Public Speaking and Debate Camp

09:00 Did You Know That I Once...? Warm-up, 15 min

A gentle start adapted from the Toastmasters Table Topics idea 'Did You Know That I Once...?', where listeners guess whether a story is true: everyone speaks for a few seconds before nerves have time to build.

1. Write three short statements about yourself: two true, one invented. Keep them light, for example a food you have tried or a place you have visited.
2. Stand or sit up straight and say all three in under 30 seconds.
3. Listeners guess which one is invented and say why.
4. Notice how it felt to speak first. Rate your nerves from 1 (calm) to 10 (very nervous) in your notebook.

Solo: Record yourself saying the three statements to the camera, then ask a family member to guess the invented one later.

Group: In a circle or pods of 5 to 7, each person takes a turn of about 30 seconds. The facilitator goes first.

09:15 Why nerves happen and what helps Learn, 15 min

Nerves are a normal stress response, not a sign that you are bad at speaking. A few habits make them manageable.

1. Slow belly breathing is a simple way to calm stress: the NHS suggests breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth, counting gently to 5 each way, for at least 5 minutes.
2. Treat speaking as a conversation, not a performance. In Toastmaster magazine, Matt Abrahams notes that the idea of a 'performance' brings a tremendous amount of pressure.
3. Focus on your audience and your message rather than on yourself; this reduces self-focused anxiety.
4. Remember you have the floor. Toastmasters advice is that knowing no one will interrupt you can ease nervousness and the urge to fill silence.
5. Practise often. Confidence grows with each attempt, and preparation makes delivery smoother.

Related lessons: Public speaking and presentations (lifereadysociety.com/workplace-skills/public-speaking-and-presentations/)

09:30 Breathe, stand, begin Activity, 20 min

Build a two-minute pre-speech routine you can use before any class presentation, interview or exam speaking test.

1. Breathing (5 minutes): sit or stand with feet flat and hip-width apart. Breathe into your belly, in through the nose for a count of 5, out through the mouth for a count of 5. Do not force it.
2. Posture (3 minutes): stand with feet about shoulder-width apart, knees relaxed, back straight, shoulders squared and head up, as described in the Toastmasters Pathways guide.
3. Partner check (4 minutes): one person stands in speaking posture and says a single sentence; the other names one thing that looks confident.
4. Write your personal routine on an index card: for example, 'three slow breaths, feet planted, shoulders back, find a friendly face, first sentence'.
5. Rehearse your routine twice, then say your first sentence from the warm-up again and re-rate your nerves.

Solo: Do the routine in front of a mirror, then record one sentence before and after. Compare the two clips.

Group: Pairs, low-contact and side by side. Swap roles after 4 minutes. Anyone may do the posture check privately facing a wall or mirror instead.

09:50 Your voice and body as tools Learn, 15 min

The Toastmasters Pathways guide to vocal variety and body language gives you a toolkit to keep listeners with you.

1. Volume: be heard at the back, and use contrast. The guide notes that a quiet moment can stand out: 'a whisper may be even more powerful.'
2. Pitch: rise and fall to avoid a monotone. Extend your range gradually by practising scales on 'ahh', staying within your comfort zone.
3. Pace: too fast is hard to follow; too slow loses listeners. Change pace to build emotion.
4. Pauses: silence builds tension and adds impact, and gives you time to think.
5. Gestures: make them purposeful. The guide names four types: descriptive, emphatic, suggestive and prompting.
6. Eye contact: use it to convey emotion, invite a response and read the room. The guide notes that acceptable gestures vary widely between cultures, so plan your body language with your audience in mind.

Related lessons: Public speaking and presentations (lifereadysociety.com/workplace-skills/public-speaking-and-presentations/); The art of conversation (lifereadysociety.com/etiquette/the-art-of-conversation/)

10:05 Vocal variety lab Activity, 25 min

Hear the difference your voice makes by saying the same words in different ways.

