語言學Debate textboo辯論教材k

Speaking,Listening,and

Understanding

[Authornote:Thisdigitalcopyis

providedfortheexclusiveuseofGary

Rybold'sstudents.Anyadditionalusage

mustbeapprovedinwritingbythe

InternationalDebateEducation

Association.]

Speaking,Listening,and

Understanding

DebateforNon-Native-EnglishSpeakers

GaryRybold

InternationalDebateEducationAssociation

NewYorkAmsterdamBrussels

Publishedby

InternationalDebateEducationAssociation

400West59thStreet

NewYork,NY10019

Copyright?2006byInternationalDebateEducationAssociation

Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproducedortransmittedinanyformor

byanymeans,electronicormechanical,includingphotocopy,oranyinformationstorageand

retrievalsystem,withoutpermissionfromthepublisher.

Forpermissiontoreproduceinwholeorinpart,pleasecontact:idea@

LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData

Rybold,Gary.

Speaking,listeningandunderstanding:debatefornon-

nativeEnglish

speakers/GaryRybold.

p.cm.

ISBN-13:978-1-932716-24-5

ISBN-10:1-932716-24-6

1.Debatesanddebating.2.Englishlanguage-Studyand

teaching—Foreignspeakers.I.Title.

PN4181.R942006

808.5'3—dc22

IDEBATEPressBooks

Preface

Speaking,Listening,andUnderstandingintroducesnewEnglishlanguagespeakerstothe

basicsofdebate.TheinitialversionofthistextwaspresentedattheInternationalDebate

FestivalheldattheXi'anInternationalStudiesUniversityinthePeople'sRepublicof

ChinainAugust2004.Beforewritingthisbook,Inoticedthattherewerenosimple

debatetextsfornewEnglishlanguagestudents.TextsavailableintheUnitedStates

seemedtoocomplexorusedexcessiveculturalreferences.Toooften,thesequalities

madelearningdifficult.Thistextwaswrittenwiththenon-nativeEnglishspeakerin

mind.

Ihadmyfirstdebatein1965.SincethattimeIhavemetthousandsofpeoplewhohave

foundthattheworldofdebateopenedthedoorsofknowledge.Attheheartofdebateisa

sharingofideasandinformation.Ultimately,thisbookisaboutthatsharing.Iwillshare

informationthatshouldhelpyougetstartedinformaldebating.Thenonceyoudebate,

youwillshareyourideasonavarietyoftopics.Asyoushare,youwillalsolearnnew

concepts,anewvocabulary,andalovefbrtheexchangeofideas.

Differentcoacheshavedifferenttheoriesaboutdebate.Asyoudevelopasadebater,you

willlearnthese.Likealltheories,someyoumaylikeandothersyoumaynot.Partofthe

sharingprocessindebateinvolvesunderstandinghowothersseetheworld.

Iwouldalsolikeyoutoshareyourexperiencesinlearningdebate.Ifyoureadsomething

inthisbookthatisunclearorifyouwouldliketoseesomethingadded,Iencourageyou

towritetome.PleasesendallrecommendationsandcommentsthroughIDEAat

.Ifeelhonoredtobepartofyourlearningexperienceandwould

appreciateanyideasyouhave.Goodluckandgooddebating.

GaryRybold

IrvineValleyCollege

Irvine,California

ToXiaoqing,whoseloveinspiresme

Contents

ChaptersinBrief

Chapter1WelcometoDebate

Chapter2DebateBasics

Chapter3DeliveryforPublicSpeaking

Chapter4OrganizationforPublicSpeaking

Chapter5DebateFormats

Chapter6Propositions

Chapter7CaseDevelopment

Chapter8CriticalThinking

Chapter9Research

Chapter10RefutationandRejoinder

Chapter11NoteTakingandFlowing

Chapter12TournamentsandJudges

Appendixes

DebateTranscript

DebateFlowSheet

GlossaryofDebateTerms

ChaptersinBrief

Speaking,Listening,andUnderstandingwaswrittentomakeiteasierfbryoutobecome

adebater.Thechaptersareshortenoughtoreadinonesession.Attheendofeach

chapter,youwillfindalistoftheimportantconceptsandkeyvocabularytermsusedin

thechapter.Alldefinitionsarelistedintheglossaryattheendofthebook.Eachchapter

teachesyouaskill,whichthenextchapterbuildson.

