Quote:
Originally Posted by Maritime Q-Scout
Private debate clubs?
I honestly never heard of those. I didn't know they were a thing.
I'm not going to humble brag about my accomplishments/experience, but that is 100% news to me. Are they a new thing? Have they started up over the last 10-15 years? Not to derail I'm genuinely curious (DM me rather than keep this derailment going).
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Nope, not new. They've existed since at least 1997 which was when I started competing against them.
But alas, the age-old adage holds true...even money can't cure stupid...but it can come close.
Its not a secret, but in the past you'd come up against many a Private Club debater who is reading a prepared script written by a professional and its compelling stuff. So you have to learn and adapt and hit them with things they're not prepared for and then the facade falls apart.
I wholeheartedly endorse debate teams in school, they teach a lot of very, very valuable skills.
But if you just read canned speeches written by someone else and dont actually understand the concepts and nuances of what you're talking about you can be caught out and exposed.
See: Trudeau, Justin.
Ask him a question and he stutters and sputters and changes tack for dear life.
Give him a prepared speech and he's as eloquent as anyone can ask for.
Its very transparent.