1. Choose a short paragraph of 4 to 5 sentences: a news report, a school notice or a paragraph from a book you like, in Arabic or English.
2. Read it once flat and fast. Then read it again slowly with clear pauses at each full stop.
3. Mark one key word per sentence and read it a third time, stressing those words with volume or pitch.
4. Add one deliberate 2-second pause before the most important sentence and read it a fourth time.
5. Add one purposeful gesture of any of the four types and read it a final time.
6. Write down which version felt most natural and which sounded most convincing. They may be different.

Solo: Record all five versions and listen back with your eyes closed. Note the version you would want to listen to for 3 minutes.

Group: In pods, each student reads two contrasting versions (about 2 minutes each). Listeners vote by raising a card for the more engaging one and name one reason.

10:30 Break Break, 15 min

Drink water, stretch and rest your voice.

1. Step away from screens.
2. Sip water slowly; a dry mouth is common when nervous.

10:45 Table Topics round Activity, 30 min

Table Topics is the impromptu speaking part of a Toastmasters meeting: a Topicsmaster asks a question and each speaker answers for one to two minutes with no preparation.

1. Roles: one Topicsmaster (asks questions), one Timer (shows green at 1 minute, amber at 1 minute 30, red at 2 minutes), one Ah-Counter (notes filler words), speakers. Rotate roles each round.
2. Prepare 15 topic cards, such as: 'Advice to your younger self', 'The most useful object in your house', 'A skill every teenager in the UAE should learn', 'Describe your perfect weekend without using your phone'.
3. Each speaker draws a card and answers as a mini-speech with an opening, body and closing, as Toastmaster magazine suggests.
4. Start with your opinion: you already know what you think, so begin there with confidence.
5. Round two: Speed Table Topics. One minute each, with green at 45 seconds and red at one minute, as described in Toastmaster magazine.
6. After each speaker, the group gives one sentence of genuine praise only. Feedback technique comes on Day 2.

Solo: Shuffle your 15 cards, draw one, start a 2-minute timer and answer to the camera. Do at least five topics, including two in a second language if you have one.

Group: Pods of 5 to 7. Allow about three minutes per speaker including changeover, as Toastmasters suggests for planning. Every student should speak at least twice.

Related lessons: Public speaking and presentations (lifereadysociety.com/workplace-skills/public-speaking-and-presentations/)

11:15 Filler-word clinic Activity, 20 min

Toastmasters notes that filler words are invisible to the speaker but not to the listener. Today you make them visible and swap them for pauses.

1. The Ah-Counter role in Toastmasters notes sounds such as 'ah', 'um' and 'er' and overused words such as 'and', 'well', 'but', 'so' and 'you know'. Add 'like', and in Arabic 'yaani' or 'ehh'.
2. Speak for one minute on a new topic card while a partner tallies your fillers.
3. Repeat on the same topic, this time pausing silently whenever you feel a filler coming.
4. Compare the two counts. Do not aim for zero; aim for fewer and for pauses that feel deliberate.
5. Write your top two filler words on a card to watch for this week.

Solo: Record two one-minute takes and count the fillers yourself while watching back.

Group: Pairs or trios. The tally is private: the Ah-Counter shows the speaker the number, not the whole room.

11:35 Nerves to notes Reflect, 15 min

Capture what worked today so you can repeat it.

1. Compare your nerves rating from the warm-up with how you feel now.
2. Write one thing your voice did well and one thing to try tomorrow.
3. Finalise your pre-speech routine card and keep it in your phone case or pencil case.

Solo: Watch your best Table Topics clip once and write three observations: one about voice, one about body, one about structure.

Group: Pairs share one observation each, then three volunteers share with the whole group.

11:50 Day 1 quiz Quiz, 10 min

Five quick questions on today's teaching points.

1. Answer on your own.
2. Check the explanations and correct your notes.

09:00 Sell Something Warm-up, 15 min

A Toastmasters Table Topics format: pick an ordinary object and persuade the room it is worth having.

1. Draw an object from the bag without looking.
2. Take 20 seconds to think, then 'sell' it for 45 seconds: who it is for, what problem it solves, why now.
3. End with one clear request, for example 'Put one in your school bag tomorrow.'
4. Listeners note which sentence persuaded them most.

