Public Speaking and Debate
Capstone’s debate coaches include current and former head national debate team coaches for Canada, Korea and Malaysia (World Schools teams) while many of our current debate students and alumni (20+) currently are representing, or have represented, national teams across Asia as well as leading university debate teams in World Schools, British Parliamentary. In Hong Kong, no other program has produced more national team debaters than Capstone.
To put it simply, Capstone is unrivalled in its ability to take students from absolute beginner level to the highest levels of debate.
Partnerships and opportunities with the world’s most esteemed debating unions.
To both support our students’ training and the growth of debate, Capstone has worked with numerous leading debate unions since 2015 to the present. We are proud to have formally partnered with the Cambridge Union, Harvard College Debating Union and the Oxford Union to create elite-level debating tournaments for students in Asia and worldwide over the past few years including the renown Asian Schools British Parliamentary Championships (“ABC”) which was most recently (in 2021 edition) the selections tournament for Asia representatives to Oxford Union Schools Debate’s Finals Day held at Oxford.
OUR DEBATE PROGRAM CURRICULUM
4 Areas of Development
Lesson Structure
PUBLIC SPEAKING AND DEBATE
Public Speaking and Debate
G3-G6
Capstone’s Public Speaking and Debate program uses the activities of speech and debate to train student to both see the world with a critical eye and then speak eloquently and persuasively. By setting debates within relevant global and philosophical contexts, students not only learn more about the world and gain increased confidence and critical thinking skills, but also become prepared to attend debate competitions if they choose to do that in the future. Lower levels of the program are intended to train students’ processing abilities and get them accustomed to the practice of debating; meanwhile, higher levels of the program train students to ensure their debates are consistently well-delivered and compellingly structured within common competitive debate formats.
Course Highlights:
- Students will receive exposure to the British Parliamentary debating format, currently the world’s most prestigious debating style.
- A lively environment conducive to both rhetorical presentation and topical research
Perfect for:
- Students who want to improve their confidence in public speaking or improve their spontaneous logical reasoning skills
- Students who have thoughts and opinions about the world and are looking for an outlet to speak up and be heard
- Students are interested in debating competitively in the future
PSD I – Introductory (Grade 3-4) In this course, students will
- Learn about a variety of important current issues and develop personal opinions about them
- Practice basic speech structures to present on any topic persuasively
- Respond critically and competently to a peer’s arguments
- Develop their confidence in front of an audience
PSD I – Introductory (Grade 5-6) In this course, students will
- Learn about more complex current issues and begin to evaluate them independently
- Practice basic speech structures to present on any topic persuasively
- Respond critically and competently to a peer’s arguments
- Develop their confidence in front of an audience
PSD II – Intermediate (Grade 5-6) In this course, students will
- Continue their education on important global issues and apply various perspectives in understanding them
- Gain exposure to standard competitive debate formats, including British Parliamentary and World Schools (3-v-3)
- Hone their speech structures for more consistently persuasive delivery
- Respond confidently to the arguments of the opposing teams
Public Speaking and Debate
G7-12
Capstone’s Public Speaking & Debate is designed to equip students with the necessary skills to thrive in this context, with the intent to engage their listeners with strong rhetoric and critical thinking. Through a focus on debate, students learn more about salient issues, develop their analytical abilities, and gain greater confidence and fluency when presenting. The lower levels of the program focus on giving students the necessary critical thinking skills while getting them accustomed to debate within Capstone’s format. At the intermediate levels of the program, students learn specialized debating skills within standard competitive debate formats. Capstone’s upper-level debate program is a premier training course for debate and public speaking.
PSD I – INTRODUCTORY
Course highlights:Experiential learning through simulated scenarios where students advocate for affected stakeholders thus practicing their logic and rhetoric skills.
Perfect for students who:
- Would like a better understanding of global events and important contemporary issues
- Have thoughts and opinions about the world and are looking for an outlet to speak up and be heard
- Want to hone their competitive spirit by engaging in the exciting world of competitive debate
In this course, students will:
- Learn about complex current issues and evaluate them independently
- Practice basic speech structures to present on any topic persuasively
- Respond critically and competently to a peer’s arguments
- Gain exposure to basic debate terminology and concepts
PSD II – INTERMEDIATE
Course highlights:Specialized exercises in logic rhetoric and competitive argumentation to foster further growth in speaking and confidence.
