39 Attendees
Berlin Debating Union meets CBT in an exciting evening of argumentation.
What is debate, exactly? My dictionary supplies this answer, “Debate is contention in argument; especially a formal discussion of subjects before a public assembly. Debate is a method of formally presenting an argument in a disciplined manner.” And I will add … debate is an essential skill in any Toastmaster tool kit.
Center Berlin Toastmasters Florian and Tarek teamed up with Dr. Sven Moritz Hein of the Berlin University of Technology to lead us through a spectacular evening of structured argument. All three men are members of the Berlin Debating Union.
They introduced the structure of a Tübingen Debate with three speakers representing “Government” and three representing “Opposition”. These spoke in turn to debate the proposition “Sexual images should be banned from advertising.” The judges decided Opposition won this debate based on the consistency of their arguments.
About twenty individuals were heard offering their opinions as Government, Opposition, Points of Information, or Speakers from the Floor. Additional attendees gave 1-2 minute spontaneous speeches during a Table Topics session. All together that represents a larger number of speakers than we can normally accommodate at a meeting. What a great advantage for a club of speakers!
We hope to invite Sven back for instructions on the art of argumentation and another evening of debate.
To learn more about debate, you’ll want to visit:
Join us for one of our regular meetings, every 2nd, 4th, and 5th Mondays of the month. See you there!
Khushi Pasquale, Founder
Center Berlin Toastmasters