The public speaking course relies on many techniques from the field of debate, so you can say they are 'relatives' but they are definitely not identical twins but perhaps distant cousins. This article presents the differences both in terms of concept and goals, and in terms of practice and practice.

Differences in goals between a debate and a course

גיא יריב נואם בתחרות דיבייט בסקוטלנד The public speaking course is an educational process in which the participants acquire knowledge and skill in speaking in front of an audience, and develop self-confidence and overcoming fear of the audience. On the other hand, debate is a competitive sport where the emphasis is on winning the debate and the ability to bring as strong arguments as possible in a short time.

Another difference concerns the rhetorical side - the public speaking course prepares the students to give a speech in an interesting and persuasive manner, with an emphasis on Improving content and style and their adaptation to the context. On the other hand, the debate places an almost exclusive emphasis on the content, with the requirement from the participants to bring strong and convincing arguments and nothing else. The style is almost not counted in the debate, therefore speakers often reach the finals with basic failures such as eye contact problems and monotony. An important emphasis is that in a debate they speak at a speed that would prevent any 'normal' audience from understanding and being convinced.

Another difference concerns crowd fear. The public speaking course is also intended for participants who want to Overcome fear of crowds Therefore, emphasis is placed on creating a strengthening experience (even if it is difficult and challenging) and correctly dealing with failures. In a debate competition, the participants have to take care of themselves, and if someone has fear of the audience or failure, it's his and his partner's problem.

The debate in the Israeli academy does not take place in the presence of a large audience, there will usually be in the room besides the speaker only his group partner, the 6 competing speakers and another 1-3 judges. However, even though the audience itself is not large and scary, the situation itself is stressful in terms of the time frame and the interruptions from the rival competitors.

Technical differences between a debate and a public debate course

Debating is a type of sport with rules designed to produce good speech, but are arbitrary in nature. In the public speaking course, you learn the general principles, then apply them in a wide range of situations (including debate). Therefore, there are several areas in which the rules of the debate differ from the content of the course:

Speech time: In the speakers' course, 1-5 minutes are presented, in the debate competition the speeches are 7 minutes long.
preparation time: In some lessons in the course the preparation time is minimal (3-15 minutes), while in the debate the groups get 15 minutes to prepare.
Groups: In the course, the participants practice speeches alone, 1 against 1, in a panel, with a PowerPoint presentation as well as a debate of 2 groups. Debate is a team sport. In the debate competition, the format is 4 pairs divided into the government (2 pairs) and the opposition (another 2 pairs). In debate, it is also important to have a good relationship and mutual support with your partner because you have to compete together for 3 rounds (and maybe a final as well)
Questions and interruptions: In the course you learn how to manage questions from the audience in your favor when some of the exercises have interruptions and some don't, and the interruptions come mainly from the audience in order to understand and a little from opponents in order to fail. The audience decides when to propose questions and has complete flexibility. In debate, the questions are a means for opposing groups to interrupt and the judges are not allowed to ask clarifying questions. Opponents are not allowed to ask questions in the protected minutes (the first and last) and the participant is expected to silence uncomfortable questions bluntly and without considering politeness and the impression on the judges.
Judgment: In the course each participant receives Detailed personal feedback who explains to him how his speech was and how he could improve in terms of preparation, content and style. In the debate, the judgment explains who won and why, and the emphasis is on how the arguments of each side stood against each other. in some rounds in debate competitions No immediate feedback is given but only after the announcement of the final.

Differences in the tools and abilities acquired in a debate compared to a speech course

Participants who have completed the course will have an ability equivalent to that of a debater who participated In the debate club For a similar amount of time after they learn the formal rules of competitive debate (they will be much better than him, by the way, in terms of style and the ability to convince a 'real' audience). At the same time, since most of the debaters in the competition have been involved in the field for much longer than 8 weeks, the course participants will often be at the 'junior' level, meaning they will find themselves competing with debaters in their first year. A course participant who wants to prepare himself to participate in a debate competition would do well to concentrate on a few topics:

style and rate of speech - In a debate you speak faster than in any other type of speaking in front of an audience (class, presentation, briefing), and the style is sharp and sometimes more aggressive. You have to learn not to take it to heart, and silence people when necessary.
Argument development - 7 minutes is a long time, especially when speaking quickly, and you need to fill them with a lot of content.
Debate rules - Debate has a number of rules, some of them minor (it is forbidden to interrupt with questions in the first and last minute, it is forbidden to present questions to the speaker from your side but only to the opponent, etc.). It is important to know them in order not to score an own goal.
fulfilling a role – This is the heaviest issue. In each debate there are 8 speakers, and each of them has their own role and their own emphasis (for example, the Prime Minister must make a proposal, and the opposition's summary must not bring new arguments). It is important to know these roles.