2010-04-15 07:34:13
By Rajini Vaidyanathan
BBC News Magazine
When the curtain goes up on Thursday's first televised prime ministerial debate, audiences will witness three men used to holding their own, in front of an audience. But you don't have to be a party leader to know how best to win an argument.
Breathe deeply, back straight, shoulders out.
The warm-up reads like preparation for an exercise class but one of the first rules of good debating is to have a relaxed pose and posture.
"Confidence is communicated in many ways," says Jason Vit, a debate coach. "How a speaker looks, walks and the first thing out of their mouth can make a huge difference to how they are perceived and the value which an audience ascribes to what they say," he says.
Debating is all about selling your ideas to an audience - it follows then, that if the salesman doesn't look the part, he can expect the door to be slammed in his face.
"Stance, voice, confident use of technical terms enable people to fake confidence even when they are nervous," he says.
But faking it can only get one so far and there is more to debating than simply style over substance. Mr Vit works for the English Speaking Union, an organisation which runs debate contests between schools. One of the most important tips he passes on to his students is "know your subject" - which means knowing the arguments for and against their viewpoint.
Soap opera attention span
"An audience is more likely to support one speaker's position over another speaker if they can demonstrate knowledge of the subject in question and an understanding of the alternatives.
"Simply put, someone is always more convincing if they understand the alternatives and have still rejected them."
While some people are debate naturals, Mr Vit says that with the correct training and practice anyone can hold their own in a high octane discussion.
Working out the correct pace and delivery - not too fast, emphasis on the right words - is one way to improve one's oratorical skills. Injecting a bit of personality into the proceedings is another, although Mr Vit only advises "genuinely funny" people to go down this path.
A sprinkling of the wrong sort of jokes in a debate can backfire in the same way a bad stand-up routine might.
Another important consideration, often overlooked, is how long to take to make a point. Maintaining the audience's attention can be tricky and Mr Vit suggests observing the length of TV ads, or the duration of a scene in soap opera, as useful guides in judging attention span.
TOP DEBATING TIPS
Holding people's interest will be a big challenge for all the three leaders taking part in the prime ministerial debates. Much has been made of the fact that this is the first time British political leaders have agreed to participate in televised election debates, but they are no strangers to head to head sparring. Every Wednesday when Parliament sits they face each other at Prime Minister's Questions, a tradition which dates back in various guises to 1881.
But the formal strictures of such set-tos mask the fact that debate, in its loosest form, is something most people engage in almost daily.
Football - the national game - is played against a backdrop of ceaseless debate between fans. The same goes for other national obsessions in which we are asked to take sides - reality TV shows, the moral choices of soap opera characters.
What is central to any line of debate is passion, says Mr Vit. Winning a debate is essentially winning an argument - the skill being able to defend a view, and to "appear to be right all the time, even when you are not".
The importance of debate as a medium for self improvement and intellectual stimulation, within these shores at least, can be traced back to the coffee house debates of the 17th Century.
It was in the coffee houses that writers, politicians, businessmen and scientists would discuss and share ideas. Underpinning this was the freedom it offered, in a democratic society, for people to air their views freely in public - and in the process coming up with a great idea or solution to a problem.
These days similarly passionate exchanges can be witnessed across the internet and, particularly, daytime TV. Talks shows hosted by the likes of Trisha Goddard and Jeremy Kyle have used the traditional debate format with a modern twist. There are still two sides appealing to an audience to agree with their viewpoint, but the subject matter is very different.
"People are prepared to debate very intimate confessional topics, compared with the topics which would have traditionally been accepted for debate publicly," says Paul Stenner, a professor at the University of Brighton.
Mr Stenner who has studied the emotional impact of talk shows such as Jerry Springer, says it can be viewed for good or bad .
"Some people see this as a great advance, the cracking of the cold rationalist and stuffy and traditional approach but others would see it as a decline - hanging your dirty laundry in public."
"It exercises our minds", argues Ellis Cashmore, a professor of culture, media and sport. He argues that the appeal of television courtoom dramas and chat shows is because of the way they draw viewers into a discussion.
"We are being put in the position of the judge or the jury. We're being asked to evaluate arguments.
"People don't usually watch a political debate or a Jeremy Kyle programme without forming some kind of judgement on it. The reason they're so appealing to us is that we don't just sit there passively - we engage in it."
The truth is that we like to watch debates as much as we like to take part in them and deliver a judgement, says Mr Cashmore.
But for debate aficionados like Mr Vit, the real test comes when you are eyeball to eyeball with your opponent, under pressure.
In Ancient Rome, senators and potential senators took classes in how to debate - including such niceties as how to gesture with your right hand but not your left (lest your toga slipped), but that it was acceptable to leave the senate floor with your toga in somewhat more disarray than when you arrived! Megan, Cheshire UK
Honesty and integrity are the first casualties when politicians publicly debate. Steve Wilkinson, Bristol
Best advice I ever received was about dealing with difficult questions when speaking in public.
Hold your breath for a long time until you pass out.......and when you regain consciousness the audience will have forgotten all about the original difficult question. Eric Clarke, Dublin, Ireland
Within the Young Farmers movement we regularly have debating competitions and this will sometimes see 13 year-olds pitted against 26 year-olds. Although age and experience help, the confidence from knowing the subject, and what the oppositions arguments will be, nearly always wins out. David Herbert, Northamptonshire
Very insightful article I will definitely be taking points from this. Chinelo, Manchester, United Kingdon
I once had to prepare Alan Kay for a speech (he's the interface guru who said 'the best way to predict the future is to invent it'). I mentioned rehearsals. "I don't rehearse." he offered. I looked at his grubby tracksuit and scuffed trainers and advised him the dress code was business suits. "These are the clothes I do business in." he explained. He ambled on stage, a small, gruff, scruffy figure with zero charisma... and held the audience enthralled for 40 mins - with his words. Paul, London, UK
This and other areas that are now thread through modern politics is exactly the problem. As long as you look right and sound right, you don't need to actually do right. A better country over a better debater anyday! Karl , Andover, Hants
The other day on television there were what were called 'debates' but were really very poor question and answer sessions. Please, television people, if you call something a debate, let's see one - a proper, formal, structured debate, not just a few politicians cherry-picking the questions from the audience that they want to answer. Answering random questions on stage doesn't make it a debate. Louise, England
What a useful piece! helps us all to understand how the politicians work... I'll certainly be checking against Jason's tips on debate night! brilliant, more please. Hanna, London
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/politics/election_2010/8619277.stm
Published: 2010/04/14 10:34:54 GMT