Shoutout to the professor who brought both a controversial speaker and a counter-speaker to the same event

Last semester at my community college in Portland, our poli-sci professor invited a guy who argues that college is a scam and a woman who says free tuition is a right. He had them debate on stage instead of just letting one speak. The difference was huge. The crowd stayed respectful because both sides got equal time and the Q&A was fair. Has anyone else seen a dual-speaker format work better?

3 comments

3 Comments

knight.diana1mo ago

That the crowd stayed respectful because both sides got equal time" is the key part. Most debates fail because one side talks way too long or the moderator picks favorites. I see this same problem at work meetings and even family dinners. People shut down when they feel like the other side already got more than their fair share of airtime. A strict timer and equal chance to ask questions changes everything. It forces everyone to actually listen instead of just waiting to talk.

taylor_fox1mo ago

Oh man, I saw a video of a local town hall debate in Austin a few months ago where they actually used a literal kitchen timer for each speaker, and it was wild how much better it went than any debate I've seen on TV. Nobody could ramble or dodge the question because that buzzer went off and they had to wrap it up fast, lol. It honestly forced people to get to the point instead of trying to sound smart with a million filler words. I feel like if family dinners ran on a timer too, my uncle wouldn't be able to dominate the whole conversation about politics for 20 minutes straight, lmao. Its such a simple fix but it really does make you actually listen because you know you'll get your turn.

sage_morgan756d ago

@taylor_fox makes a great point about the timer system. I read about a similar experiment where they used a literal hourglass on stage at a community event. It cut down on rambling by a lot. The speaker either had to get to the point or look foolish running out of time. That strict format plus the dual speaker setup sounds like the only way to get a real exchange of ideas. Makes me wish more of these public debates would try it instead of the usual mess where one side talks circles around the other.