Youth Speaks : a Debate

With teams of three

Youth Speaks : a Debate

The Rotary Youth Speaks - A Debate competition is for teams of 3 young people with a Speaker, a Proposer and an Opposer.

It is a public speaking competition designed to encourage young people to develop their creative skills and increase their confidence in public speaking.

Once the Proposer and Opposer have presented their opposing views on a topic of their choice they will then be asked a question(s) from a pre-selected member of the audience. The young people have 15 minutes to present their debate.

The Rotary Youth Speaks: A Debate competition may be run over three different stages; club level, district and cluster. For 2025-26, there will be no national final. The District final will be held on 17th and 26th February 2026 at Stonecross Manor, Kendal.

Age categories

The competition is open to teams of 3 young people in either of these two age groups:

Intermediate : 11 – 13 years
Senior : 14 – 17 years

For further details contact your local Rotary Club or Rotary Youth Lead in Cumbria & Lancashire Mary Bradley using the Contact Form below.

Information Packs and posters can be downloaded from the RotaryGBI website using your My Rotary account. Some information is available on the public side of the website.