"the imparting or exchanging of information by speaking, writing, or using some other medium."

• Be a better teamplayer 👫 - Teamwork relies on effective collaboration. To ensure the success of a project, the workload should be delegated between team members and a timescale created for the team to work towards. It's so important for team members to communicate with each other throughout, voicing any concerns about their ability to get something done and redistributing work as needed.
• Be a better leader 🚀 - The best leaders are strong communicators. Not only do they keep in touch with everyone on the team, they are also successful at communicating their company's mission and being clear in what they expect of their employees.
• Be a better writer 📝 - The ability to communicate your thoughts clearly and concisely on a page is a skill sought after by most employers! Whether it be writing professional emails, crafting persuasive speeches, or writing engaging copy for marketing and social media, good written communication skills are a valuable asset to any job seeker.
• Be a better public speaker 🗣 - Most job roles require some degree of public speaking. From giving a progress update in small team meetings, to delivering a larger scale presentation or running a training session, strong verbal communication skills are a must!

Team Preparation Time:

• As outlined above, working well in a team requires exceptional communication skills. 
• To prepare for a debate, students are split into two teams - team proposition and team opposition. 
• They are then split into breakout rooms for 15 minutes to prepare their speeches!
• As a part of this, students are encouraged to chat to each other about their points, give feedback on each other's arguments and prioritise their strongest points as a team.
• To earn top strategy points, students must communicate well as a group to create a strong team line.

Speech-writing

• Once students have decided on their strongest points as a team, they must spend time crafting their debate speeches.
• At Debate Mate, we teach students to write these using the PEEL structure. This stands for Point, Explanation, Example, Link.
• This acronym is a great way for students to structure their arguments clearly and concisely, and goes a long way to teaching them how to communicate effectively when writing!

Public speaking

• Having honed their written communication skills, students have plenty of opportunity to practice their verbal communication skills when delivering their PEEL debating speeches.
• As well as this, all students are encouraged to contribute to discussions and deliver impromptu speeches as a part of interactive activities and games.