Argument and Audience Presenting Debates in Public Settings Argument and Audience Presenting Debates in Public Settings by Ken Broda-Bahm Daniela Kempf William Driscoll International Debate Education Association New York • Amsterdam • Brussels Published in 2004 by The International Debate Education Association 400 West 59th Street New York, NY 10019 © 2004 by International Debate Education Association All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without permission of the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Broda-Bahm, Kenneth T., 1963– Argument and audience : presenting debates in public settings / By Ken Broda-Bahm and Daniela Kempf. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-9720541-3-8 (pbk.) 1. Debates and debating. I. Kempf, Daniela, 1969- II. Title. PN4181.B76 2004 808.5’3--dc22 2004007628 Printed in the United States of America. Contents Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii Section One: Public Debate in Context 1. A Rationale for Public Debates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 2. The History of Public Debates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 3. An Ethical Perspective for Public Debates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 4. Moving from Tournament Debating to Public Debating . . . . . . . . 65 Section Two: Preparing for a Public Debate 5. Preliminary Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 6. Crafting a Proposition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 7. Developing a Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 8. Attracting Attention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 9. Coaching and Preparation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162 10. Reasoning With Your Audience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183 11. Making Your Arguments Compelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220 12. Listening and Note Taking in Public Debates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245 13. Opening Speeches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263 14. Refutation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277 Section Three: Presenting A Public Debate 15. Delivering Your Arguments Effectively. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301 16. Questioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320 17. Moderating the Debate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345 18. Ending the Debate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361 About the Authors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375 Preface In September, 2002, as the people of the United States began to consider the possibility of a war on Iraq, students at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York, gathered to hear a public debate between two advocates—one, a U.S. Army colonel who favored an attack, and the other, a professor of social studies who opposed military action. The event proved to be lively, with fre- quent interruptions for applause, as well as boos and cheers. Because they were participants in a live event, the audience members became involved in a dramatic way. “Marist College debate coach Maxwell Schnurer, who orga- nized the event, said watching arguments over the issue on television makes ‘people feel as though they’re not invited to the table.’ But ‘public debates are conversational lightning,’ he said. ‘They affect us.’ ”1 We wholeheartedly agree with Dr. Schnurer—public debates do affect us. More than that, they are an integral part of any society that is truly open. An open society, as defined by the philosopher Karl Popper, is a society based on the recognition that nobody has a monopoly on the truth, that differ- ent people have different views and interests, and that there is a need for institutions to protect the rights of all people to allow them to live together in peace. Public debates offer a unique opportunity for the articulation of different views and interests in a forum that is characterized by reasonable argument and personal respect. Debate has changed our lives, as it has changed many other lives. For Ken, debate helped transform a rather shy boy from a military family into a young man who found as a teacher, coach, author, and advocate that he could influence with the power of words, and later into a (yes, somewhat older) man who found, again and in a new career, that a fascination with words, ideas, and audiences continues to serve as a profound calling. For Daniela, a native of formerly socialist Croatia, debate finally channeled all the previously unsatisfied yearnings for free speech and open public debate, nonexistent in her country and so many others when she was growing up, and made her eager to share this epiphany with others. We can both say with confidence that debate helped to make us and many of our students into more tolerant people and conscientious citizens of the world. We have had the privilege of seeing firsthand the difference that public debates can vii make in countries that face past and present threats to the ideal of respect- ful civil discourse—countries like the United States and many transitioning countries in East and Central Europe and around the world. We owe the idea for this book and its realization to the Southeast Europe Youth Leadership Institute and its staff and students, who all contributed to the project with their insights and who served as our permanent inspiration and focus group. We are thankful to all of our students and colleagues at Towson University and Marymount Manhattan College for shaping us into the teachers that we are and for allowing us to test-run this material. We are indebted to the International Debate Education Association for promoting debate in the United States and all over the world and for giving this book a publishing home. We would like to recognize and extend our thanks also to Gordon Mitchell, Max Schnurer, Alfred Snider, the Baltimore Urban Debate League and many others who play a role every day in helping to reawaken public debate in America and elsewhere. Finally, we are grateful to all of our debate coaches, mentors, colleagues, family and friends who contributed to this book by making us who we are. Ken Broda-Bahm Daniela Kempf William Driscoll March 2004 1. Nik Bonapartis, “Professor, Colonel Debate Iraq War,” Poughkeepsie Journal, September 26, 2002. viii Part One Public Debate in Context