Solo: Pick three objects from around your home and sell each one to your camera in 45 seconds.

Group: In pods, each student sells one object. Use the Timer from Day 1 with a red card at 45 seconds.

09:15 Speech structures that work Learn, 15 min

Structure helps your audience follow you. Three reliable shapes, from simple to fuller.

1. Opening, body, closing: the basic shape of any speech, even a one-minute impromptu answer.
2. PEEL, recommended by the English-Speaking Union for building arguments: Point (a short headline), Explanation (why it is true and important), Evidence or example (a statistic or story), Link (return to your point).
3. Ask 'Why?' after each statement to find your reasons, and 'Who?' to find the people affected, as the ESU suggests.
4. Monroe's Motivated Sequence, explained by the James Madison University Communication Center, has five steps for persuasive talks: Attention, Need, Satisfaction, Visualisation, Action.
5. Always end with a clear action: tell people exactly what to do and how.

Related lessons: Public speaking and presentations (lifereadysociety.com/workplace-skills/public-speaking-and-presentations/); Claims, Evidence and Weak Arguments (lifereadysociety.com/critical-thinking/claims-evidence-and-weak-arguments/)

09:30 Build a two-minute PEEL talk Activity, 25 min

Turn an opinion into a structured, persuasive mini-speech.

1. Choose a school or community issue you care about, for example 'Our school should install water refill stations' or 'Teenagers should learn to cook before they finish school'.
2. Write your claim in one sentence.
3. Ask 'Why?' three times to get three reasons, and 'Who?' to list who is affected.
4. Pick your two strongest reasons and write each as a PEEL paragraph on an index card, in bullet words, not full sentences.
5. Add an opening hook (a question, a short story or a surprising fact you can source) and a closing call to action.
6. Deliver it once to a partner or camera and time it: aim for 2 minutes.

Solo: Record it once, watch back and tighten anything over 2 minutes 15 seconds.

Group: Pairs. Each partner delivers once and the listener names the Point of each PEEL paragraph back to them. If they cannot, the Point needs sharpening.

Related lessons: Claims, Evidence and Weak Arguments (lifereadysociety.com/critical-thinking/claims-evidence-and-weak-arguments/)

09:55 Ethos, pathos, logos (and kairos) Learn, 15 min

Aristotle's rhetoric gives names to the ways speakers persuade. Purdue OWL summarises them.

1. Ethos: elements that reflect the speaker's character and credibility. Why should we trust you on this topic?
2. Pathos: elements that appeal to the audience's feelings and sensibilities. Why should we care?
3. Logos: the content and organisation of the argument itself. Does the reasoning hold together?
4. Kairos: elements that acknowledge and draw support from the particular setting. Why this message, to this audience, here and now?
5. Strong speeches balance all three appeals. Emotion without evidence feels manipulative; evidence without feeling is easy to forget.
6. Check your own claims for weak spots before an audience does: vague sources, over-generalisation, or a cause assumed without proof.

Related lessons: Claims, Evidence and Weak Arguments (lifereadysociety.com/critical-thinking/claims-evidence-and-weak-arguments/)

10:10 Two proposals, one vote Case study, 25 min

Analyse two speeches to a student council and decide which is more persuasive and why.

1. Scenario: at a secondary school in Dubai, the student council must choose one project for its small budget. Two students speak for 2 minutes each.
2. Speaker A (shade structures in the playground): opens with 'Last June, three students in our year felt faint during outdoor break.' Says she spoke to the school nurse and the facilities manager, shows a sketch and a cost estimate, and ends 'Vote for shade so every student can be outside safely.'
3. Speaker B (a new games room): opens with 'Everyone knows school is boring.' Says 'all the best schools in London have one', gives no cost, and ends 'It will be amazing, trust me.'
4. Questions: find one example of ethos, pathos and logos in Speaker A. Which appeals is Speaker B missing?
5. Which of Speaker B's claims are weak, and why? (Think: 'everyone knows', unnamed sources, no evidence.)
6. Rewrite Speaker B's opening and closing so the games room has a fair chance. What evidence would B need?
7. International twist: imagine the same vote at a school in Singapore during the monsoon season. What changes in the kairos of each speech?

