Jason Buckley

I’ve always enjoyed a good argument and set up a “Junior Debating Society” while I was at school. Having left school and taught myself at A Level, I read philosophy at Corpus Christi, Cambridge (now my watery home as a narrowboater). Philosophy is a subject that thrives on argument, and you’ll notice a philosophical flavour to many of the motions.

Years later, after embarking on a teaching career, I joined my local Toastmasters Public Speaking Club - the inspiration for the Warm-up Acts in the Debate Planet Passport. There, I saw adults who hadn’t been supported to find their voice while still at school but were now at a stage where their lack of confidence as speakers was holding them back in their careers. I saw some of the best, fastest arcs in learning I’ve ever seen - from not being able to stand up and say their name at the start of a meeting, to six months later delivering a ten- minute speech without notes that would hold an audience rapt. 

That feeds into the conviction that public speaking and debating is not just something for an elite few. It’s something everyone can enjoy, and that provides one of the easiest wins there is for a young person to surprise themself with their new-found capability and start to wonder what else they can do that they thought they couldn’t.

Another insight from Toastmasters, and from my joyous journey through the world of improvised comedy with terrific teachers from the UK and around the world, is that speeches made up on the spot can often be fresher and more interesting than those prepared in advance. Researching an area and structuring arguments in advance can lift the intellectual level of a debate, but speaking off-the-cuff brings its own challenges and is more inclusive and playful. 

Having been a secondary English teacher, I’m now a many-hatted educational entrepreneur, with interests in philosophy, (The Philosophy Man), outdoor education (Outspark), teambuilding and character development (Hidden Leaders), gifted education (Gift Courses), home education (P4HE) and of course, debating! When I’m not developing teams of brilliant educators in those areas, I enjoy kayaking, sailing, caving and narrowboating.