כתבה: מועדון דיבייט במכללת נתניה - בית הספר לדיבור מול קהל

You've seen them in movies and TV series about colleges in America - debating clubs (debating) They are part of the campus life of universities all over the world, and what about Israel? It turns out that in recent years debating clubs have been flourishing in most academic institutions in Israel (the universities of Haifa, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and the Technion, for example), and starting this year - also at Netanya Academic College. To establish the club, the student union brought Guy Yariv, Israel's champion in rhetoric (yes, there are such things, details below) and a lecturer on the subject at the college of management, in order to establish the activity in the college. The purpose of the association is to give students tools to improve their ability to express and persuade, and also to diversify the social activities on campus. We asked Guy, and some of the participants in the club, to explain to us what it was all about.

It turns out that the activity in the club It takes place in the form of an intellectual "duel": The facilitator chooses a topic that can be discussed, for example "Should prostitution be legalized?" or "in favor of chemical castration for rapists" or even "religion should be separated from the state". The participants are divided into the "for" group and the "against" group (also called government and opposition), they are given the topic, and 15 minutes to prepare, then each gets 5 minutes to convince in favor of their position. Who wins? The one who managed to convince the judges and the audience the best. The game develops self-expression and self-confidence, but also creativity, quick thinking, and analytical skills ("not exactly the things I learned in the Israeli education system," comments Nir Pelser sarcastically, sentences 4).

"I was scared to death to get up at first", recalls Amir Paz, Mishtimim A, the first meeting, and the idea of talking for a whole minute about 'chocolate' seems impossible to me. But as soon as I received some basic tools, my confidence returned and today I am much more liberated." Guy doesn't sound surprised - "Stories of overcoming fear are the most satisfying thing in this activity. to the other participants It looks like magic, but it's actually some simple tricks like concentrating on someone in the audience who is smiling, or avoiding talking with a pen in hand", on the other hand he adds, "but even more than that, it's nice to see people who already had confidence learn how to speak accurately, persuasively and passionately . It's not just that Bibi Netanyahu, Bill Clinton and Tony Blair were experienced debaters."

"I've never had fear of a stage," says Eyal Levy, third-year law student, and the chairman of the club. "But suddenly I discovered how much you can improve the content and the style when participating in the club. It is a huge challenge to find arguments in favor of an idea, and to be able to defend them. Equally, it's also fun to look for holes in the opponent's claims in order to knock him down."

In addition, the activity of the club is not limited only to the walls of the college. The goal is to participate in competitions and conferences held in other institutions in Israel, such as A speech contest for beginners in March (at the Hebrew University), and the national championship to be held in May at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya. In both events, students from Netanya will have the opportunity to meet and compete with the best students in Israel. Also abroad on the crosshairs- The upcoming World Championship will be held in Singapore, and the European Championship will be next Passover in Croatia. This is a great opportunity for undergraduate students, who have almost no opportunities to participate in international university events, to get to know the nature and news of a wide variety of friends from all over the world. "The experience of sitting over a glass of beer with a Dutch student, an Italian guy, and a guy from Pakistan, at the University of Sydney in Australia, and talking about Rabin's murder, is simply amazing", Guy recalls from the World Championship in 2000, "you just feel your horizons open, and also The circle of friends".