Chapter1welcomesyoutodebateandencouragesyoutobethebeststudentof

communicationthatyoucanbe.Remember,theskillsyoulearnshouldhelpyouinevery

language,notjustEnglish.

Chapter2explainsthebasicconceptsofdebate.Youwilllearnsomeoftherulesand

responsibilitiesofdebateandwhatyoushoulddowhenyouparticipate.

Chapter3explainshowtoimproveyouroralskills(delivery).Italsohelpsyouovercome

anyfearofpublicspeakingyoumighthave.

Chapter4discusseshowtowriteclearspeechesandpapers.

Chapter5describesthemanydifferentdebateformats.Debatescanbeheldwithdifferent

timelimits,typesofquestions,andnumberofdebaters.Thechapteralsoincludesthe

timelimitsusedfbrdebateformatsintheUnitedStates.

Chapter6discussesdifferenttypesofpropositions-howtopicsarewordedtomakethem

easiertodebate.

Chapter7describeshowtodevelopcases.Casesarehowyouwriteorganizedarguments

tosupportyourside.

Chapter8discussescriticalthinking.Youwilllearnhowtounderstandthepartsofan

argumentandhowtotellwhensomeoneisusingthinkingthatisnotlogical(using

fallacies).

Chapter9discussesresearch.Itexplainshowtofindevidencetosupportyourarguments,

howtousetheevidenceinthedebate,andhowtoattacktheevidenceoftheotherteam.

Chapter10explainsrefutation.Youwilllearnhowtodefeattheargumentsoftheother

sideandhowtodefendyourown.

Chapter11explainsnotetakingand“flowing“fbrdebate.Youwilllearnhowtoflowthe

argumentsinadebate.

Chapter12describestournamentsandjudging.Youwilllearnhowatournamentworks

andthedifferentapproachesthatjudgestakeintheirevaluations.

Chapter1:WelcometoDebate

Thischapterintroducestheactivityofdebatingandexplainsskillsthatyouwillgainif

youparticipateindebatesoften.Inchoosingtoreadthisbook,youarenowastudentof

communication.Speaking.Listening,andUnderstandingcoversaspecialkindof

communication:U.S.styledebate.So,ifyouwanttoimproveyourpresentationskills

andyourcriticalthinkingabilities,readon!Althoughdebatingisagreateducational

opportunity,letmestartoffwithasimplestatement:

PeopledebatebecauseitisFUN.

DebatingTeachesSkills

PublicSpeaking

Iknowthatmostpeoplehaveafearofpublicspeaking.Infact,inmyclasses,Istartthe

firstdaybytellingmystudentsthatspeakingbeforeanaudienceisthenumber-onefear

intheUnitedStates.Deathisonlyseventhonthelist.Thatmeansmorepeoplewould

ratherdiethangetuptospeakinfrontofagroup.Yet,thethousandsofdebatersIhave

debated,taught,coached,andjudgedhavelearnedtolovepublicspeaking.Oncetheyget

overtheirfears,theexcitementofcompetitionbecomesmoreenjoyablewitheachdebate.

Anddebatersknowtheyaredevelopingskillsthatwillhelpthemfortherestoftheirlives.

Forthisreason,manyEnglishteachersusedebateasaneffectivewaytoteachspeaking

skills.

WhenyoufirststartedlearningEnglish,youprobablybeganwithgrammarrules.Often,

studentslearntoreadandwriteEnglishbeforetheypracticetheiroral(speaking)skills.

Ifthishappenedtoyou,speakinginEnglishmaynotbeaseasyaswritinginEnglish.

