Psychopathy as a Neuro-developmental Disorder
• A Study of The Management of Mental Illnesses in a Family
• A Study of Narcissistic Personality Disorder
• A Study Regarding Medication Adherence Among Female Inmates with Bipolar Disorder
• An Analysis of The Relation Between Mental Illness, Ethnicity and Social Classes
• An Argument on Dissociative Identity Disorder (did) as Fictitious
• An Examination of The Six Mental Illnesses and Its Impact on Human Life
• An Overview of Dissociative Identity Disorder, Its Types, Diagnosis, and Treatment
• An Overview of Narcissism and How to Deal with It
• Analysis of a Personality with Mental Issues Using Jung's and Adler's Theories
• Analysis of The Cases of Dissociative Identity Disorder
• Analysis of The Mental Impact of Anxiety and Hostility
• Antisocial Personality Disorders in Patrick Bateman's American
• Anxiety Disorder: The Mind Which Plays All The Game
• ASPD: Definition, Causes, and Treatment Strategies
• "Bagg Lady": Analysis of Mental Illness
• Bipolar Disorder: Concept, Types, Symptoms
• Bipolar Disorder, Its Symptoms and Indicators
• Bipolar Disorder: Types and Symptoms
• Body Dysmorphia: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment Approaches
• Body Dysmorphic Disorder Literature Review
• Borderline Personality Disorder in Holden Caulfield
• Collaboration Between Psychologists and Psychiatrists in Mental Health Care
• Crisis Theory and Critical Incident Stress Debriefing in Law Enforcement
• Cultural Competence in Crisis Intervention
• Cultural Views of Mental Illness
• Dependent Personality Disorder
• Depiction of Mass Hysteria in The Crucible by Arthur Miller
• Emotional Deficit in Patients with Psychopathy: a Literature Review
• Exploration of Treatments for Major Depressive Disorders
• How Does COVID-19 Affect Mental Health
• How Obsessive-compulsive Disorder is Depicted in Martin Scorsese's Film The Aviator
• How Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) Can Affect Children
• How The Antisocial Personality Traits of Those Diagnosed with Psychopathy Are Conducive to Assault
• Hypnotherapeutic Treatments for Stress, Anxiety and Phobias
• Impact of Employee Burnout on Work Performance in an Organization
• Individual and Society Damage of Burnout Syndrome
• Obsessive-compulsive Disorder (OCD): a Comprehensive Overview
• Joey Barton and His Diagnosis of Antisocial Personality Disorder
• Mental Illness and Homelessness: a Complex Interplay
• Mental Illness and Its Treatment Nowadays
• Narcissistic Personality Disorder: Diagnosis, Causes, and Treatment
• Obsessive-compulsive Disorder
• Obsessive-compulsive Disorder: a General Overview
• How Bipolar Disorder Can Be Attributed to Heredity
• Connection Between Drug Abuse and Mental Health
• Connection Between Gender and Mental Health
• Bipolar Disorder: Definition, Symptoms and Features

🎤 Mental Health Speech Topics

• A Study on The Psychological Development
• Analysis of Treatment Decisions for a Child with ADHD
• Anorexia Nervos Social Determinants of Health
• Anxiety Speech Outline
• Bond Between Mother and Child: Effects of Maternal Depression
• Bridging The Gap Between Police Officers and Citizens with Mental Illnesses in Canada
• Burnout and Contagion of Rigorous Care Nurses
• Character Analysis of Girl Interrupted
• Childhood Trauma and College Freshmen
• Concurrent Disorder Case Study Reflection
• Crisis Understanding, Intervention, and Recovery
• Dear Person Who is "So Ocd"
• Development of a Terrorist’s Mentality: Religion, Mental Illness of Psychopathy and DNA
• Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
• Distress and Demoralization of Nurses as a Source of Anxiety and Job Seniority
• Effects and Treatment of Bipolar Disorders
• Emergency Service Burnout Symptoms and Solutions
• Empowering Recovery: The Human Service Model for College Substance Abuse
• Fears and Phobias
• How Psychopathy Can Be Seen as Conditional Defense Mechanism
• Ian Gallagher: Mania and Manmas in The Show Shameless
• Incidents of Mass Hysteria Throughout History
• John and Jane: Women Are Prone to Madness
• Learning Disability in America
• Main Characteristics of Generalized Anxiety Disorder
• Mass Hysteria and Its Impact on Society in The Crucible
• Mass Hysteria in The Crucible
• Mental Health Issue in Malaysia
• Mental Health: Prioritizing Education, Access, and Awareness
• Morello Mental Illness
• No I’m not Shy: I Have Social Anxiety
• OCD: Understanding and Promoting Mental Health Awareness
• People with GAD
• Perfectionism is Destroying People
• Personal Experience of The Struggles Associated with Asperger's Syndrome and ADHD
• Personality Disorders and Their Treatment
• Prioritizing Mental Health: Significance and Impact
• Psychological Disorders Overview: Classification, Prevalence
• Reflecting on My Real Life Experience with Trauma
• Research of Whether Dissociative Identity Disorder is a Real Disorder
• Sources of Stress in Youth
• The Psychological Impact of Body Dysmorphic Disorder
• The Mechanism of Mass Hysteria in The Past and Today
• Understanding Adverse Childhood Experiences
• The Cultural Beliefs Concerning Mental Illnesses in The South Asian Community
• The Effects of Methylphenidate on Adults with ADHD
• The Effects of The Stigmatization of Mental Illness on The Society
• The History, Origin, Types, Misconceptions and Treatment of Mental Diseases
• The Importance and Future of Mental Health Research
• The Issue of Mental Illnesses in Women in "The Yellow Wallpaper"

