Debate workshop for class 12

On 7th August 2016, students of class XII, along with the teachers of the English Department, attended an in-house workshop by Mr. Parnab Mukherjee, an quiz master and debate consultant.

He suggested various debating strategies such as, debating, applying an excellent use of facts and evidence to support one's argument or using statistics and real life examples effectively to build logical arguments. According to him, one needs to be well-read and researched. He also added that apart from the content, delivery of the material is also an important aspect of debating.

Thereafter, a discussion was held on the use of space, sound and artwork in theatres, and how the use of our own bodies as props could add to the visual aesthetics and atmosphere of a play.

At the end, an interesting activity was conducted where the students were asked to frame motions for a debate from a given image which included an empty podium, a speaker, a projection screen and a blind. The students came up with interesting open motions which were broad and could be defined liberally such as: "This house believes that free speech is not free"; "This house believes that political leaders have closed eyes", etc.

The workshop was enlightening. It not only gave an exposure to sharpen debating skills, but also ideas about proposing matters needing debate.

Ms. Steffy Lukose.