World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championships
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The World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championships is a high profile annual English language debating and public speaking tournament for individual high school level students representing different countries. All competitors must take part in four events: parliamentary debate, impromptu speaking, interpretive reading and either persuasive speaking or after-dinner speaking. The competition began at Reading Blue Coat School in Reading, England in 1988 and has continued since then. The majority of past championships were held in England, though recent championships have been held in other countries including Argentina, Botswana and Cyprus.
The notable differences between this tournament and the other major high school level international debating tournament, the World Schools Debating Championships, is the focus on one's individual ranking as opposed to the ranking of each country's team, and the inclusion of multiple events, including public speaking.
Numerous countries have participated in the tournament, including: Canada, the United States, England, South Africa, Lithuania, Pakistan, Cyprus, Argentina, Botswana, Israel, South Korea, and Germany.
[edit] Past Championships
[edit] Future Championships
- 2008 - to be hosted by the German Debating Society, Germany
- 2009 - to be hosted by Reading Blue Coat School, England
- 2010 - to be hosted by the Pakistan Debating Society, Lahore, Pakistan
- 2011 - to be hosted by the Lithuanian Debating Society, Lithuania