Perfect for students who:
- Would like a better understanding of global events and important contemporary issues
- Have thoughts and opinions about the world and are looking for an outlet to speak up and be heard
- Want to hone their competitive spirit by engaging in the exciting world of competitive debate
In this course, students will:
- Continue their education on important global issues and apply various perspectives in understanding them
- Gain exposure to standard competitive debate formats, including British Parliamentary and World Schools (3-v-3)
- Learn important debate terminology and concepts in greater depth
- Rebut the other team’s arguments by consistently and accurately identifying the flaws in them
PSD III – ADVANCED
Course highlights:Deep discussion and grilling of issues that are used to develop strategic reasoning for the upper levels of competitive debating.
Perfect for students who:
- Would like a better understanding of global events and important contemporary issues
- Have thoughts and opinions about the world and are looking for an outlet to speak up and be heard
- Want to hone their competitive spirit by engaging in the exciting world of competitive debate
In this course, students will:
- Build on an extensive repertoire of ideas within the fields of economics, philosophy, political science, international relations, and more
- Leverage experience to compete with confidence at the elimination round level and beyond at major debating competitions
- Train using more advanced and nuanced debating strategies
- Learn to perform well within the crucial areas of style, substance, and strategy
CAPSTONE DEBATE PYRAMID
Extensive Training and Competition
Members of the team will train, travel and compete together as a team. During training, team members will meet with Capstone and external subject and debate experts to improve their knowledge of relevant issues and debate technique. They will also practice against other top debate teams from schools and clubs around the world. As for tournaments, team members will have the opportunity to attend the largest and most prestigious debate tournaments throughout Asia and the world as part of the Capstone team.
University Admissions Support
A top debating resume paired with strong grades usually lead to the very best universities. The debate team members will get access to Capstone’s admissions consultants who will the students a strategic plan as to how to craft their profile, activities, and courses in anticipation of applying to elite universities.
Varsity Team
At the highest level of our debating program is the debate team. The only higher step is representing the national debate team which a number of our team members have been invited to join. Admission into the team is done through a combination of an ongoing ladder within all centers, internal and external competitions and team trials. With hundreds of strong debaters across our different offices, our team represents one of the strongest collection of young debaters throughout Asia.
Advanced Level
• Regional and international tournament opportunities for further exposure
• Issues in Depth: Philosophy, Geopolitics, and Economics
• Debate Framing and Emotional Resonance
• Mastery of the various debating speaker positions and role functions
Intermediate Level
• Local tournament opportunities for initial exposure to competitions
• Strategic responses and intermediate argumentative analysis
• Basics of evidence research and prepared topic casebuilding
• Format introduction to British Parliamentary debating
Introductory Level
• Interview to determine relevant debating student’s strengths and weaknesses
• Foundations of logical reasoning and forming arguments and rebuttals
• Basics of public speaking and stage presence
• Format introductions to World Schools and Public Forum debating
DEBATER ACHIEVEMENTS
Capstone Debaters achieve globally at the world’s most prestigious tournaments.
World Level
• World Schools Debating Championship
• World Individuals Public Speaking and Debating Championship
Intervarsity Level
• Harvard World Schools Invitational
• Oxford Schools Debating Competition
• Cambridge Schools Debating Competition
• Yale’s World Scholars Cup
Regional Level
• Asian Schools BP Championship
#1 Debater in Hong Kong / Greater China History
In the 2016 World Schools Debate Championships (WSDC), Capstone’s Competitive Debating alumni representing Team Hong Kong ranked #2 and #4 in the world. They are also the first and third highest ranked speakers in Hong Kong’s school debating history.
Champions and Finalists Everywhere
Capstone students rank at the top of nearly every academic competition across Asia. Whether in writing, public speaking, debate, mock trial, Model United Nation (MUN), or other pursuits, our students consistently excel.