As a member of Bonaparte, we offer you as many courses as possible, so that you learn to debate properly. In addition, on our regular evenings and in these courses, there is a great deal of opportunity to practice with different skills that are relevant to public speaking.
Beginners’ courses
The beginners’ course is given twice a year, in October and in February. This four-part course series is for all new members of Bonaparte. You don’t need any debate experience for these courses. Together with other new members you learn the following skills in the courses:
- Presenting and public speaking
- Argumentation
- Structure
- Debating
Almost all members started out with the beginners course because of its utility and accessibility. After having attended the beginners’ course for four weeks, this introductory period is concluded with a beginner’s tournament.
Debate courses
Once you have followed the beginners’ course and want to expand your substantive knowledge about debating, the debate courses for members are great way to do so. A course is given once a month on Thursday evenings. Examples of courses in recent years are:
- Judging
- Debating on Israel
- Summary speeches
- Debating on feminism
These courses are for members only, so the courses are announced via the Facebook page, the members’ mail and on the evenings.
Public speaking courses
In addition to debating courses, we also host courses on public speaking and debate in society once a month. Examples from recent years are:
- Rhetoric tricks for speeches
- Public speaking at work: giving courses, by professional instructor Alex Klein
- Public speaking at work: preaching, by Reverend Nico van der Peet