Reasons to Debate

Before we really get started and talk about the phrases that we need to have a debate we should talk about why we would have a debate one why is it useful for an English learner to practice this.

And two why is it useful in general to have a debate.

Well the answer to the first question is if you have to debate you’re not only for example giving a presentation and explaining an idea you have to listen to what other people say process that and then think very quickly of how to respond in a way that makes their side look weaker and your side looks stronger.

That’s generally what a debate is all about.

You have to do it clearly.

You have to use everything that you know your ability to describe your ability to maybe express data or technical details organize your thoughts.

This can be very challenging.

But by practicing this and I would recommend having debates as often as you can by practicing this you’re going to really develop the ability to have quick conversations get back to people right away and have a discussion where you have to engage your mind.

So it’s a great way to actually practice your English language spoken English language abilities.

But on the other side of that a debate is useful in many other many other situations many other cases.

Imagine you have a company or you’re in a company and you’re going to launch a product launch a product and maybe there’s a question about what feature to launch.

OK.

So let’s say a feature is one of the things a product may have.

OK let’s say that if you add the feature let’s call it feature a.

It’s going to take two more months before the product can be launched.

And if you don’t have the feature you can launch it right away but then it won’t have the feature and maybe it’s not as attractive to customers.

So one thing you could do is set up a debate in maybe your team where you have two sides to people.

Your job is to argue that we launch in two months with the feature.

Your job is to argue that we launch now without the feature and we will decide maybe or it will help the person who is going to make the decision.

Decide soon faster or at least with a better understanding of the pros and cons of each side.

So it can be a very very valuable thing having a debate in companies in groups sometimes even with friends.

OK.

So we can by having a debate maybe explore all possible avenues.

This is a common expression it means I don’t know all of the possible ways that this thing can be done.

So I’m going to have a debate to help me figure out what possibilities there are to explore all possible avenues avenues are roads.

OK.

We may want to we may want to work out work out the kinks the kinks of an issue the Kinks a kink is something that’s sort of a problem that may stick or cause other things to stick.

So for example if you have a hose and there’s a kink in it in the middle that means water cannot flow through it.

So having a debate here might mean talking about in a debate format where the problems are and then figuring out the best ways to resolve them.

Looking at both sides of it we can also as I mentioned before look at the pros and cons.

This is a very simple way to say the advantages and the disadvantages the good things and the bad things.

We often just say what are the pros and cons of this.

What are the pros and cons of this.

It’s a very common expression.

Well the pros are blah blah blah.

The cons are that.

And we often need to explore these for example should we launch the product.

What are the pros of that.

What are the cons of that.

OK the debate format is great for that.

Now what’s the difference between having a debate and having an argument.

I use the word make an argument for one side when I say that expression when I say to make an argument I could also be saying to make a case or to build a case that basically means to come up with things that support one side.

It doesn’t mean to argue in the way that we normally think of it an argument in most uses or most cases is two people fighting shouting at each other maybe throwing glasses of red wine at each other right.

That’s an argument OK usually but we can use argument in this way when we’re talking about a debate to make an argument to make a case for something when we want to express I believe this.

This is my view and I’m going to then make points that support this.

I’m going to build a case for this.

This is my conclusion and my points are a b c and d.

This is my argument.

These are all the things I’m going to say to support this basic idea.

So that’s what we mean when we use the word argument or case when we’re talking about a debate.

Now the last thing I want to mention before we get into the phrases for having a debate the last thing I want to mention is this interesting thing which we call the Devil’s Advocate now the devil’s advocate basically means it’s a role the person who always disagrees or says the opposite.

As a way to explore or force you to think about things in another way.

So if you say I want to start a new business and I’d like to start maybe a convenience store then I say well what about all of the other convenience stores in the neighborhood.

There are so many there’s a lot of competition.

Have you thought about that and maybe that person says so why are you.

You should be excited about my idea.

Why are you disagreeing with me.

Hey I’m just playing playing devil’s advocate.

That means I’m just trying to help you explore why you have this opinion and whether or not it’s the right view to have.

I’m helping you so this is kind of a role and when you’re having a debate sometimes you need to play devil’s advocate as a way to explore the other side.

Maybe you both agree with the same side.

In fact right.

Well the devil’s advocate role can allow you to figure out what both sides are at least.

So it’s an interesting it’s an interesting role to play.

I really like playing devil’s advocate when I have debates either with my colleagues or when I have debates with my friends.

Sometimes I’ll take the opposite view that I actually have.

Just for fun just to see if I can make an argument for that.

It’s fun.