Youmayevenbesoshythatyoudonotwanttoshareyourideas.Debatingwillhelpyou

overcomeyourfearsanddevelopyouroralEnglishskills.Infact,debatingislikean

immersionprogram:eventually,youwillbeginthinkinginEnglish!

Debatingwillhelpyoutobecomeabetterspeakerinallsituations——privateandpublic.

Everyoneinthedebatecontributesandhasavoiceintheargumentation.Withnew

debatingskills,youwillbeabletogivemorepowertoyourownvoice.

Ofcourse,youwillmakemistakes.Alldebatersdo.Thatiswhydebatingissomething

youmustpractice.Asyoupracticethinkingaboutyourideasandexplainingthoseideas

toothers,youwillgainconfidence,andyouwillexpressyourideasmoreclearlywhen

youspeak.

Debatealsodevelopsseveralotherskillsthatwillhelpyoucommunicateeffectivelyin

English-orinanylanguageyouuse.

CriticalThinking

Criticalthinkingskillsareimportantnotonlyindebatebutalsoinotheraspectsofyour

life.Criticalthinkinghelpsyoutoaskbetterquestions,evaluateanswers,keepanopen

mind,behonestaboutyourownbiases,andmakebetterdecisions.Youcanimprove

severalcriticalthinkingskillsbystudyingdebate:

1.Debatewillteachyouhowtousereliablesourcesofinformation.Notall

infbmiationisgood.Youwilllearnhowtoevaluatesourcestofindthosethatare

mostreliableandmostvaluable.Youwillgatherevidencefrommanysources

andassessandcomparetheirarguments.

2.Debatewillteachyouhowtodevelopgoodargumentsandfindtheflawsinbad

arguments.Argumentscanbestrongorweak.Youwilllearntopresentthebest

argumentsforyoursideandunderstandtheweaknessesofyourownandothers9

arguments.

3.Debatewillteachyouhowtosolveproblems.Oneofthemainreasonsfor

debatingistofindsolutionstoproblems.Youwilllearnhowtomake

comparisonsanddeterminethebestsolutions.

4.Debatewillteachyouhowtoaskandanswerquestions.Whendebaterslearnto

askquestions,theycandeterminethecentralpointsofanissue.Whenthey

respondtoquestions,theyclarifytheirownthinking.

OtherSkills

1.NoteTaking:Debatewillhelpyoutobecomeabetternotetaker.Sinceyour

debatesmaylastanhourormore,youwillneedtowritedownwhattheother

teamsays,whatyourpartnersays,andevenwhatyouwanttosay.Youwillbe

surprisedhowyourmemorywillimproveatthesametime.

2.Organizing:Debatewillhelpyoutobecomeabetterorganizer.Becauseeachof

yourdebateswillinvolvemanyideas,youmustbeabletoorganizethemsothat

theaudienceunderstandsyourargumentsandhoweachfitsintothedebate.

3.Researching:Debatewillhelpyoubecomeabetterresearcher.Tobesuccessfulin

debate,youneedtounderstandbothsidesofanissueandsupportyourposition

withevidence.Youwilllearnhowtouselibrariesandelectronicresourcestofind

theinformationyouneed.Youwillalsolearnhowtoevaluatematerialand

organizeitefficiently.

4.Writing:Debatewillhelpyoutobecomeabetterwriter.Onceyoucompleteyour

research,youmustbeabletowritespeeches,orbriefs,shortorganizedarguments

thathelpyoutounderstandandexplainyourviewpoint.

5.Listening:Debatewillhelpyoutobecomeabetterlistener.Whenmembersofthe

otherteamarespeaking,youmustlistentowhattheysaysothatyoucanrespond.

Inmanydebatesyouwillhaveapartner.Youwillalsohavetolistentohimorher

carefullyinordertoadvanceyourside.Youwillbecomeacriticallistener,which

meansthatyouwillthinkaboutwhatisbeingsaid.

