Convincing people is essential in debating. Well-built and informed arguments and a strong presentation are essential to convince. These and other skills that debating teaches are useful in many situations: someone who is a trained debater is better at presenting things, listens better to others, gives a better analysis of a discussion and uses better arguments. An increasing number of secondary schools in the Netherlands has included debating into its curriculum, which shows that it is a useful skill to learn. The number of student debating societies has doubled in the Netherlands in the past five years.

Debaters are constantly challenged to formulate positions on diverse current or moral questions. A tournament consists of several rounds with different debating motions. Debaters learn the motion and whether they are in favour or against it only fifteen minutes before the debate starts. Debating is about style as well as content: the best debaters combine strong analysis with an effective and convincing personal style.

Lastly, debating has broader societal use. Debaters are repeatedly forced to plea in favour and against points of view, which forces them to consider the worth of both opinions and the points at which they differ. This is of considerable worth in political and societal discussions because it fosters respect and understanding for opponents.

Debaters are often socially or politically engaged students: many are a member of a political youth organisation or work in student organisations. Bonaparte has over a two hundred members from many different academic backgrounds: from physics to law, from economics to history, the binding element is the respect for free speech.

Debate tournaments

International debate tournaments offer their participants the perfect opportunity to hone their skills and to meet people from many different countries with the same interest. International tournaments usually follow the same format of British Parliamentary Debating. There are a number of preliminary rounds, seven or eight in the case of Euros, followed by final rounds: quarterfinals, semis and finals for EUDC.

Every debate round starts with an announcement for each team on their position: in favour or against a motion that presents the debaters with a contentious policy or a statement of belief, for example that Western states have a moral duty to impose democracy on other countries, or that gay marriage should be adopted throughout the European Union. Debaters then have fifteen minutes to prepare their speeches. There are four teams in every debate: two government teams and two opposition teams. The first proposition defends the policy proposal or belief and defines what the debate is about. The first opposition attacks this position and presents a different belief. The two second half teams present their view on the issue, which has to be significantly different from the first teams whilst still supporting the case of their side.

After each round, judges decide on the position of each team, they also give feedback and assign each speaker in the debate with a score for their speeches. After all the preliminary rounds, the best teams (those with the most team points and total speaker scores), progress into the final rounds.