Solo: Answer the questions in your notebook, then record your rewritten 30-second opening for Speaker B.

Group: Trios: one reads Speaker A, one reads Speaker B, one leads the questions. Each trio reports its rewrite to the room in 30 seconds.

Related lessons: Claims, Evidence and Weak Arguments (lifereadysociety.com/critical-thinking/claims-evidence-and-weak-arguments/); Disagreeing Well and Changing Your Mind (lifereadysociety.com/critical-thinking/disagreeing-well-and-changing-your-mind/)

10:35 Break Break, 15 min

Rest your voice and move around.

1. Drink water and stretch.
2. Glance at your PEEL cards once, then put them away.

10:50 The 90-second story Activity, 20 min

Stories bring pathos and make your points memorable. A short, true story with a clear point often persuades more than another statistic.

1. Pick a real, small moment: a first day somewhere, a mistake you learned from, a time someone helped you.
2. Sketch four beats in your notebook: the setting, the challenge, the turning point, the lesson.
3. Cut every detail that does not serve the lesson.
4. Tell it in 90 seconds, using a pause just before the turning point.
5. Decide where this story could sit in your PEEL talk: as the opening hook or as the Evidence in one paragraph.

Solo: Record the story twice, once with your notes and once without, and keep the stronger take.

Group: In pods, each student tells their story. Listeners write the lesson in one line; the speaker checks whether it matches what they intended.

Related lessons: The art of conversation (lifereadysociety.com/etiquette/the-art-of-conversation/)

11:10 Slides that support you Learn, 10 min

Slides are optional. When you use them, they should help the audience listen to you, not replace you. Monash University's guidance sums it up.

1. One idea per slide, like a paragraph in writing.
2. Minimal text: short phrases instead of paragraphs, to avoid overload.
3. Use images, charts and graphs to clarify, and keep good contrast and readable font sizes.
4. Do not use slides as a script; your audience should be listening to you.
5. Keep styles consistent, use animations sparingly, and rehearse your transitions.
6. Check spelling and cite your sources on the slide.

Related lessons: Public speaking and presentations (lifereadysociety.com/workplace-skills/public-speaking-and-presentations/)

11:20 Feedback that helps Activity, 25 min

Good feedback is specific and points to the speaker's next step. Toastmasters calls a common structure the 'evaluation sandwich'.

1. Learn the structure: open with genuine strengths, give one or two suggestions, close with another positive.
2. Be specific: quote the speaker's actual words and offer an alternative, for example 'You opened with "Today I will talk about...". What if you had opened with your story?'
3. Keep the guiding question from Toastmaster magazine in mind: what is the next step in this speaker's growth?
4. Speaker delivers their 2-minute PEEL talk again. Evaluator takes notes, then gives a 1-minute evaluation.
5. Speaker responds with only 'Thank you' and one question to clarify. No arguing or explaining.
6. Swap roles so everyone gives and receives feedback.

Solo: Watch your PEEL recording as if it were someone else's, and write a 1-minute evaluation using the sandwich. Then ask one trusted adult for one strength and one suggestion.

Group: Trios rotating speaker, evaluator and timer. The facilitator listens in and models one evaluation first.

Related lessons: Active listening and asking good questions (lifereadysociety.com/relationships/active-listening-and-asking-good-questions/); Speaking up: assertiveness, I-statements and saying no (lifereadysociety.com/relationships/speaking-up-assertiveness-i-statements-and-saying-no/)

11:45 What persuades me Reflect, 10 min

Notice what works on you as a listener, then use it as a speaker.

1. Which speaker today persuaded you most, and was it ethos, pathos or logos?
2. Write the best piece of feedback you received and what you will change because of it.
3. Choose a topic for your capstone speech tomorrow and write your one-sentence claim.

Solo: Answer the three prompts in your notebook, then say your capstone claim aloud to the camera in one sentence and check it is clear on playback.

Group: Pairs share their answer to the first prompt, then each student reads their capstone claim aloud to the pod in one sentence; listeners say whether they understood it on first hearing.