6.TeamworkandPeopleSkills:Debatewillteachyouteamworkandpeopleskills

becauseyoumustworkandthinkasateaminordertosucceed.Youwillhaveto

workwithapartner,coach,andotherteammates,sharinginformationand

developingstrategies.Asyoudevelopyourspeakingskills,youwillalsodevelop

yourpeopleskills,soyouwillbeabletotalktootherswithease.Sometimes

debatepartnersbecomefriendsforlife.Evencompetingdebatersfromother

schoolscanbecomeyourfriends.

MakingtheMostofYourTraining

Debatecanbeoneofthebesteducationalexperiencesinyourlife.Itcanhelpyouwith

yourEnglishlanguageskills.Itcanbeexcitingandfun.Itcanalsoteachyouskillsthat

willlastalifetime.Hereareafewrecommendationstohelpyoumakethemostofyour

training:

1.Readyourassignmentsbeforecomingtoclass.Thisbookandanyadditional

assignedmaterialswillgiveyoubackgroundbeforethesession.Ifyoureadand

understandthematerial,theclasswillmakemoresensetoyou.Manystudents

takenotesoneachchapterbeforecomingtoclass.Writingnotesinanorganized

wayiscalledoutlining.Outliningisagreatwaytogettheinformationfromthe

pagetoyourbrain.

2.Takenotesinclass.Manycultureshavethesamesaying:"Inoneearandoutthe

other.^^Perhapsyourparentssaidthistoyou.Itmeansthatwhenwehearwithout

tryingtounderstand,wewillnotremembertheinformation.Youdonothaveto

recordeverywordyouhearinclass,butyoushouldwritedownthemainideasthe

teacherpresentsalongwithyourthoughtsontheseideas.Youwillfindyournote-

takingskillsimprovingasyoubecomeabetterdebater.

3.Stayorganized.Besuretoorganizeyournotes.Somestudentstypetheirnotes

intotheircomputer.Othersusealooseleafbindertoorganizetheirnotes,outlines

fromthetextbook,andhandoutsfromtheinstructor.

4.Reviewtheinformation.Besuretoreadyournotesassoonafterclassaspossible.

Readthemaloudandthinkaboutwhattheymean.Feelgoodaboutwhatyouare

learning.Writedownanyquestionsyouhaveforthenextlesson.Alsotry

explainingwhatyoulearnedtosomeoneelse.Sometimesteachinganewconcept

isthebestwaytolearn.

5.Askquestions.Asadebateryouwilllearnhowtoaskquestions.Ifyoudonot

understandaconcept,askyourinstructortoexplainitfurther.

6.Practice.Iteachallofmystudentsthe"FivePs”:

PreparationandPracticePreventPoorPerformance

Thistextandyourinstructorsandcoacheswillgiveyoumanyideasabouthowtoprepare

fbradebate.Youwillalsohavemanyopportunitiestopracticedebatinginagroupor

withyourpartneragainstanotherteam.Youwilllearnthemostinformalpractice

debates.However,youcanalwayspracticealoneorwithapartner.Practiceaskingand

answeringquestions,andpracticethespeechesyouhaveprepared.Ifyoufinishadebate

andareunhappywithyourspeech,notewhereyoufeelyoucouldhavedonebetterso

youcanavoidthosemistakesinfuturedebates.

Attheendofeverydebate,listentowhatthejudge,yourcoach,orotherdebatershaveto

say.Thisfeedbackprovidesanexcellentopportunitytolearnwhatyouaredoingwell

andwhereyouneedimprovement.Takenotesonwhattheysay.IntheUnitedStates,we

callthesecommentsconstructivecriticism.Thecommentsaremeanttoimproveyour

performance,nottomakeyoufeelbadaboutwhatyoujustdid.Sometimesthejudgewill

writedownthecomments.Besuretoreviewthesewithyourcoachandteammatessoyou

canimprove.

So,youneedtoread,listen,andspeakinordertobecomeabetterdebaterandcritical

thinker.

