Ritwik Mittapalli

Public debates are not particularly frequent; however, they are some of the most high-profile events that Debating Society runs. Here are a few reasons why I am the best candidate for making these events run smoothly and are entertaining.

Firstly, I think that being younger is a big advantage in running public debates. Being in my first year, I am in contact with a large number of people in Imperial, a lot of whom are still very involved in societies. These connections are vital for setting up debates in partnership with other societies, as well as getting people to debate in them. Additionally, I will likely have more time to put a large amount of work into the events when they happen.

Secondly, I am a pretty experienced debater. I spoke and judged at a lot of competitions, so I have a good understanding of how to run debates. I have also run debating events in secondary school which were very similar to public debates. Additionally, debating experience is very useful for setting interesting motions, distributing speakers amongst teams fairly, teaching people how to debate and judging the debate, all of which are very important for making public debates run well.

My plan for this role is very simple: run a small number of events, mostly crossovers with other societies, and make them enjoyable and interesting debates with wide participation. I think I am in a very good place to run these events, so I hope to get your votes!