On the morning on the 12th of May we were at Home Grown for a breakfast with Debate Mate. Debate Mate provide world-class communication training to students from all backgrounds to improve social mobility and provide equal chances for young people. They also provide the same training on a corporate level to companies such as Deloitte, Tesco, Standard Chartered NYC and Premier League.
At the breakfast we were lucky enough to experience the benefits of their amazing work first hand with a live debate from Debate Mate students on the subject: ‘This house believes that technology is the easiest and most effective way to communicate and connect with others’. It was incredible to see the level of passion and discipline that went into the debate. We also got taught a few tips of our own through some interactive exercises. The main takeaways were to not start any sentence with “um”; be able to argue for the other side of the argument this way you will be more understanding of the opposition and therefore more persuasive; always question why you are saying something to help others understand your point and finally the importance of eye contact and engaging the opposition.
Debate Mate are making a real positive change to young people’s lives by teaching them highly important and valuable skills that are not taught in a standard learning environment. It is a privilege to have collaborated on this event and we look forward seeing more of the inspiring work all of the Debate Mate team are doing. You can learn more about Debate Mate here: debatemate.org