Speaking,Listening,andUnderstandingisdesignedtoexplainwhatyouneedknowto

getstartedindebate.Itisabeginningtextbook.Asyouimprove,youwillwanttoread

otherbooks.Iencourageyoutocontinueyoureducationafterthiscourse.Perhapsyou

willlearntolovedebateasIdo,andteachothers.

ImportantConceptsinChapter1

1.Peopledebateformanyreasons:tohavefun,totakeadvantageofagreat

educationalopportunity,andtolearneffectiveEnglishlanguageskills.

2.Debatedevelopsavarietyofskills,includingnotetaking,organization,research,

writing,listening,teamwork,andcriticalthinking.

3.Toimproveyourchancesofsuccessindebateandinschool,readassigned

materialspriortoclass,takenotes,stayorganized,reviewinformationlearned,

askquestionswhennecessary,andpractice.

Exercises:

1.Listthegoalsyouhopetoachievebylearningtodebate.

2.Getanotebookjustfordebate.Fileyournotessothatyoucanrefertothemlater.

3.Startavocabularylist.Writedowninyournotebookeverynewwordyoulearn.

4.Read.Whetheritisnewspapers,periodicals,histories,biographies,philosophical

works,orevensciencefiction,nothingdevelopsthemindlikereading.

KeyWords

brief

constructivecriticism

criticallistener

oral

outlining

peopleskills

Chapter2:DebateBasics

Thischapteroutlinesthebasicsofdebating.Youwilllearnwhoisinvolvedinadebate,

thepurposeofadebate,andwhatresponsibilitiesdebatershaveduringadebate.

Thefirstruleofdebate:

Twoteamsagreetodisagreeaboutaspecifictopic.

TheTeams

Ateammayconsistofonetofourdebaters,althoughmostdebateshavetwodebaterson

eachside.Ateammusteitherbeforthetopicoragainstthetopic.Whenyoudebate,you

cancalltheotherteamyouropponent(regardlessofwhatsideyouaredebating).

Dependingonthetypeofthedebate,theteamsarecalleddifferentthings:

ForthetopicAgainstthetopic

AffirmativeNegative

ProCon

TheGovernmentTheOpposition

PropositionOpposition

Usually,theteamsdonotchoosewhatsideofthetopictheywilldefend.Thetournament

assignstheside.Becausetheydonotmakethatchoice,,teamsdonotneedtobelievein

thesideofthetopictheysupport.Insomedebateactivities,whenthesametopicisused

forthewholeseason,thedebatersswitchsides.

Teamsrole-playtopresentthebestargumentsfortheirsideinaprocesscalled

perspectivetaking.Likealawyerwhohastodefendaguiltyclient,youmayhaveto

defendsomethingthatyoudon'tbelieve.Perspectivetakinghelpsyoukeepanopenmind

whileyousearchforthebestargumentsforthesideyoumustdefend.Through

perspectivetaking,youalsolearnhowotherpeoplethinkabouttheirsideofatopic.

PerspectivesonDebate

Manydebatersconsiderdebateagameinwhichtheparticipantssharpentheirthinking

andspeakingskills.Likesports,debatehasrules,teams,officials,winners,andlosers.

Debatebecomesmentalgymnastics,withteamsmatchingwitsagainsteachother.Your

jobasadebateristofindthebestwaytoachievevictory.Manyfindthegameofdebate

greatfun.

Othersdebatersthinkofdebateasalaboratory,whereoneteamtestsitsarguments

againsttheargumentsofanother.Yourjobistodothebestjobofdebatingsothatthe

bestargumentswillemerge.Asyouimproveasadebater,youwillbecomebetterat

testingideas.

Inmanycases,studentsthinkofdebatingasawayoffindingtruth.Thismeansthe

winningargumentsshouldbethetruestarguments.