🚑 Health Care Argumentative Essay Topics

• Is It Ethical For Parents To Use Genetic Engineering To Create “Designer Babies” With Specific Physical And Intellectual Traits?
• Should The Government Implement Stronger Regulations On Pharmaceutical Pricing?
• Is It Ethical To Prioritize Healthcare Resources For Younger Patients Over Older Patients During A Crisis?
• What Role Should Alternative Medicine Play In Modern Healthcare?
• Compare and Contrast Psychologists and Psychiatrists
• Should Organ Donation Be Mandatory?
• Is Surrogacy Ethical?
• How to Remedy Penile Dysmorphic Disorder (PDD)
• DSM System for Mental Disorder Classification
• The Impact of Gluten on Mental Health
• Should Mental Health Care Be Integrated Into Primary Healthcare Services?
• How Can Telemedicine Bridge The Gap In Healthcare Accessibility In Rural Areas?
• The Importance of Autonomy in Counselling
• Should Healthcare Be Considered A Basic Human Right?
• Is The Privatization Of Healthcare Services Beneficial Or Harmful To The Public?
• The Shift in Ideas About Mental Diseases Over The Years
• Should Parents Be Legally Required To Vaccinate Their Children To Protect Public Health?
• Should The Government Legalize Assisted Suicide For Terminally Ill Patients?
• The Perception of Mental Illnesses by Senegalese People
• Should Hospitals Be For-Profit Or Nonprofit Institutions?
• Understanding Mental Health and Its Impact on Individuals and Society
• Why Mental Illness is More Prevalent in The LGBT Community than in The General Population
• Should Minors Have Access To Emergency Contraception?
• Why Perfectionism is Associated with Depression, Anorexia Nervosa, Suicide Ideation and Early Death
• Should The U.S. Government Offer Its Own Healthcare Plan?
• The Effectiveness Of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (Cbt) In Treating Anxiety And Depression
• Should The Government Fund Research On Embryonic Stem Cells For Medical Treatments?
• The Role Of Nutrition In Managing Chronic Diseases
• The Impact Of Climate Change On Global Health
• The Ethics Of Mandatory Vaccination Policies For Healthcare Workers

