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Why Your Child Should Join the Debate Team

A young woman delivers her rebuttal to an audience during a debate

Just last week, the National Speech and Debate Association marked its 100th birthday by celebrating a century of speech and debate. It’s a fitting time to discuss all the benefits your child can reap by joining their local debate team. 


Elevate Public Speaking Skills


Great public speaking skills are the foundation to great debate. Through debate clubs, your child will learn about how to use their body language and tone of voice to appear confident and authoritative. They’ll also learn how to write speeches and use ethos, pathos, and logos to build trust with their audience and successfully persuade them. 


Public speaking is a skill that will benefit your child throughout their academic and professional careers. Workplace leaders need to express themselves with authority in meetings, to their teammates, employees, and executives. As a student, excellent public speaking skills will help them get better grades on school projects, as well as project confidence in social situations. 


LeadYouth Founder Sarat Chakravarthi around age 14 stands behind a podium
LeadYouth Founder Sarat Chakravarthi participated on the Debate Team as a young student.

Build Confidence on the Debate Team


Joining the debate club is a big step toward becoming a confident student and person, especially for shy or introverted students. Working with a team, speaking in front of an audience, and winning debates are direct pathways to confidence. 


While public speaking in general builds confidence, debate combines the benefits of public speaking with teamwork and social connection between students. The more obstacles our children overcome, the more confident they become. Working hard to win a tough debate skyrockets your child’s confidence. 


Think Critically & Quickly


Being able to think critically on your feet is key to becoming a great debater. During a debate, students must pivot to counter unforeseen arguments posed by their competitors, forcing them to think quickly and rely on their knowledge and research. 


According to Nichols College, “Critical thinking encourages innovative and outside-the-box problem-solving approaches. By considering multiple angles and challenging conventional ideas, critical thinkers arrive at inventive solutions to complex challenges.”


Unfortunately researchers from the Harvard Kennedy School found that 27 percent of teachers are not teaching critical thinking and 19 percent were unsure if they taught it. Enrolling your child in an after-school debate club is one way to fill in those gaps in your child’s education.  


Boost College Admissions Profile


The Debate Club looks great on your child’s college admissions profile. It shows colleges that your child has all the skills required to become a leader: a c-suite executive, doctor, or lawyer. Your child can also earn scholarships for their debate skills. 


For example, the National Speech and Debate Association provides students with more than $100,000 in scholarships, which can greatly reduce the financial burden of sending a child to college. Your child could even get a scholarship from their college for their performance in speech and debate.


The graph below shows that involvement with the National Speech and Debate Association helps students get into top colleges. 


student enrollment at top schools. National enrollment in top 10 college 1%, NSDA enrollment 7%; Top 25 college 2%, NSDA enrollment 15%; Top 50 college national enrollment 6%, NSDA enrollment 23%

Set Your Child Up for Success with LeadYouth


At LeadYouth, we start teaching students the critical skills needed for debate early. When you sign your child up for LeadYouth, they’ll get a headstart on learning public speaking, critical thinking, and building persuasive arguments, setting them up for lifelong success. 



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