The American debaters are phenomenally intense. They’ve been trained in a style that promotes a ruthless logic almost completely removed from real life. The goal of any speech is to prove that your opponents’ arguments – on any topic – will ultimately lead to human extinction. And they speak unimaginably fast, sucking in huge gasping breaths every hundred words or so.
We bring a lot of enthusiasm to the task, a little too much if anything. In our showcase debate, we’re told we have a few moments for opening remarks before the clock starts on our seven-minute speeches. As the final speaker Sean delivers seven minutes of wall-to-wall jokes – then turns to the timekeeper and asks him to start the clock.
In hindsight, some of this feels almost uncomfortably extravagant. University debating on both sides of the Atlantic has always been overwhelmingly middle class and white, and disproportionately male. So for most Irish Times winners – including me - the tour is a privilege built on privilege. When it comes to making debating more inclusive, we still have a long way to go.
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