College Debate

I attended a demonstration of debating by the KU debate team at the Edwards Campus here in KC last Sunday, thinking I might learn something that would be helpful in conducting my Discussion Group here at Kingswood. I was shocked to learn that the debating now is done in fast talk. The debaters in their tournaments talk so fast that the average person cannot possibly understand them. And I think it is horrible. Instead of promoting better speech, it does quite the contrary. The apparent reason for this fast talk, the faster you speak, the more arguments that you can make, and the opposing team loses points in the judges' scoring if arguments are not rebutted. , A documentary film entitled Fast Talk, based upon the champion Northwestern U. team, is discussed at fasttalkthemovie.com/more/