🌟 Mental Health Argumentative Essay Topics in Popular Categories

• The Issue of Depression and Its Affect in an Emerging Adulthood
• Prevention of Depression, Anxiety and Burnout in Resident Doctors – a Systematic Review
• About Depression in College: Understanding and Overcoming
• Darwinian Psychology and Depression: The Gender Differential Hypothesis
• The Connection Between Internet Addiction and Depression Within Adolescents
• Causes of Depression Among International Students
• Depression and Its Effects on Mind and Body
• Depression in Teenagers: Causes and Ways to Overcome
• How to Overcome Teenage Depression
• Living in Depression: a Firsthand Account
• Overview of Electronic Problem-solving Treatment (EPST) System to Treat Depression
• The Role of Minerals in Preventing and Combating Depression
• Research on Depression and Working Memory
• The Link Between Self-esteem and Adolescent Depression
• Depression as The Reason of Serious Health Problems and Suicide
• Positive Thinking as Treatment for Depression
• A Depressing World with Different Obstacles
• A Report on Depression in University Students and How to Overcome It
• Depression: Definition, Risks, Symptoms and Treatment
• Understanding Depression: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment
• Depression: Definition and Ways of Resolving Caused Problems
• The Factors Influencing Depression Development
• The Effects of Depression in Your Body and Its Treatment
• The Issue of Depression and Its Reality Nowadays
• Depression Facts and Statistics: Psychiatry's Deadliest Scam in the DSM
• Depression is Depression an Actual Illness
• My Depression: a Tale of Struggle and Resilience
• What Are You Depressed About Think About It
• What is a Depression?
• How Depression Changed My Life: College Admission Paper
• The Issue of Depression: Mental Battle
• Dysregulated Processing of Negative and Positive Responses in Depression
• Genetic Disorder Report: Clinical Depression
• Review on Depression in Scotland
• The Epidemic of Depression Among Students and Teenagers
• How to Overcome Depression and Anxiety
• Depression and Its Main Causes
• The Best Way to Help Someone Who is Depressed
• Overview of Biological Predispositions and Risk Factors Associated with Depression
• Teen Depression - Symptoms and Causes
• Anxiety and Depression During Emerging Adulthood
• MYP Personal Project: Childhood Anxiety and Insecurity
• Overview of Anxiety Disorders in Children, Its Types and Impact
• Influence of an Anxious Response on a Person
• How to Overcome Anxiety Disorder
• Representation of The Social Anxieties About Diversity
• Cognitive Behavioral Theory Application for Anxiety Disorder
• Lowdown on Anxiety and How to Cope with It Better
• Research of Anxiety Increasing in The United States
• Anxiety The Ever Tightening Spiral
• Clinical Assessment: Case Study
• Anxiety, Its Development, Effects, and Treatments
• Reflection on How I Fought My Social Anxiety with The Help of Family
• Pros and Cons of Anxiety
• Anxiety and Depression Among College Students: a Critical Analysis
• Social Anxiety: Exploring The Psychological and Social Dimensions
• Anxiety: Causes, Symptoms and My Personal Experience
• A Study on Anxiety Disorders and Its Negative Impact on People
• Anxiety Disorders Experienced by Children
• Social Anxiety Disorder and Its Impacts on The Lives of The Americans
• Somatic Symptoms and Illness Anxiety Disorder
• The Treatments and Conditions of Social Anxiety
• Research of Social Anxiety Disorder: Symptoms, Causes, Effects and Treatments
• What is Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) and Its Treatment
• Anxiety: Navigating The College Experience
• Social Anxiety Disorder: My Experience
• The Problem of Public Speaking Anxiety
• The Way Teachers Can Help Their Students to Overcome Anxiety and Depression
• The Problem of Anxiety and Stress and Its Treatment
• Overview of Stranger and Separation Anxiety
• Yoga and Stress
• Substance Use as a Form of Coping with Stress
• Teaching Competency and Stress Among Public Elementary School Teachers in Oas South District
• Stress - a Universal Problem
• Managing Stress: Causes, Effects, and Coping Mechanisms
• Stress and Self-care
• The Effects of Stress on Human Health
• Work/life Balance and Stress Management
• Feelings: Determine The Quality of Energy
• Prevalence of Occupational Stress and Associated Factors
• Traveling and Its Impact Towards Stress
• Stress Related to Job and Ways to Manage It
• Coloring Books Will Change Your Life Forever
• Stress: Definition, Types and Impact
• Effects of Stress on The Mind and Body
• The Impact of Stress on Health: Physical and Mental Dimensions
• Stress and Its Main Sources
• A Study on The Negative Impact of Stress on an Individual's Health
• Comparison of Stress Rates Among Children and Adults
• How Does Stress Affect The Body: Physical and Psychological Effects
• Stress and Its Role in Our Life
• The Importance of Stress Management
• Perfectionism and Academic Stress in Undergraduate and Post-Graduate Students
• The Impact of Stress on Academic Success in College Students
• Diathesis Stress Model of Psychopathology
• Effects of Stress on The Body: How It Affects Physical and Psychological Health
• Correct Mindset in Coping with Stress
• The Stress of Student Mothers
• Running Head Discussion
• A Stressful Situation and How I Handled It
• Suicide as an Honorable Choice in Viking Sagas
• The Punishment for Those Who Committed Suicide in Dante Alighieri's Inferno
• The Relationship Between Social Media and Teenage Suicide
• The Issue and Role of Suicide in Existential Psychotherapy
• An Argument on Why Suicide Is Not Worth It
• Overview of The Main Causes of Teenage Suicide
• Adolescent Depression and Its Contribution to Teenage Suicides
• Essay on Military Suicide
• Suicide Cases Among Successful Young Adults
• Arguments Expressed by Proponents of The Legalization of Physician-assisted Suicide (PAS)
• Understanding Suicide: Causes, Signs, and Prevention Strategies
• The Relative Influence of Individual Risk Factors for Attempted Suicide
• The Role of Cyberbullying in Increasing Suicide Rates Among Teens
• Death Rates Among American Men Due to Suicide
• How to Prevent Suicidal Behavior in High-risk Groups
• Whether Suicide is Morally Acceptable
• The Roots of Pressure Or Why People Commit Suicide
• The Concept of Suicide in The History of Japan
• The Importance of Human Life Preserving
• The Complexity of Suicide: Understanding The Why
• A Report on Teenage Suicide: Signs, Causes, and Prevention
• Teenage Suicide Epidemic and How We Can Prevent It
• Academic Pressure as The Main Reason for Teenage Suicides in South Korea
• The Impact of Celebrity Suicides on Public Perception and Mental Health Awareness
• Why Do Teenagers Commit Suicide
• How Society Increases Teenage Suicide Rates
• Socio-economic Factors that Cause Teenage Suicide
• The Main Reasons of Teenage Suicide in America
• The Problem of Teenage Suicide in The United States and How to Prevent It
• Trauma, Suicide, and Residential Schools: Impact on Canadian Indigenous People