Theseperspectivesallowdebaterstodevelopthebestargumentsforapositionwithout

injectingtheirpersonalbeliefsintothedebate.Toremindeveryonethatthedebateisa

contestinwhichtheteamscouldhavebeenassignedtheothersideoftheissue,the

debaterstraditionallyshakehandsattheendoftheevent.Thisisawayofindicatingthat

thedebatewasjustatestofskills,notapresentationofdeeplyheldpersonalbeliefs.

TheBurdens

Aburdenisaresponsibilitythateachdebaterisgiven.Audiencesandjudgesevaluate

debatersbasedonhowwelltheyfulfilltheirburdens.Failuretomeettheexpectationsof

theburdenscanresultinlosingthedebate.Debaterssharethreetypesofburdens:

1.TheBurdenofProofThesayingdebatersuseforthisburdenis,“Thosewhoassert

mustprove.^^Whoeverwantstomakeapoint(anassertion)mustprovidereasonsand

proofthattheirpointisright.Points,orassertions,aresignificant,outstanding,or

effectiveideas,arguments,orsuggestionsthatmakeupyourcase.Sincemostdebaters

arenotexpertsaboutthetopictheyarediscussing,theymustusesourcesofevidencethat

providevalidreasonsfortheaudiencetobelievethepositiontheyareasserting.Whena

debaterassertsapointwithoutprovidingevidence,theothersidemaystatetheopposite

(knownasacounterpoint)withoutevidence,andbothsideswilltieonthatparticular

point.Ifneithersidegivesevidence,thepointisnotprovedandisconsideredmoot,or

stillupfbrdebate.

2.TheBurdenofRefutation.Refutationistheprocessofattackinganddefending

arguments.Forthistypeofburden,youcouldsay,"Silenceisadmission.^^Thismeans

thatifyoupresentanargumentinadebateandtheotherteamdoesn'taddressit,youwin

thatpointautomatically,sincebyitssilencetheothersidehasadmittedthatyouareright.

Theotherteamisnotdoingitsjob,whichistodebateyourarguments.Youwinthe

argumentbecausetheotherteamfaileditsburdenofrefutation.Whenyouchooseto

answereachpointorargumenttheotherteampresents,youareusingline-by-line

refutation,becauseyouarefollowingyouropponent'sorganizationlinebylineinyour

notesandexplainingtothejudgewhyeachpointiswrong(eachlineinyournoteswould

beanotherargument).Youmayalsoanswerseveraloftheotherteam'sargumentswith

onlyoneorafewresponses.Thistypeofrefutationiscalledgrouping,becauseyoutake

severallinesofargumentinyournotesandgroupthemtogetherfbryouranswers.

3.TheBurdenofRejoinder.Thesayingfbrthisburdenis,"Answertheanswer.^^Agood

debateislikeagoodtabletennismatch:whenoneteamhitstheball,theotherteam

returnsit.Theotherteamrefuteswhatyousay.Torefutemeanstoprovesomethingthe

othersidesaidiswrong.Youthenhavetheburdenofrefuting.Youhavetoprovethatthe

otherteam'sargumentorresponseisweakandyourargumentisstronger.

Thebetteryouhandlethethreeburdens,thebetteryourchancesofwinningthedebate.

Whentheotherteamhasnotmetitsburdens,pointthisouttothejudge.Alertingthe

judgetotheotherteam'sfailureshouldhelpyouwinthedebate.

TheDecision

Debatesmayhaveoneormorejudges.Judgesgiveawintotheteamthatdidthebetter

jobinthatdebate.Theyarenottoconsiderateam'spreviousrecordorvotefbrtheside

ofthetopicthattheysupport.

Thejudgeswillwritetheirdecisiononaballotandgivereasonswhytheyvotedtheway

theydid.Theywillalsowriteindividualcommentssoeachdebatercanimprovefbrthe

nextdebate.Sometimesajudgewillprovideanoralcritiquebyspecificallytellingthe

debaterswhatshethoughtaboutthedebate.

Inmanydebatecontestsortournaments,thecoachesfromoneteamwilljudgethe

debatersfromotherschools,buttheycannotjudgetheirowndebaters.Thisistheonly

competitiveactivityinwhichacoachfromoneteamwillgivecommentstoanotherteam

onhowitcanimprove.Educationisalwaysthenumber-onegoalofdebate.

