How to Coordinate a Debate
A debate is an excellent way to allow candidates for any type of elected office to share their views on important topics. It's also a great forum that allows opposing organizations to share and defend their views. Deciding to host a debate requires planning and the cooperation of a number of parties, particularly the people who will be doing the debating. You'll also want people to attend the debate so they can learn about the issues at hand; this will require a degree of publicity.
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Instructions
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Decide on a topic for your debate. If you're coordinating a debate for candidates seeking an elected office, you could choose to focus on several topics that are important to local constituents or allow the candidates to debate a wider variety of issues. The choice depends in part on the length of your debate and how many topics there are. For debates between opposing sides or organizations, you'll want to choose a specific area or topic for your debate so that it will be effective.
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Choose your debaters. For debates linked to elected offices, the debaters will obviously be the candidates themselves, although you'll need to decide if you're going to allow all candidates to debate or only those from the two major political parties. For other types of debates, you'll want to choose knowledgeable people who will be able to speak intelligently on the topic or topics you've selected.
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Select a moderator. The moderator is responsible for running the actual debate. He or she will pose the questions to the candidates and make sure all debaters stay on track. It is up to the moderator to stop the debaters from veering off subject and to make sure everyone obeys the rules of the debate. If debaters are given a time limit, it is also the moderator's responsibility to notify participants when their time is up.
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Determine which rules your debate will have. You could impose a lot of rules and have a strict debate or you could have a more relaxed debate with fewer rules. The best format will depend in large part on who the debaters are and the topics comprising the debate. Once you've determined which rules you will impose, make sure to share them with the debaters and the moderator ahead of time.
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Decide if you'd like to allow the audience to be able to pose questions to the debaters. For election debates, allowing audience members to ask about topics that are important to them can be beneficial in helping people decide whom to vote for. Nevertheless, opening up the debate to audience participation makes it harder to moderate the proceedings. If your debate will be enhanced by audience questions, consider allowing them. But be sure to define and announce the rules for questions before the debate begins.
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Publicize your debate as you'll want to make sure people attend. Announce it on websites and in newspapers, for example. If the debate will be televised, consider using television commercials to promote it as well -- if budgetary considerations permit.
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References
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