Schizophrenia

• Psychosis and Schizophrenia in Children
• The Effectiveness of Antipsychotic Medications in Treating Schizophrenia
• Schizoaffective Disorder: The Bridge Between Schizophrenia and Bipolar
• Biopsychosocial Influences on Schizophrenia
• Research of Schizophrenia Disorder
• The Role of Genetics in Schizophrenia
• Schizophrenia and Its Impact on Family Dynamics
• Innovative Therapies for Managing Schizophrenia
• Schizophrenia: Symptoms, Treatment, and Stigma
• Schizophrenia: Definition, Symptoms, Causes
• Understanding Schizophrenia: Overview, Diagnosis, Treatment
• Analysis of The Symptoms of Schizophrenia
• Case Study: Mr. Nash's Schizophrenia and Treatment Plan
• Schizophrenia and Crime: The Complex Relationship
• The Ethical Implications of Forced Treatment for Schizophrenia
• The Role of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in Treating Schizophrenia
• The Impact of Schizophrenia on Homelessness
• Stigma and Discrimination Faced by Individuals with Schizophrenia
• Technological Advances in Diagnosing Schizophrenia
• Schizophrenia and the Criminal Justice System
• Connection Between Schizophrenia and Social Isolation
• Alice in Wonderland Syndrome
• The History of Schizophrenia
• Schizophrenia and Substance Abuse: A Vicious Cycle
• Schizophrenia in the Workplace: Challenges and Solutions
• Cultural Differences in the Perception and Treatment of Schizophrenia
• Early Intervention Strategies for Schizophrenia
• Long-term Outcomes for Individuals with Schizophrenia
• The Relationship Between Schizophrenia and Creativity
• The Role of Diet and Nutrition in Managing Schizophrenia

Stress Management

• A Study on College Stress Management
• The Impact of Mindfulness Meditation on Stress Reduction
• Workplace Stress: Causes and Solutions
• The Effects of Chronic Stress on Physical Health
• Maintaining a Stress-Free Life: Personal Self-care and Burnout Strategy
• Subjective and Objective Methodology in Stress Management
• Stress Management in The Nurses' Workplace
• Stress Management Techniques for High School Students
• The Role of Nutrition in Stress Management
• Stress and Sleep: How Lack of Sleep Affects Stress Levels
• Coping Up with Stress
• Stress Cause and Effect
• Coping with Stress Essay
• Stress Management Strategies for Parents
• Managing Stress: Causes, Effects, and Techniques
• "Good" Stress Vs "Bad" Stress
• Stress Management of Teachers
• The Role of Exercise in Stress Management
• Stress Management: What is Stress and How to Overcome It
• The Benefits of Yoga for Stress Relief
• Technology and Stress: How to Manage Digital Overload
• Stress Causes and Response to It
• The Impact of Financial Stress on Mental Health
• Stress Response and Stress Management
• The Relationship Between Stress and Substance Abuse
• Stress Response and Ways to Manage Stress
• How Social Support Networks Can Help Manage Stress
• Stress Management Techniques for Athletes
• The Role of Hobbies in Reducing Stress
• The Impact of Environmental Stressors on Mental Health

How to Choose a Good Mental Health Argumentative Essay Topics

Choosing a good mental health argumentative essay topic is crucial for crafting a compelling and impactful essay. Here are five tips to help you select the perfect topic:

• Relevance : Ensure the topic is current and significant.
• Interest : Choose a subject you are passionate about.
• Researchable : Pick a topic with ample resources available.
• Specificity : Narrow down broad subjects for focus.
• Debate Potential : Select topics with clear opposing viewpoints.

In conclusion, exploring mental health argumentative essay topics is an invaluable endeavor that contributes to raising awareness and fostering informed discussions. This extensive list provides a variety of mental health topics to write about, ensuring that there is something for everyone, regardless of interest or expertise. By choosing a relevant, engaging, and well-researched topic, you can create a compelling essay that not only educates but also challenges preconceived notions about mental health. Dive into these topics, and let your writing make a difference in the ongoing conversation about mental well-being.

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .