Rebuttals

"no, you're wrong and this is why"

What is a Rebuttal?
Rebuttals refer to premises that disproves,
invalidate or take down the opposing team's
points

Arguments can be factually, morally or logically

flawed. They may be misinterpretations or they
may also be unimportant or irrelevant. A team
may also contradict one another or fail to
complete the tasks they set themselves
 5 WAYS TO REBUT

Not True Not Even if/

Important Comparison

Flip Undermine/
Mitigate
"NOT TRUE" Rebuttal
Strategy
Directly respond by saying opponent's claim
is NOT TRUE THW
GOV’s point: A female quota will create more gender-
equal laws because they will be more women fighting and
implement a
passing laws to protect women’s rights.
quota for
Rebuttal:
Conservative ideologies still persist because many women in
female MPs are also conservative. i.e. abortion
bills.
Majority rules in Parliament, female MPs end up
Parliament.
being discriminated more because quotas will hurt
their credibility. Bills are about negotiating
power.
Anger male MPs, so you’d lose their cooperation.
"FLIP" Rebuttal
Strategy
Switches the very nature of the point. If they say, something
is "good", say it is ACTUALLY bad, vice versa. THW
Point out that even if their point is true, it still benefits your
team. implement a
GOV’s point: We need female quotas because only female MPs
have a vested interest and/or qualified to fight for quota for
women’s rights.
Rebuttal: This alienates men, and tells them they don’t women in
have to fight for women’s rights

OPP’s point: The quota will intensify resentment against

Parliament.
women, and lead to greater discrimination of female MPs.
Rebuttal: Media depiction of discrimination will spark
public outrage and provide the best reasoning as to why
female quotas were necessary to begin with
"NOT IMPORTANT" Rebuttal
Strategy
You discredit the context/stakeholder/issue etc (re-frame)
THW
implement a
GOV’s point: The quota will anger the men and the
conservatives in society. quota for
Rebuttal: Angering men is not as important as fighting for women in
gender equality. All forms of gender equality will anger
conservative men anyways - society has also become
accepting of women’s rights, so there wouldn’t be such a
Parliament.
strong backlash
"MITIGATE" Rebuttal
Strategy
Provide better alternative that mitigate the same issue of
the debate THW
implement a
GOV’s point: Women are being underrepresented in politics
and they will not be elected into office without a quota. quota for
Rebuttal: Progressive men can also represent women. Women women in
can get into Parliament by their own merit, i.e. more
women in Parliament in history, Malaysia - DPM is a woman,
US - first female presidential nominee
Parliament.
"COMPARISONS" Rebuttal
Strategy
Prove holistically why things are still better off in your world,
and worst off in their world. THW
GOV’s world:
Women will immediately be represented in the legal system,
and they can actively take part in the creation of laws
implement a
that protect women. TOP-DOWN CHANGE
OPP’s rebuttal to GOV:
quota for
It doesn’t immediately change the perception of people on
the ground, so the laws don’t receive support. Therefore, women in
the laws are not enforceable. LEGAL EQUALITY IS NOT
TANTAMOUNT TO SOCIAL EQUALITY. E.G. wage gap law - people Parliament.
can justify their sexist tendencies with innocent excuses
that cannot be proven otherwise in a court of law, women
don’t report the violation, people don’t offer evidences,
etc. Social change is a prerequisite to legal change.
COMPARE BEST CASE SCENARIOS - GOV DOESN’T MEET THE END GOAL
OF GENDER EQUALITY
 LET'S DO SOME EXERCISE! Gov's
Argument
Argument Speech #1
Earth is severely damaged and leaving earth is the best option to

save mankind because people are not doing enough to save the earth

from things like global warming, climate change etc.

Argument Speech #2
Assuming
Spending money on building rockets to transport humans out of

earth is better than spending money on fixing the earth because

possibility,Opp's
THBT

human efforts cannot help reduce the damage that has been done.
human should

Rebuttals

Argument Speech #3 leave the earth

Leaving earth is better for the younger generation because they will
instead of trying

live their lives without having to worry about trying to save the

environment since they'll live in a better environment. to save it.

 LET'S DO SOME EXERCISE! Opp's
Argument
Argument Speech #4
It is better to save the environment because people should care

about the earth because the earth holds a lot of historical values

for humankind as this is where humans were created.

Argument Speech #5
Assuming
Spending money on the earth is better because we can develop more

green technology that can save the environment and prevent the
possibility,Opp's
THBT

damage from spreading a lot more.

human should

Rebuttals

Argument Speech #6 leave the earth

Younger generations should try and save the earth because if they
instead of trying

do try to save the earth, they'll be able to understand the value of

the earth instead of abandoning it. to save it.

 LET'S DO SOME EXERCISE!
Gov's
Argument
Pair up!
This exercise requires you to work in pair. Your partner and motion
will be assigned by the trainers. Trainer will also assign whether you
are government or opposition

5 mins prep! Opp's

You will be given 5 minutes to prepare your 2-3 minutes speech on Rebuttals
arguments ONLY. No need to do set up/mechanism. ONLY
argument.

Argument Speech #1
The person assigned to the government side will speak first. The
duration is 3 minutes max.
 LET'S DO SOME EXERCISE!
Response Speech #1
Opp's
The opposition side will then give a speech only on REBUTTALS Argument
(max; 3 mins) This is to apply what we have learnt in lecture.

Argument Speech #2
After response speech has been given, the person on the opposition Gov's
side will give a 3 minutes max speech on her/his argument. Rebuttals

Response Speech #2
The person on the government side shall give a rebuttals speech.
This will be followed by the feedback by trainer.