Teach Debate Speaker Roles with Visual Display Posters

In a structured debate, every speaker has a unique and important job. Each one contributes to building the team’s case by adding new points or responding to the other side. When all speakers follow their roles effectively, the team can present a logical, well-organised and convincing argument.

This set of six debate speaker roles posters is the perfect tool for primary school teachers looking to introduce debates into their English lessons. Covering the responsibilities of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd speakers on both the affirmative and negative teams, each poster outlines what students need to say and do during their turn.

These posters offer clear, student-friendly explanations to guide learners through the structure and strategy of a formal debate. Display them in the classroom to support your teaching and help students feel more prepared when it’s their time to speak.

This debate speaker roles poster pack downloads in the following formats:

• Full-colour PDF
• Black-and-white PDF
• Editable Google Slides file (Colour and BW combined)

Familiarise Students with the Debating Roles of Each Speaker

The brilliant thing about these debating speaker roles posters is that they can be used in multiple ways to help your students grasp their responsibilities as a member of a debating team. Here are some suggestions you might like to consider:

• Classroom Display – Display the posters on your classroom wall for the duration of your unit of work on debating. This works as a scaffold to students while they are planning and writing their speeches, making expectations visible and accessible.
• Individual Role Cards – Use the settings on your printer to print mini versions of the posters (4 per page). Give each student the role card that corresponds to their team position to refer to during debate preparation and delivery.
• Team Preparation Guides – Provide each team with the black-and-white version of the posters to be used during team prep sessions. This way, each speaker can clearly see what they’re responsible for and what will be covered by the other members of the group.

Download to Explore the Roles of Speakers in a Debate

Use the dropdown menu on the Download button to access your preferred version of these debate speaker roles posters. If you download the Google file, please note that you will be asked to make a copy to your personal drive.

If you intend to display these posters in your classroom, we recommend enlarging them to maximise readability.

More Resources for Teaching Debate Speaker Roles

Teach Starter takes pride in offering a wide range of curriculum-aligned resources crafted by teachers, for teachers. Explore our wide range of resources to help get your students debating with confidence!

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