BAC Debate Club Workshop

There's no group more passionate about debate than the BAC Debate Club. They go out for many competitions and bring home many titles. It is no doubt that they have made BAC proud. But these achievements can only happen when the team trains continuously and teaches the next generation of debate champions their skills and strategies.

These training sessions happen every Friday from 5pm - 7pm. Senior members of the Debate Club will run training sessions on different aspects of debate and conduct sparring matches with the participants so they can build on their debating skills.

One of the sessions coducted recently, was a special one. Instead of being run by the senior members of the Debate Club, they invited a special guest to conduct a workshop with the participants!

Jonathan Brock is a master debater and debate judge who has been in the scene for over 17 years! He's taught students from Japan, China, and the US and has coached many students in Asia who are currently extremely successful in the debate scene. Some of them have even gone on to break at the Worlds Debate Championship! He currently acts as a coach for a debate team in China.

Mr. Brock taught the students how to improve in several areas, but the most significant one was their manner in debates. Besides content, one of the things that matters in a debate is how you present your argument. If you do not win the hearts of the judges, it does not matter what you say, as you will not be able to win the debate.

In that regard, Mr. Brock taught the students how to sound more polished and confident in their debates. After sharing some of his tips and tricks, he had every junior member in attendance give a 2-minute speech on a specific topic. He gave each one of them feedback for improvement and encouraged them as much as he could. The tips he gave these students helped to alleviate some of the social anxiety faced when speaking in public.

It truly was an enlightening workshop, and many members managed to overcome some degree of social anxiety. The participants will hold on to the feedback and comments given by Mr. Brock, not just when they step out into debate competitions but in life as well, to be assertive and confident in everything they do.

BAC especially thanks Mr. Brock for taking time out of his busy schedule to visit the BAC Debate Club and impart some of his extensive wisdom to them.

If you are interested in learning more about debate, you can visit BAC Debate Club's Instagram or join the club via bacengage.my.

See you at their next training session!