How to pick a debate topic
Every debate tournament, or a meeting of a debate club needs a debate topic. I'm speaking here about debate topics, because I see a difference between a debate motion and a debate topic. The topic is more general, and could be "War in Iraq". From one debate topic you can get different debate motions like "THW nuke Iraq" (probably not the best one) or "THW pull out of Iraq" or others.
The most important thing, that you should think about, when you think of a topic for your debate meeting is probably what people will like. Or on the other hand, what you would like people to think about. Yes, you can be the Puppet master, giving the young fresh brains topics, that they should think about, but do not. Do you think, that human trafficing is a big problem? Make them debate it.
What you should also consider is that the topic is relevant in the time and place. Debating about using swords in battle could make an interesting debate, but it is not as relevant as using tactical nuclear bombs.
Finding the right topics for your debate club is really important, because if people will be bored week after week, after week, they will probably stop showing up. On the other hand, a lot of times people will not be really keen on the motion, that you give them, but will enjoy the debate anyway.
If you feel lost, just open up cnn.com and check out the featured topics, and you will find out, what are the important things right now, and you will be all set to find a good topic, and make a good motion out of it.
Or at the end of the day, just come to this site, and pick a topic. Something from any debate tournament. People will enjoy it.
Hey, my name is Peter and I’m the author of this website and all the content on this page. I have been a debater, a debate trainer, debate tournament organizer and everything else with a debate prefix for more than 10 years and I’ve seen it all. I want to help everyone to be a better debater and if you want to help too, please let me know. Keep on debating!