I recently presented at Ignite Boulder #6. My presentation was entitled “How to Master Debate.” While my presentation contained humor, I really think this is a really important issue. We live in a country where so many people don’t know how to debate. In my presentation, I included a quote from Henry Miller and it’s one of my favorites of all time:

We do not talk – we bludgeon one another with facts and theories gleaned from cursory readings of newspapers, magazines and digests.

With access to information getting quicker and quicker by the minute, the skills needed to really debate issues need to be addressed. The things that I feel that need to be stressed are listening skills, debate decorum, and the ability to lose.   What do you feel are skills needed to successful engage in debate?  I’d love to hear from the readers as I start to really look into this issue more…