11:55 Day 2 quiz Quiz, 5 min

Five questions on structure, persuasion and feedback.

1. Answer on your own.
2. Read the explanations.

09:00 The most useful object Warm-up, 10 min

Adapted from the English-Speaking Union's 'Zombie apocalypse' activity, which shows there is always something to say.

1. Each person picks a household object from the bag.
2. Imagine you are stranded at a remote desert camp overnight with only these objects. In 30 seconds, argue why yours is the most useful.
3. Use one PEEL point: headline, why, example, link.
4. The group votes for the most persuasive case, not the most useful object.

Solo: Argue for three objects in turn on camera, then decide which argument was strongest and why.

Group: Pods of 4 to 6, as in the ESU activity, about 10 minutes in total.

09:10 How a World Schools debate works Learn, 15 min

World Schools style is used at the World Schools Debating Championships. Here is the full format and the shorter camp version you will use today.

1. Two teams: Proposition (for the motion) and Opposition (against). Three speakers per team speak in a round.
2. Full format, from the World Schools adjudicator guide: each team gives three 8-minute speeches, alternating and starting with Proposition, then one 4-minute reply speech each, given by the first or second speaker, with Opposition replying first. Teams may have 3 to 5 members, but only three speak in a round.
3. Points of Information (POIs): short interruptions of up to 15 seconds from the other side, allowed only between the 1st and 7th minute of main speeches. The first and last minutes are protected. Speakers should generally accept at least one.
4. Judging weights: Style 40 percent (how you deliver), Content 40 percent (what you argue), Strategy 20 percent (why you chose it and how you used your time).
5. Camp version: three speeches of 3 minutes each per team, POIs allowed only in the middle minute, and a 2-minute reply per team. Total about 25 minutes.

Related lessons: Disagreeing Well and Changing Your Mind (lifereadysociety.com/critical-thinking/disagreeing-well-and-changing-your-mind/)

09:25 Build your case Activity, 20 min

Use the ESU's prep-time questions to prepare one side of a motion.

1. Pick one motion. Suggestions: 'This house would ban smartphones in secondary school classrooms', 'This house believes every teenager should have a part-time job or volunteering role', 'This house would make cooking and budgeting lessons compulsory'.
2. Teams are assigned by coin toss: you argue the side you are given, not the side you prefer.
3. Answer the ESU prep questions: Why is the motion good or bad? Who does it affect? Have we considered every word? What would the world look like if it happened? What will the other side argue?
4. Agree two or three main arguments and write each as a PEEL card.
5. Split roles: Speaker 1 sets out the case, Speaker 2 extends it and rebuts, Speaker 3 rebuts and sums up. Decide who gives the reply: in World Schools it must be Speaker 1 or Speaker 2.
6. List the two strongest arguments you expect from the other side.

Solo: Prepare both sides of one motion: two PEEL cards for Proposition and two for Opposition.

Group: Teams of three. Spare students become judges and timekeepers, or a second debate runs in parallel with another adult.

Related lessons: Claims, Evidence and Weak Arguments (lifereadysociety.com/critical-thinking/claims-evidence-and-weak-arguments/)

09:45 Rebuttal and respectful disagreement Learn, 10 min

Rebuttal means answering the other side's argument, not attacking the person. Hamilton College's debating guide gives a clear method.

1. Four steps: state the opponent's argument fairly, give your counterargument, support it with evidence, explain why your position is stronger.
2. Challenge arguments on three grounds: definitions (vague or undefined terms), logic (weak links, over-generalisation, assumed cause and effect, bias) and grounds (missing, thin or misread evidence).
3. Restate their point in words they would agree with before you answer it.
4. Use phrases such as 'My opponent made a fair point about..., however...' and thank the other team at the end.
5. Disagree with ideas, never with people. You can lose a debate gracefully and still change your mind later.

Related lessons: Disagreeing Well and Changing Your Mind (lifereadysociety.com/critical-thinking/disagreeing-well-and-changing-your-mind/); Speaking up: assertiveness, I-statements and saying no (lifereadysociety.com/relationships/speaking-up-assertiveness-i-statements-and-saying-no/)

09:55 Rebuttal ping-pong Activity, 15 min

Fast practice in answering an argument on the spot.

