Lessons from the Gurus of debate

Hearing from the Guru of debating

Interview with World Debating Champions Amit and Kiran

Interviewed and Edited by Hyo Jeong Kim

On the last day of World University Debating Championships, these two guys, Amit and Kiran, were the final holders of the champion trophy which everyone admires even to touch it. As the opening Government in Grand Finals under the motion “This house supports nationalism”, they have successfully led the debating by emphasizing the role of nationalism as the collective power among citizens. This is interview with Kiran and Amit.

Amit and Kiran, with Champion grin on their faces

Could you introduce yourself?

My name is Amit Golder. I am 24 years old, and currently work for the Victorian Government.

My name is Kiran Iyer and I am currently in my final year of a Politics/Law degree at Monash University.


How and When did you start debating

I started debating when I was at high school, because some of my friends were doing it and I wanted to hang out with them. I love debating because I enjoy considering ideas, thinking critically and meeting fun and interesting people from around the world.

I started debating far too long ago in high school! I’ve loved debating at university because it’s a great chance to meet talented people from across the world.


When was the most difficult time as a debater?

When I started debating at university, I found it very difficult to keep up with the very intelligent and knowledgeable speakers at Monash. I thought I would never be able to compete with them, because they seemed to be able to handle every debate so easily, while I was struggling to remember where Burma was!

Debating is a difficult competitive activity and I’ve lost countless debates in my years at Monash. At times losing can be disappointing, but it is always a good learning experience.


Who was your role model as a public speaker, debater or life model and why?

As a debater, Roland Dillon and Ivan Ah Sam were the speakers I most idolized. They were sophisticated and original, but also massively persuasive to all kinds of people. I also idolized them because they were incredibly gifted debaters who were very Australian – that is, they didn’t try to copy the debating styles of other people or countries to succeed. My life role model is of course Victor Finkel, because he is rich.

I love Barack Obama. I wish I could be as charismatic as him!

How did you make both of you a team?

Funnily enough, Kiran and I debated together at Assumption Worlds 2008! We had team selections, and from that Kiran and I decided we would like to debate with each other again. We’re friends and get along really well, so it was an easy decision.

Amit and I have debated together before which made it very easy to work together. We had fun together regardless of whether we won or lost debates, which made it easier to deal with the pressure of Worlds.


How do you manage conflicts while preparing for debating?

I can’t think of any conflicts! We never blamed each other for the debates that we lost. Ultimately, it’s important to keep debating tournaments in perspective and even if we lost, we would have felt lucky to have had the chance to participate.


How did you practice for the competition? How much and was there any special training that only two of you share?

We did 3 warm up tournaments (New Zealand BP, Melbourne Mini and Sydney Mini). We also did practice debates with the other Monash teams, judged by former Monash debaters like Victor, Tim Jeffrie and Ravi Dutta. We also spent some time, just as a team, preparing cases and doing practice preps on various issues. Finally, we individually did research on assigned matter areas – although I must admit that I was pretty poor at this.


What is your strong point and weakness? What did you do to overcome your weakness? Could you evaluate each of your partner?

It is very difficult to be objective about strengths and weaknesses, better to ask people who have adjudicated us! I think my strength is my creativity, but my weaknesses are certain matter areas (such as finance/monetary policy) as well as sometimes problems with logic (sometimes my arguments sound fine, but actually are not logically consistent!).

I really enjoy rebuttal but I find it very difficult. At Worlds, I worked hard with Amit to improve my rebuttal and make sure I didn’t miss any important points. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t!


What is your next goal as a debater?

I am happily retired from competitive debating, so my goal is getting drunk to celebrate upcoming Monash victories at Wellington Australs and Berlin Worlds!

I prefer to focus on relaxing and drinking for a while, before thinking about the next tournament!


Last word for Korean Debaters?
I had such a good time in Korea at Australs 2011, hope to see you all again soon!
All of the Korean debaters I’ve met are great fun- looking forward to seeing some of you at Wellington Australs!