Students began the course with an introduction in writing and delivering short speeches. Exercises on tone, pace, body language, were conducted to acclimate students with delivering speeches in a persuasive manner. Once students began to feel comfortable producing speeches of 2-4 minutes on a variety of topics with little to no preparation time, the class transitioned into learning the basics of the Debate Mate format. A few sessions were spent on an introduction of formal debating, including the structure and format of a typical round. Theory lessons also included an in depth analysis of the 4 different speaker positions within a debate round and the recommended structure and strategy for the position. Theory lessons were followed by a week of student participation in practice debates against their classmates, where they were able to put their knowledge to practice. Each debate was judged by one of the debate teachers and followed by individual and team feedback. At the end of the session, the eight most promising speakers debated each other in front of the summer school to compete for the ISSOS final debate winner title.