Debate Duel
Free English Practice Game
Debate Topic Generator with For and Against Points
Debate Duel
Spin for a motion
About Debate Duel
Debate Duel generates a motion, asks you to pick a side, then reveals three prepared arguments for your bench and three for your opponent. You get a minute to prepare and two minutes to argue.
Every motion in the bank is genuinely two-sided — a reasonable person can win it from either side. Party politics, religion and anything that would put a school or workplace speaker in a difficult position are deliberately excluded, because a debate topic should test reasoning, not tribe.
How to Play
- Generate a motion and pick for or against before the prep clock starts.
- Read the three arguments on your side and the three on theirs.
- Prepare for one minute with PEEL: Point, Evidence, Explain, Link.
- Argue for two minutes, then answer the strongest point against you — not the weakest.
- Run the same motion again from the opposite bench.
What You'll Learn
- How to build a two-minute case out of two PEEL blocks and a rebuttal.
- How to name an opposing argument before answering it, which is what turns a speech into a rebuttal.
- How to define the terms of a motion so the debate happens on ground you chose.
Who Is This For?
School and college debaters, MUN and parliamentary-debate participants, students preparing for debate rounds in selection processes, and teachers who need a supply of balanced motions with points on both sides.
It also suits anyone who wants to argue better in ordinary life — the drill of preparing the side you disagree with is the transferable part.
Tips to Score Higher
- Define the motion before you argue it. Whoever sets the definition usually sets the debate.
- Rebut with one of three moves: it is not true, it does not matter, or it happens on your side too.
- Give evidence a sentence of explanation. An unexplained statistic persuades nobody.
- Always run the motion twice, once per side. It is the fastest improvement available in debate.
How to practise a debate speech with a topic generator
Generate a debate motion, pick a side, read the strongest points for and against it, prepare for one minute and argue your case in two.
- Generate a motion. Every motion is genuinely two-sided — a reasonable person can win from either bench.
- Pick your side. Choose for or against before the prep clock starts. The card then reveals three prepared arguments for your side and three for your opponent.
- Prepare for one minute. Use the PEEL framework — Point, Evidence, Explain, Link — and pick which of your opponent’s three arguments you will answer directly.
- Argue for two minutes. Open with the motion and your stand, run two PEEL blocks, then answer the strongest point against you rather than the weakest.
- Score, then switch sides. Read the instant score, then run the same motion from the opposite bench. Arguing both sides is the single fastest way to improve at debate.
Debate topics list — 40 motions from the bank
These 40 debate motions come from the generator bank. Each one is balanced enough to be won from either side, and inside the tool each motion also carries three prepared arguments for and three against.
- This house believes homework does more harm than good in primary school.
- This house would make a second language compulsory until the age of eighteen.
- Financial literacy should be a core school subject.
- Coding should be treated as a basic literacy, like reading and arithmetic.
- This house would make public speaking a compulsory school subject.
- Standardised entrance tests should be abolished for undergraduate admission.
- This house believes social media has made us worse at conversation.
- This house would require all AI-generated content to be clearly labelled.
- Algorithms should never make the final decision on who gets hired.
- Video games deserve to be treated as a serious art form.
- Everyone should have a right to have their old data deleted.
- Internet access should be treated as a public utility.
- Adults would benefit from strict limits on their own screen time.
- The four-day working week should become the standard.
- Employers should not look at a candidate social media before hiring.
- The retirement age should rise as life expectancy rises.
- This house believes the office is worth saving.
- Side projects make people worse at their main job.
- This house would ban work email outside working hours.
- This house believes companies should hire for attitude and train for skill.
- This house would make organ donation an opt-out system.
- Cities should be designed for people rather than for cars.
- Cash should never be phased out completely.
- Occasional generosity does less good than small regular giving.
- Lotteries are a tax on hope.
- This house would ban single-use plastic outright.
- Eating less meat is a personal choice, not a public duty.
- Space exploration is worth what it costs.
- This house believes reality television harms the people it films.
- This house would abolish film and book awards.
- Journalism should be free to read at the point of use.
- Video review technology has improved sport.
- This house believes national teams matter more than club teams.
- Physical education should be compulsory at every stage of education.
- Subtitles should be switched on by default everywhere.
- Celebrity opinion carries far too much weight.
- It is better to be a generalist than a specialist.
- We should be honest with children about failure.
- Nostalgia holds us back.
- Competition brings out the best in people.
Frequently asked questions
What makes a good debate topic?
A good motion is genuinely balanced, narrow enough to define, and winnable without specialist data. "This house believes homework does more harm than good in primary school" works because both sides have real arguments and the age band is fixed. Motions that are lopsided, or that turn on a statistic nobody in the room has, produce a one-sided round rather than a debate.
How do you structure a two-minute debate speech?
Open with the motion and your stand in one sentence, then run two PEEL blocks — Point, Evidence, Explain, Link — of about 40 seconds each, then spend the last 20 seconds answering the strongest argument on the other side and restating your stand. That is roughly 260 to 280 words at a controlled pace, which is what two minutes buys you.
How do I rebut an argument I have not prepared for?
Use one of three moves: it is not true, it does not matter, or it also happens on your side. Name the argument first so the room knows what you are answering ("They said parents carry the cost"), then apply the move and link back to the motion. Naming the argument is what separates a rebuttal from a second opening speech.
Should I practise arguing the side I disagree with?
Yes — it is the highest-value drill in debate. Preparing the opposite bench forces you to find the strongest version of the argument against you, which is exactly what you will face, and it stops you rehearsing rebuttals to a weak imaginary opponent. Run each motion twice here, once per side.
Are these debate topics suitable for school competitions?
Yes. The bank deliberately excludes party politics, religion and anything that would put a school or workplace speaker in an uncomfortable position, and every motion is written to test reasoning rather than tribe. Themes cover education, technology, work, economy, society, ethics, environment, media, culture, sport and health.
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