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| Brandon Biggs & Patrick Loftus |
The Fran Tanner Invitational at the
College of Southern Idaho hosted seventy debate entries in three divisions of
debate. After four preliminary debates,
Loftus and Biggs were seeded second and invited to debate in the final round of
British Parliamentary debate where they placed third overall. In addition, Loftus and Biggs were honored as
the top speakers at the tournament with a total of 693 speaker points finishing
nine full points above the second place team.
Loftus and Biggs took first or second place in three of their four
debates.
The team debated in British Parliamentary
Debate which is a debate format designed to include eight individual speakers
from four teams. British Parliamentary
is a fast paced, fun debate format that allows audience participation. Each speaker has one seven minute speech but
may ask questions of other speakers during their speech times, mimicking the
style of the British Parliament. This
type of debate is accessible to public audiences and encourages proper
delivery, jokes, and rhetorical flourishes while relying on the foundations of
a good argument. Rather than choosing a
winner and a looser, the judges collaborate to rank order the four teams
participating in the debate.
Patrick Loftus said, "I had a great time at the tournament
working together with Brandon. I was very humbled to get the placing we did and
am excited to be receiving positive results mid-season."
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| Brandon Biggs & Patrick Loftus Debating at CSI |
The
coaches are also pleased with the results.
Sarah T. Partlow Lefevre, Director of the James M. & Sharon E. Rupp
Debate Society at Idaho State, said, “We are excited to try British
Parliamentary because it is an engaging form of debate that develops students’
persuasive abilities and increases portable skills.” Indeed, Forbes
has listed Communication skills as #2 in the list of the twenty people skills you
need to succeed at work. In a recent Forbes article
about the Benefits of speech and debate, Robert Sher argued,
“Here
is the truth about students who compete in speech and debate. They’ve spent hundreds of hours perfecting
their speaking skills. Many have done
intensive research to write their speeches.
All have endured the pressure that competition brings, and have
performed well intellectually under such pressure. They’ve made connections and friendships with
other high performing peers. All of these
behaviors are excellent predictors of success on any leadership team.”
Partlow Lefevre said, “British Parliamentary debate is
particularly good at encouraging students to develop analytic skills, good
delivery practices, and a persuasive style.”
Apparently,
Loftus and Biggs are well on their way to perfecting skills that will continue
to pay dividends in college and beyond. “I
am so proud of their success and the way that they positively represent Idaho
State University,” Dr. Partlow Lefevre said, “The skills they are learning
today will last long after the debates end.”
If you
are interested in debate or would like to learn more, please contact Dr. Sarah
T. Partlow Lefevre using the contact form on the right.
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| Top Speaker and Third Place (Bronze) Trophies. |
