יתרונות הדיבייט האקדמי לסטודנטים - בית הספר לדיבור מול קהל

The debate helps people succeed in life because it imparts a number of necessary skills that there is no other place in the Israeli education system - from kindergarten to the university - that imparts them. In this article we will share the tools that debate gives to the academic field, the career field, and the field of self-confidence and interpersonal relationship.

The academic contribution of the debate to students

The real challenge in debate is the ability to express an opinion and bring arguments about a very wide range of issues - from religion and the state, to allowing euthanasia or the death penalty, to complex technical issues. In order to succeed, students acquire rhetorical and logical tools, as well as develop interest and acquire extensive general knowledge.

World experience shows that debaters reach significant achievements in academia and politics (for example, 75% members of Congress were debaters, as well as the best Israeli explainers - Abba Ibn and Bibi Netanyahu). Beyond that, debating promotes women to a great extent (who are often afraid to speak in front of an audience), and as you can see, 50% of the women who served as heads of government in the world were debaters in the past (Margaret Thatcher, Benazir Bhutto for example). Another possible reason for the success of debaters in politics is that this activity requires the speaker to argue for or against a certain position, regardless of his personal position. This necessity encourages openness to different opinions and creates a discussion culture of the kind that is very much needed in Israel. For this purpose, the rules used in debate require respect for the opponent, which is expressed, among other things, in the prohibition of interrupting speeches, with the exception of the right to present 2 interludes. These intermediate readings strengthen the students' ability to think "on their feet" and react quickly.

Finally, it is important to emphasize that even students who do not actually participate in the debate, take part in the activity, since they must judge the debate and evaluate it. As a result, the judges develop the ability to analyze and evaluate speeches and arguments, as well as the ability to listen critically, and identify "rhetorical manipulations" and demagoguery. As part of participating in the workshop, each student will play both roles, in order to develop all types of skills.

Self-confidence and ability to overcome crowd fear

The debate helps people who have a very sharp self-criticism and as a result fear of the audience. The reason for this is that after each debate you receive very detailed personal feedback. Apparently this is a problem, because this feedback can be very frustrating (and believe me, at the beginning everyone gets annoying feedback) but in practice it actually helps some people because of the enormous added value of the feedback - it is visible and detailed.

The problem with self-criticism is that many suffer from feeling bad without having an accurate picture of what exactly they are doing bad. The feedback after a debate answers this question honestly and openly, even if sometimes brutally. In addition, the feedback also rates the speakers in the discussion and explains to each one what he should have done differently. There are many for whom this feedback helps them to improve in the area of capabilities and also to improve in the area of security. (For those for whom this process is too difficult, I follow through Special workshops for stage fright with a more relaxed accompaniment).