Debate

Bloviators Debating Club

Welcome!

Established February 2024: a debating club that is open to all.

Next debate will be in the Autumn of 2025

Free to attend, refreshments served, everyone welcome.

Debates are held in the Coxwell Room, Cirencester Baptist Church, Chesterton Lane, Cirencester GL 7 1YE

Different to other debating events:

Three motions – only the one that is voted for on the evening gets debated
Randomised team selection

The motions for Friday 30th May were:

1️⃣ We rely too much on technology.
2️⃣ There should be a maximum limit on personal wealth.
3️⃣ Fiction teaches us more than facts ever could.

The one motion that was voted on and debated was:

2️⃣ There should be a maximum limit on personal wealth.

The results are: the motion was carried! Congratulations to Katie, Sammy, Rachel and Emily who successfully proposed that there should be a maximum limit on personal wealth. Thank you to John, Myles and Laurie for putting up a spirited opposition!

Some notes for next time:

90 seconds max per speaker next
A nominated member of each team given an extra chance to sum up the argument after all Floor Speakers have had a chance to contribute
Floor Speakers will also be limited to 90 seconds
Phones permissable by the audience only
Points Of Information accepted / timer paused for this
Unused motions will be retained for future debates

Quick guide to the debate running order:

register your name as you arrive
if yours is one of the six names drawn by spinner, then you have been selected to take part
the order in which your name was drawn, determines the team that you are on
it is then decided by flipping a coin if your team will be proposing or opposing the motion
speakers take turns with the proposing team opening the debate
Once all speakers have made their 90 second speech, the debate is opened to the floor
Each team then has a further 90 seconds in which to sum up their best arguments and to respond to the opposing team

The Six Stages of Bloviator debates:

To express your interest / ask questions please email Phil Anley using the following email address:

(or just come along – no registration necessary)

There were three possible motions for debating on 23rd February 2024:

Human beings present the greatest threat to life in the solar system: it would be best for us to remain on a single planet
Superheroes make the best role models for children
Pets should always be permitted in the workplace

The motion voted for was:

Human beings present the greatest threat to life in the solar system: it would be best for us to remain on a single planet

After much spirited debate, the motion was successfully opposed!

Procedural notes:

We will be following a version of the Mace Format rules.

The Chairperson will provide a summary of the rules at the beginning of the session.

Points Of Information may be offered from the floor, subject to:

The current speaker accepting them
A factual inaccuracy having been identified

Team speakers are limited to 90 seconds of speaking time each.
The Chair will give notice once there is ten seconds remaining.

Younger debaters can register as part of a pair if they would prefer. One member of the pair will speak.

Audience members may choose to express an interest in taking part or, if they prefer, in only watching.

Debating sessions will last for a maximum of one hour, from 7:30pm to 8:30pm with refreshments at the end

Spinner system: as developed by the Flickernet Physical Computing Club

Whilst there will not be a charge for attending debates, or for taking part in them, over the long term we are aiming to raise funds for the UCL / GOSH Pulmonary Hypertension Research Team.

Donations will help the search for treatments, and towards a cure, for Pulmonary Hypertension in children.