Debate Hub
Episodes
2025 Wrapped
22 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Kate and Michael reflect the last year in debating and look at some things we hope improve, some things we appreciate and our favouri...
Voice 21 drop by
12 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this pod, Michael sits down with Amanda Moorghan, Director of Learning, Impact and Influence at Voice 21. Former colleagues who debated against e...
Do we hate Model United Nations?
13 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Kate & Michael discuss MUN and the perceived hatred between debating and MUN. If you want to take part in our competitions detail...
Are we scared of giving students a voice?
29 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Schools often talk about empowering student voice, but do we really want to hear what they have to say? Kate and Michael discuss.
Sixth formers discuss running their Year 5 debate clubs
15 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Every year, several of our sixth formers run clubs and teach lessons in local state primaries. In this episode Michael talks with two of his students ...
The 7 baby steps to becoming an amazing oracy school
05 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Inspired by Dave Ramsey, Kate and Michael discuss the seven steps to making your school a thriving hub of oracy.
Oxbridge Interviews- A how to (Re-issue)
18 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Kate obtained a congratulatory first, a masters and a PhD at Oxford. During her time as a postgrad she was an interviewer for her college. In this epi...
Framing
03 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Michael & Kate discuss 'framing' which can also be thought of as 'context setting'.
Opening Lines
13 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Kate & Michael discuss opening lines. First looking at great opening lines in literature, we then discuss how to have a great opening line for pub...
Points of Information
30 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Kate & Michael discuss POIs, the short interjections that you are allowed to offer in almost all forms of debating. How to give t...
Rebuttal
10 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Michael & Kate dive deep on responding to and defeating arguments in competitive debating. To attend our debating summer camp fo...
Impacting & Weighing
09 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Kate & Michael discuss the importance of 'why important' - more commonly called impacting. We also look at 'why mo...
Adolescence- How to discuss in schools with Laura Coryton
07 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In a special episode, Michael sits down with Laura Coryton MBE to discuss how schools can have productive conversations around the themes raised in th...
Analysis
19 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the second episode of season 2 Kate & Michael discuss how to properly 'analyse' (explain/justify) points to make compelling and persu...
Coming Up With Points
19 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this first episode of season 2, Kate & Michael discuss the tips and tricks of coming up with arguments, the most fundamentals and important ski...
Goal setting for competitive debaters
06 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In our first episode of 2025, Kate & Michael decided to talk about goal setting! How to set goals as a debaters that actually help you improve, ho...
2024 Wrapped Part 2- Favourite Motions
30 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In part two of our recap of 2024, Kate & Michael discuss some of our favourite motions we have seen and set, what we like about them and what they...
2024 Wrapped Part 1- What we learned and highlights
13 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Kate & Michael discuss a year in debating. We cover some of the things we have learned over the past 12 months and some of the hig...
Debate Partners- A how to
09 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This is a reissue of an earlier episode featuring two of our very successful sixth form debaters discussing how to succeed with a variety of partners,...
What makes a good schools debating competition?
25 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode- originally an unplanned 'emergency pod' Kate & Michael discuss all the new competitions cropping up on the circuit, the...
'I've judged over 200 finals'
04 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Michael chats to Craig McDonald, one of the most experienced debate judges on the planet about all things judging.
How to smash an Oxbridge interview (re-issue)
22 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This is a re-issue of episode 19 in which Kate (who holds a first class undergrad and a PhD from Oxford and heads up South Hampstead's Oxbridge p...
Sitting down with team England
02 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Michael sits down for a conversation with three of the team England debaters who took part in the 2024 world championships in Serbia. ...
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe: Speaker Series
16 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe spent over 5 years in an Iranian jail having committed no crime. In this special Speaker Series, Nazanin sits down with Anna...
Alexa, will you marry me?
10 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This is a speech given at South Hampstead High School in 2024 by a year 11 student to an audience of roughly 1000. It has great examples of humour, re...
The principles of a running a great debate club part two (Re-issue)
25 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
For motions, resources and competitions, check out www.debatehub.co.uk
The principles of a running a great debate club (Re-issue)
19 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
With the new academic year fast approaching, we are re-publishing one of our most popular episodes. In the first half, Kate and Michael discuss some o...
