In the last speech unit, I learnt about some speaking strategies, I learnt about body language, tone, articulation, digression and so on. However, I think they are still very useful in the debate. In my view, debate is like a bunch of people arguing for a topic. There’s never a right or wrong answer for that topic. So there are always lots of things to discuss and argue about. In this unit, I learnt how to use research in a debate. I learnt how to acknowledge people and it requires good listening skills. Also I learnt how to persuade people and convince them to believe in what you believe. And I know about a thing called devil’s advocate. It’s like arguing things that you don’t believe in, which it always happens to me.
I really like this unit actually; it develops my speaking skills, and also the ability to convince others. And also, another good thing about the debate is that there is always very interesting topic for us to debate about, thanks to Mr. Manno. And there is never a right or wrong answer so I think it’s very good. It can promote our skill of communicate and persuade. However, one thing I don’t really like about the debate is that some people were being too serious about the outcome, which I don’t think is a very smart thing to do. Well, it’s just a debate. If you are too serious, I mean, where’s the fun?
On the whole, personally, I really like this unit. I think it really helps me.
-Kathy Chen