WHY TO ATTEND

Debates Benefits of Debates 
1. Debates can help you practice and demonstrate your critical thinking skills.
 2. Debates can help you learn to discuss complicated topics calmly, clearly, and  
      competently 
3. Debates can help you cultivate your persuasion skills
 4. Debates help deepen your understanding of topics when you "actively" listen to 
      opposing views 
5. Debates help sharpen communication skills – you can learn to say more with 
     fewer words 
6. Debates can be mind-opening – "actively" listening to opposing opinions can 
     help you think out of the box – they can offer a broader range of alternatives, 
     excite imagination, and ignite creativity
 7. Debates help remind you that while business is about competition it is also 
     about compromise and cooperation
 8. Debate teams can offer a sense of comradeship, demonstrating the value of 
      teamwork. 
9. To those with a truly open-mind, debates can broaden and deepen reasoning 
     and communicating skills.  They can enhance the ability to think and 
      communicate clearly and quickly. 

Please remember always that Debates are not... 
1. Debates are not wars
2. Debates are not arguments 
3. Debates do not mean one team must win and one must lose (both can be successful or both can be losers)

Sources:https://www.albany.edu/faculty/vanness/481NEW/Debates.pdf