The Global Issues Oracy Project
05 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Michael sits down with Zoe Brass to discuss the global issues oracy project ran recently at South Hampstead High School.
Year 12s coaching year 5s
22 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, two of our year 12s discuss their experience of running debate clubs for year 5s in some of our local state schools.
Public Speaking Competitions- Part 2
08 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In part two of our bumper long episode about public speaking competitions, Michael & Kate discuss the importance of the 'compere' role a...
Public Speaking Competitions- Part 1
23 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In the first half of this bumper episode, Michael & Kate discuss the format Debate Hub uses for our public speaking competitions, the reasons we d...
The Oracy Conference
12 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The South Hampstead Oracy conference takes place July 6th 2024. In this episode, Michael and Kate give a brief overview of what the conference is, who...
State Schools & Team England
07 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we sit down with Cesca Reynolds, who runs the 'development squads' wing of England's national debate team, as well as h...
Primary Head & Author, Zoe Paramour
20 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Zoe Paramour is the author of 3 education books: The Writing Book, The Grammar Book & How to be an Outstanding Primary Middle Leader. She has al...
Oxbridge Interviews
05 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
An in-depth discussion about the Oxbridge application process: admissions tests, what they really want to read in your personal statement and the drea...
The principles of a great debate club- part 2
29 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Part 2 of our bumper length discussion about the most important aspects of running a great debate club
The principles of a great debate club- part 1
14 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In part 1 of this bumper episode, Kate and Michael discuss the principles that are key to success in a debate club and how to practically implement th...
Rapid Improvement in year 10
01 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Michael and Kate talk to two year 11 students who both improved hugely during their year 10 and are now reaping the rewards as they br...
Physics, Classics, English & Econ discuss how to use debate in the classroom
25 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's episode Michael is joined not only by Kate but two of our colleagues from Physics and Classics, to discuss how to use debates and ...
An enormous oracy opportunity that most schools waste
11 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Michael and Kate discuss the incredible power of good assembies (and the horror of bad ones) and how you can change your school cultu...
An ECT on becoming head of debating
04 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Today we sit down with Elisa from Oxford High School who did no debating in her own education but became head of debating at a top school in her secon...
Team pairings for competitive success
19 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Following on from our discussion of selecting students for competitions, this week Kate and Michael discuss how to pair students to compete. Just like...
How to select the right students for every competition
05 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Kate and Michael discuss when students are ready to compete, how to gauge that, which competitions to enter them for, and who to pick ...
How to final and win with a variety of partners
22 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Today Kate and Michael sit down with two of our students who have made multiple finals with a a variety of partners rather than the same person each t...
A state school discusses their incredible new debating programme
08 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Michael sits down with Amy and Beth from Castle Mead Academy in Leicester, a state school who started their debating programme a littl...
Framing and Club Culture- Oxbridge Alums Part 2
25 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This is part two of our discussion with Jane and Nadia which was episode 4 'Oxbridge Alum.' In this short segment they discuss the usefulnes...
EMERGENCY POD- More Competitions in 2024!
14 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Kate and Michael have hit the emergency pod button because there are a lot of new 'emerging' competitions- hosted predominantly by schools- ...
Debating, but not TOO seriously
11 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this epiosde, we sit down with two of our alumni, Megan and Sonja who are now studying at Cambridge and LSE. Megan and Sonja started debating in ye...
Is BP the best debating format- a deep dive
27 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This is bumper length episode where Kate and Michael take a very deep dive into the Britsh Parliamentary debating format. Probably the most wildly use...
Oxbridge alums discuss high school debating
13 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we speak to two of our debate alumni who have gone on to study at Oxbridge. Do they feel debating helped them, if so how? What advice ...
How this English teacher became a top debating coach
23 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Today we talk to Kate Etheridge who was an English teacher with no competitive debating experience who learned on the job to become her school's ...
You've won HOW many competitions?
17 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we interview two of our most successful competitive debaters at the end of their juniors careers. We ask why they do it, advice they h...
Why this headmistress invested in debating
17 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This first interview is with Vicky Bingham, the South Hampstead Headmistress who oversaw our oracy revolution. She discusses why she values oracy so h...