Speak, Argue, Win: My Experience at UT Debates Club – Nargiz (Azerbaijan)

Hey there, fellow students! If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be a part of the University of Tartu Debates Club, you’re in the right place. I’m here to talk about my journey in debating, and let me tell you that it’s been a roller coaster of words, ideas, and friendships.

Why Debates Club?
This semester, I had been looking for an extracurricular to enhance my public speaking skills. I was lucky enough to come across a University of Tartu telegram channel post where the debates club was mentioned. I immediately decided to join it. The next day I was already near the entrance of Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies by 6:00 pm.

Being a part of this club is not only a great way to enhance your public speaking, it is like being part of a family that talks, argues, has lots of fun and most importantly debates. It’s not a typical university club; it’s a community of passionate, supportive, and open minded people.

How debates trainings are being held?
We start things off with a presentation, led by our experienced coaches. It’s like a small lecture, but way more interactive. They break down the mechanics of debating, from how to build a strong argument to how to counter your opponent’s points. It gives a clear overview of what one should do in order to win a game. However, the real fun begins when we switch from theory to practice. We play a debate game, where we vote for the topic which is the most interesting for us to play. We split into teams, and each team has two people in it. Usually you plan your speech beforehand, but it also happens that you have to improvise and craft your arguments on the spot in order to get more points.

There is no pressure to be perfect, everything in the debates club is about learning. Personally, I was able to get better with each game I participated in, since the more you debate the more it is comfortable for you to speak in front of the public. Furthermore, the very important outcome of the debates is that they sharpen your mind. After debating for some time I was able to structure my thoughts more concisely and more easily. This is an important tool for winning the debates. One more important thing in those debates sessions is that after each game you are able to get a personal feedback from the judge. This will help you to improve your game and debating skills in the long term.

Recently, I had the opportunity to participate in the English and Russian debates tournaments. It was both very emotive as well as exciting. I truly enjoyed the rush of emotions I had when I was waiting for the final results of debates to come out. If you ever decide to try debates yourself, then I would highly recommend to join the debates tournaments since they give tons of experience in only one day. The tournaments in Estonia are usually organised by the Estonian Debating Society. You can check their website to find out more about the upcoming events.

How to get involved?
In case you would like to join the debates club you should know that there are 3 different languages it is being held in: Estonian, English and Russian. All the debates are happening at 18:00 pm at Lossi 36, room 306. The only difference between the clubs is the day of the week they are being held on. Estonian debates club is being held on Thursdays, Russian one on Wednesdays and English debates on Tuesdays. Personally, I participate in Russian and English clubs since I don’t have that good knowledge of Estonian language.

To sum up, the debates club was something I found almost accidentally. I was looking for enhancing my public speaking skills, but I came across finding new friends, new experiences and sharpening my mind as well as learning to improvise. I hope you enjoyed my blog, and if you ever need a partner to debate with, you know where to find me!

All photos courtesy of Maria Grünberg

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