Empathize

In order to be an effective debater, you must be able to entertain your opponent’s point of view. You may not agree with their point of view, but if you can’t at least empathize with it, then you will have a hard time understanding how to sway them to your own point of view. By trying to understand your opponent’s argument, it becomes easier to find the faults and fallacies that lie within (almost every argument has a valid rebuttal!) and exploit them!

In debate classes, students are assigned a topic and a point of view that they must defend – regardless of whether or not they agree or disagree with that point of view.

Stick to the Subject

So often in debate people will the “kitchen sink” approach. I’m seeing a lot of that in the current health-care debate. For example, someone will say “I am against government provided health-care.” That is a simple, straight-forward point of view and is also easy to defend ideologically. But more often than not, as the debate unfolds, the opponent of government provided health-care will go on to point out the insidious details of the government provided health-plan. This inadvertently re-frames the argument; now government provided health-care is no longer ideologically wrong, instead the government provided plan is just deigned or implemented wrong. Now the door is open for your opponent to decry all the problems with a private health-care system, and now you are in the wash, rinse, repeat debate cycle. It is endless. Keep your points focused and sharp.

Know the Facts

If you really want to get into the debate, you absolutely have to educate yourself on the subject. If you are passionate about the debate subject, you should want to learn all you can about it. Most of the debate’s I engage in are on-line; meaning that while I have access to the debate, I also, simultaneously, have access to search engines and a wealth of articles about nearly any subject under the sun. Take advantage of this fact and site your sources! An argument is made so much stronger by the inclusion of sourced facts. Be careful though, you may find that when you really start digging for the facts, you’ll also find that your opinions and positions on the subjects will change!

Be Respectful

It is a sign of character to be able to respectfully disagree with people. Just because someone does not share your point of view does not make them a flawed or bad person; even if it is a subject you absolutely feel passionately about. It is too easy to let our emotions get the best of us; but be aware that, while we all preach tolerance, passion can get in the way of our ability to tolerate dissenting view-points.

No Name-Calling

This should fall under the “Be Respectful” category, but it is such an important aspect of reasonable debate that it warrants its own section. When I am engaged in debate I find it very easy to dismiss the point of view of anyone who name-calls. To me it also signals an admission of defeat when a debate opponent name-calls. It means they have run out of valid points, been frustrated, and given up. They are mad and so they have decided to stop listening to your points and instead call you a nasty name. No matter how worked up you get, don’t name call. Take a break, have a cold drink, calm your nerves. You can even say this: “With respect I am going to take a break now, perhaps we can pick up where we left off later.” Always be respectful, even towards people who are not necessarily affording you the same respect. Over time you will find that you, and your points of view, are respected by the people whose opinions you might actually care about.