1. Partner A states one argument in 20 seconds using a PEEL card.
2. Partner B rebuts in 30 seconds using the four steps.
3. Partner A rebuts the rebuttal in 20 seconds.
4. Swap and repeat with a new argument. Do at least four rounds.
5. Each partner names which ground (definitions, logic or grounds) worked best.

Solo: Record one argument, play it back, then pause and record your rebuttal to it. Repeat with the other side.

Group: Pairs facing each other across a table. The facilitator calls time on each turn.

10:10 Break Break, 15 min

Rest before the capstone.

1. Water, stretch, fresh air.
2. Run your pre-speech routine from Day 1 once.

10:25 Capstone preparation: your persuasive speech Capstone, 20 min

Finalise your 3 to 5 minute persuasive speech from last night's plan.

1. Check your claim is one clear sentence.
2. Check every main point is PEEL and has evidence you can name the source of.
3. Mark where you use ethos, pathos and logos.
4. Add your 90-second story if it fits, and mark two deliberate pauses.
5. Reduce your notes to key words on no more than three index cards.
6. Rehearse once against a timer and adjust to land between 3 and 5 minutes.

Solo: Do one full rehearsal on camera and watch only the first 30 seconds: fix the opening if it is weak.

Group: Rehearse quietly in pairs, giving each other one suggestion only.

Related lessons: Public speaking and presentations (lifereadysociety.com/workplace-skills/public-speaking-and-presentations/); Interviews: preparing, the STAR method and common questions (lifereadysociety.com/careers-cv/interviews-preparing-the-star-method-and-common-questions/)

10:45 Capstone delivery: speeches Capstone, 30 min

Deliver your persuasive speech to your pod or your camera, in Arabic or English.

1. Use your pre-speech routine, then begin with your hook.
2. Timer shows green at 3 minutes, amber at 4 minutes and red at 5 minutes.
3. After each speech, one listener gives a 1-minute evaluation using the sandwich.
4. The Ah-Counter shares the filler count privately with the speaker.

Solo: Record your speech in one take, without stopping, as if to a live audience. Do not re-record until after your self-review.

Group: Pods of 5 to 6 with an adult present, so each speech plus feedback fits in about 6 minutes. Only the speaker films, on their own phone, with consent.

11:15 Capstone delivery: the mini-debate Capstone, 30 min

Run the camp-version World Schools debate on your motion.

1. Order: Proposition 1, Opposition 1, Proposition 2, Opposition 2, Proposition 3, Opposition 3, each 3 minutes. Then Opposition reply and Proposition reply, 2 minutes each.
2. POIs allowed only in the middle minute of each main speech, 15 seconds maximum; stand or raise a hand to offer one.
3. Judges score Style, Content and Strategy using the 40, 40, 20 weighting and give a short decision with reasons.
4. Both teams shake hands or place a hand on the heart and thank each other, whichever each person prefers.

Solo: Record a 3-minute Proposition speech, then a 3-minute Opposition speech that rebuts it, then a 2-minute reply for the side you think won. Be honest about which side was stronger.

Group: Two teams of three plus judges and a timekeeper. Run parallel debates for larger groups, each with an adult present.

Related lessons: Disagreeing Well and Changing Your Mind (lifereadysociety.com/critical-thinking/disagreeing-well-and-changing-your-mind/)

11:45 Self-review against the rubric Reflect, 10 min

Look back at three days and set your next step.

1. Score yourself from 1 to 4 on each rubric line: structure, content and evidence, persuasion, delivery, rebuttal and respect, timing.
2. Write your biggest strength and one next step for your growth as a speaker.
3. Compare your nerves rating now with Day 1.

Solo: Watch your speech recording once, with the rubric beside you, before scoring.

Group: Share your next step with one partner, then each pod shares one highlight with the whole group.

11:55 Day 3 quiz Quiz, 5 min

Five questions on debating and rebuttal.

1. Answer on your own.
2. Read the explanations.