I MAINTAINED EYE CONTACT AND DEBATED WITH PASSION

Heritage, good evening. How are you doing today?

I’m fine.Thank you, ma.

Let’s get to know you. Can you give us a brief introduction about yourself?

My name is Ayodele Heritage Oluwasanufunmi, a part one student of the department of English.

Okay. Where are you from and where do you live?

I’m from Osun state. I live in Ilesha.

Interesting! I am also from Osun state.

So, you participated in the Yinka Odumakin inter faculty debate. Can you give us the backstory to how you were chosen as part of the representatives of the faculty of Arts?

I saw a write-up about an upcoming debate and I applied. I was given a topic and a date was given for the pre-debate. I got there and saw there were other contestants too. We started the debate and I was part of the people who were later chosen after different stages of draws. That was how I was chosen.

If I may ask, how did you come in contact with the write-up; social media or a poster?

On social media, my class group to be precise.

Wow…cool. Moving on, was that your first time as a debater? I mean the Yinka Odumakin inter faculty debate.

Yes, I mean within the university community but I once represented my class when I was in secondary school during literary and debate events.

Alright! I guess it’s safe to call you a pro then (lols).

By God’s grace, ma.

Just like you mentioned that you used to debate whilst in secondary school, in what way was this debate different and how was the preparation process for the debate like – in terms of getting contents to back up your argument?

Debate is about understanding the meaning of what you are supporting or opposing. So majorly, I made research concerning what other great philosophers have said about it, how it relates to humans, that is, in reality.

With that, I was able to make my audience see reasons why my side of the argument should be considered by referring them to the past, bringing them to the present and predicting the future.

This sounds like a lot of work but I think it seems a little bit abstract. Because looking at the topic of the debate, the research on the propositions of philosophers feel a little far fetched. Can you please make it more relatable?

Ok, concerning ‘philosophers’, what I mean is what other respected elites or famous people have said about it. Just like when we mention individuals like Nelson Mandela, Yinka Odumakin, and many others. 

Okay, I think I get it now. Thank you. 

Still on the fact that you’re not a novice in debating. You’ve done this a couple of times, I guess, but in regards to the audience here (by “here” I mean OAU). I will like to know how you prepared emotionally because we all know that debating in the presence of university students can be a little frightening or maybe not really frightening but it could take a toll on your confidence. How did you pull through?

Talking about university students, that was the first thing I thought of when I was later chosen to represent my faculty.

The secondary school debate is very much different from the university own, simply because, you are among people you don’t even know at all. What I mean by this is that you could easily face your fellow students in your secondary school because you all are on uniforms, but the university is so different. How I tackled this was believing in myself and understanding the task at hand. I made sure I was convinced of the side I was given so I was able to speak confidently. Most people think avoiding eye contact was the solution but it isn’t, because the more you look at your audience the more you carry them along and make them agree with you. You can’t give what you don’t have. You, yourself, must be convinced and be able to defend your stand. The summary is confidence.

Basically, your confidence stood firm. That’s a great one. Let’s talk about your co- debaters. How was working with them like?

Hm! I must say it was quite explorative, with this you could see what each was capable of doing.

I feel like we need to explore your use of the word “explorative”. Did you at any point underestimate their abilities?

No, I didn’t. By exploration, I mean they don’t think in such a way that just any person could guess what they wanted to say. It was kind of explorative in the sense that the way they think was quite alarming and impressive.

So many smart people here and there on this campus. What is your opinion on the performance of the debaters from the other faculties?

The fact that they are in Great Ife made me rate them highly and never underestimated them. First, I must commend their participation in the debate. In a debate, as I have said, you need to understand your topic well and prove to your audience that you are right, which was what most of the debaters lacked, they engaged in so many punch lines to make their audience laugh and carry them along but refuse to explain the reason they are there. I mean the motion. The debaters from the other faculty really tried. Just that not all of them knew what exactly they should start with, their organisation in stage and the use of some offensive words in the name of punchlines. It is true that you need punch lines in other to engage the audience but excessive use of it will waste your time as you won’t be able to state enough points.

It is important to know that the judges judged based on content, appearance and stage management which may include how you carried the audience along. There are many others but we can see that from just these three mentioned, each has it definite mark towards the overall. Content may be_60, stage management may be -30 and appearance -10. From this, we can deduce that a person who has a well prepared content could win against those who managed the stage well and also appeared well. In every debate, it should be noted that content is always the highest.

Hm! Let’s touch these two things.

First, you talked about the use of punchline which later led to a deviation from their argument. We can infer from what you said that it was a means of engaging the audience. I’ll like to know how you engaged the audience without the use of punchlines.

Second, can you give an example of some of those offensive words used in the name of punchlines?

So, concerning how I carried my audience along without punch lines, I maintained eye contact and debated with passion as if I was so concerned which made the audience want to listen to me, wondering what could be so dear to me that made me so serious.

Beautiful! Can you rate the performance of your team in the debate on a scale of 10?

On a scale of 10, I will say 8.

Woah! How come faculty of Arts came third, if you rate the performance this high?

I rated it that high because we put in our best, and even did overnights. If we hadn’t won, I would still have rated it that way. We did a lot even though it wasn’t convenient.

Do you see yourself doing more of this during your time in the university?

Yes, more.

Amazing! I’m looking forward to seeing more of you. Well done to you and your team. Thank you for making the Faculty of Arts proud. Ultimately, thank you so much for your time, I really enjoyed the engagement. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did?

It’s nothing. Wishing to have more of this anytime, anyday.

Thank you, Heritage. It’s nice having you here.

Yes, ma. It’s a pleasure.