ImportantConceptsinChapter2

1.Debatestakeplacebetweentwoteams,withonetofourdebatersoneachteam.

Oneteamisfbranissueandtheotherteamisagainstthesameissue.

2.Therearemanywaystoperceivedebate:asagameorsport,asalaboratory,oras

awayoffindingtruth.

3.Debaterssharethreeburdens:burdenofproof,burdenofrefutation,andburdenof

rejoinder.Meetingtheexpectationsoftheburdenscanhelpateamwinadebate.

4.Judgesdecidewhowonthedebatebasedonwhichteamdidthebestjobof

debating,notonwhethertheyagreewiththeargumentspresented.Theyindicate

theirdecisiononawrittenballotandtheyofferreasonsfbrchoosingthewinning

team.

Exercises:

1.Writeaboutyourfavoritefood.Writethreereasonswhyyouthinkthatfoodis

good.Sayyourargumentsaloud,usingthreeproofsorpiecesofevidence.

2.Thinkofafoodthatisbadforyou.Thinkofthreereasonswhypeopleshouldnot

eatthatfood.Sayyourrefutationaloud.

KeyWords

assertion

burden

grouping

moot

opponent

oralcritique

perspectivetaking

point

refute

Chapter3:DeliveryforEffectiveSpeaking

Thischapterteachesyouhowtobestprepareyourselfmentallyandphysicallyfora

debate.Debatingcanbenervewrackingbecauseyouarespeakinginpublic,presenting

ideasthatyouropponentwillattack.That'salottopreparefor!Becomingamore

confidentspeakerwillhelpyouinyourdebating.

Whenlearningtodebate,youarealsolearninghowtobeabetterspeaker.Asthedelivery

ofyourspeechesbecomessmoother,youwillbecomemoreconfident—notonlywith

yourEnglishskillsbutwithyourthinkingskillsaswell.Thisandthenextchapterexplain

thebasicconceptsthatweteachinAmericanpublicspeakingclasses.Theseskillswill

helpyouanytimeyouspeakinpublic,includingwhenyouaredebating.

Fightingyourfears

Somepeoplehavegoodideasbutaresonervousintheirpresentationthattheaudience

doesnotfullylistentothem.Othersmayhaveweakideasbut"sell"themselvestothe

audiencewithgreatdeliveryskills.Yourgoalistobecomeagenuineandenthusiastic

speaker,anhonestpersonwhoisinvolvedinwhatyouaresaying.

First,lefstalkaboutnervousness.Remember,mostpeoplehaveafearofpublicspeaking.

IntheUnitedStates,wehaveatermforthistypeofnervousness:speechanxiety.Anxiety

isyourbody'swayofpreparingyouforadangeroussituation.Thinkabouthowour

ancestorshadtoprotectthemselvesfromwildanimalsbyfightingorrunningaway.In

ordertosurvive,theyneededagoodfightorflightresponse.Yourbrainthinkspublic

speakingisadangersituation,soyourbodyfindsawaytoincreaseyourstrength.When

yourheartbeatsfaster,moreoxygengoestoyourarmsandlegstomakeyoustronger.

Youmayfeeloutofbreathbecauseyouareusingupoxygen.Youmayevenmoveyour

feetorhandswithoutthinking.Allofthiscomesfromyourbody'sextraenergy.

Althoughthefightorflightresponseisnatural,youcancontrolit.Remember,

"PreparationandPracticePreventPoorPerfbrmance.^^Ifyouprepareyourbodyandyour

mind,youcanreduceyournervousnessbytakingcontrolofthe"dangeroussituation.^^

Onceyouhavedonesomethingseveraltimes,yourbodywillnolongerthinkofthe

situationasdangerous.Evenso,somenervousnessisagoodthingandwillhelpyour

performanceandlearning.

Preparingyourbodyandmind