| Game | Primary Skill | Best For |
| The "Um" Game | Fluency | Beginners / Warm-up |
| Balloon Debate | Persuasion | Character work |
| Devil's Advocate | Critical Thinking | Advanced / Rebuttals |
| Soup, Salad, Sandwich | Definition/Logic | Fun/Icebreakers |
1. Warm-Up & Fluency Games
These games help students get comfortable speaking on their feet without the pressure of a "winner."
The "Um" Game: A student is given a random topic (e.g., "Why cheese is the best food") and must speak about it for one minute. If they use a filler word like "um," "uh," or "like," they are out. The goal is to speak clearly and continuously.
If I Ruled the World: Students stand in a circle. Each student finishes the sentence "If I ruled the world, I would..." with a creative law. The student to their left must immediately ask "Why?" and the speaker must justify their new law on the spot.
Make it Sound Good / Make it Sound Bad: Give two students a neutral statement (e.g., "The city is big"). One student must describe it using only positive adjectives, and the other must describe it using only negative ones.
2. Logic & Persuasion Games
These games focus on building a strong argument and using persuasive language.
The Balloon Debate: Imagine four to six famous people (or fictional characters) are in a hot air balloon that is sinking. To save the balloon, one person must be thrown out. Each student plays one character and has 45 seconds to argue why they are too important to be thrown overboard.
Shark Tank (Sell Me This): Give a student a useless or strange object (like a broken pencil or a single sock). They have two minutes to prepare a "sales pitch" to the class, arguing why everyone needs to buy it.
Desert Island: Students are "stranded" and can only bring three items. They must present their choices to the class and justify why their items are the most essential for survival. The class then votes on the most logical list.
3. Rebuttal & Critical Thinking Games
These games teach students how to listen to an opponent and respond directly to their points.
Devil’s Advocate: A student makes a statement they truly believe in (e.g., "Dogs are better than cats"). Another student is assigned to play "Devil's Advocate" and must argue the exact opposite, even if they don't agree with it.
I Couldn't Disagree More: One student makes a simple claim (e.g., "Summer is better than winter"). The next student must start their response with "I couldn't disagree more because..." and provide a counter-argument.
The Alley Debate (Conscience Alley): Create two lines of students facing each other. One line is "for" a topic, and the other is "against." A student walks down the "alley" between them while students from both sides whisper their arguments. At the end, the walker decides which side was more persuasive.
4. Group Strategy Games
Zombie Apocalypse Bunker: A group of students has a list of people with different professions (doctor, cook, engineer, poet). There is only room for three in the bunker. The group must debate and decide who stays based on who provides the most value to the future of humanity.
Soup, Salad, or Sandwich?: This is a fun "nonsense" debate. Give students a food (like a hot dog or a taco) and have them argue which category it belongs to. It teaches them how to define terms and use evidence for even the silliest claims.
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