Guide to chairing a successful Paris 5 debate

Paris 5 debate chairperson’s guide

Written by Nathan ARTHUR, Télécom ParisTech

Note: everything in bold should be spoken, everything in [brackets] should be replaced with the appropriate word or words, everything in (parentheses) is advice or are recommendations

“I would like to call this debate to order. Welcome to all of you here this morning/this afternoon/tonight in the  [name of debate]. The topic of the debate tonight is: This house [motion of debate]

(Check the pronunciation of names. If they are coaches, what team do they coach for?. If they are ex-debaters, which team did they debate for and, if they got through to the semi-final, final or won, announce it and complement them on their success)

The fine members of the jury here tonight include:

1 [name of jury member 1] (start with oldest/most accomplished)]

2 [name of jury member 2]

3 [name of jury member 2]

[Optional witty quote or anecdote. For example:

Sir George Jessel once said that the human brain is a wonderful thing. It starts working the moment

you are born, and never stops until you stand up to speak in public. I am certain that this will not be the case for our eager, bright-eyed debaters here tonight]

(Make sure you check the pronunciation with the debaters before the debate starts and make sure you have the correct order of speaking. The proposition should be sitting on your right and the opposition on your left)

On the proposition, we have:

(Give time for the audience to fully cheer and applaud before moving to the next)

1 [name of prop 1]

2 [name of prop 2]

3 [name of prop 3]

4 [name of prop 4]

5 [name of prop 5]

The opposition includes:

1 [name of opp 1]

2 [name of opp 2]

3 [name of opp 3]

4 [name of opp 4]

5 [name of opp 5]

Arguably the most important person in this house tonight, our bellgirl, {name of bellgirl}

(The bellgirl is an institution that must be raised upon a pedestal by chairperson and debaters alike. The audience loves to love the bellgirl)

For those unfamiliar with FDA-style debating, I’d like to go over a few points.

Fisrstly, the four main adjudication criteria are:

• Quality of the argument
• Presentation style
• Teamwork
• Star quality. That ineffable feeling you get right here (point to your heart) when the debater has that je ne sais quoi

The speeches will each be six minutes long and will have one minute of protected time at the beginning and the end.

Protected means that no POIs may be asked during that time

A POI or Point of Information is a question that must be short and to the point.

Unfortunately, the POIs can only come from the debaters and not from the audience although, at the end of the debate while our honorable jury deliberates, the debaters will be able to take questions and comments from the floor.

You will hear a first bell after one minute

{BELLGIRL RINGS BELL}

A second after five minutes

{BELLGIRL RINGS BELL}

And a final bell at the end of the sixth minute

{BELLGIRL RINGS BELL FORCEFULLY}

(Make sure you have the bellgirl write down how long any speech was that finished before the allotted time. The jury may ask for this later.)

Finally, a Point of Order may be asked if a debater feels that there has been a procedural problem or use of unparliamentarily language. Only one of the ten debaters may ask a Point of Order and it must be addressed to me directly, the bellgirl will stop the clock and I will make a ruling on whether the Point of Order is sustained or not.

I can see that we have a fine audience tonight, and, although silence may be one of the hardest arguments to refute, in the words of the president of the French Debating Association, Declan Mcavana, the only silence we will welcome here tonight is that of your mobile phones.

 Indeed, when you, dear audience, strongly agree with a point made, you will cry (let the audience shout “hear hear”) and when you take objection, you will cry (let the audience shout “shame!”)

I now call on the first speaker of the proposition, the prime minister, _________________

(After each speech, try to find a witty thing to say about the speech. For example, if a debater talks about Einstein, you could say “thank you for that relatively eloquent speech.” If you can’t think of anything, just thank the debater after the applause has died down and they are reseated, then call on the next)

And now, I call upon the leader of the opposition, _________________

And now, I call upon the second speaker of the proposition, _________________

And now, I call upon the second speaker of the opposition, _________________

And now, I call upon the third speaker of the proposition, _________________

And now, I call upon the third speaker of the opposition, _________________

And now, I call upon the fourth speaker of the proposition, _________________

And now, I call upon the fourth speaker of the opposition, _________________

And now, I call upon the final speaker of the proposition, _________________

And now, I call upon the final speaker of the opposition, _________________

Well, that brings this excellent debate to a close. When the adjudicators are ready, I would like them to leave the room to deliberate while we open this debate to the floor.

(Once the jury has left, have two microphones available, one for the debaters and one to be passed around the audience. If no-one wants to ask questions or there is a lull, ask the debaters if there are any POIs that were refused that they would like to ask now. Fill the time until the jury gets back, let them make the announcement and make sure they announce a best speaker of the losing team)

I would like to thank the audience for coming here tonight, the adjudicators for their hard work, the bellgirl, for excellent timekeeping while maintaining such poise and elegance, and finally the ten debaters before me. Thank you all and goodnight/afternoon/day!”