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“In a state of emergency,” such as that declared in parts of Chile following last February’s earthquake, “the government should immediately send troops into the area to maintain law and order.” That was the motion successfully opposed by a team from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ international trade office, DIRECON, in the final of the Great Corporate Debate 2010 held on August 18.

Organized by AmCham, and sponsored by local newspaper El Mercurio, the spirited and emotional final – between DIRECON and a team from local retail group D&S - was held at El Mercurio’s offices before a packed house including DIRECON’s head, Jorge Bunster, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alfredo Moreno.

Not only was the debating standard exceptionally high, but the entire competition was held in English with no native speakers allowed on any of the four-member teams.

In addition to the two finalists, the other six teams that entered this year’s competition were Seguros Interamericana, 3M, Codelco, Sheraton, Ripley, and Parque Arauco. The Interamericana and 3M teams were defeated in the semifinals by DIRECON and D&S respectively.

This is the first year that teams from the public sector (DIRECON and Codelco) have entered the competition and they were impressive in an event usually associated with the private sector. AmCham hopes both teams will be back next year along with possibly even more teams from the public sector.

The debate motions, or moots, were all based on the theme “Rebuilding Chile” in recognition of the hardships suffered by Chileans since the devastating February earthquake. Some moots were related to reconstruction, such as whether this should be based on government loans and credit guarantees rather than handouts, while others focused on how Chile could be better prepared for future natural disasters, for example by improving construction standards.

The early rounds were held in a round robin format comprising two groups of four teams with each team debating the other three in their group. The top two teams in each group advanced to the semifinals with the two winners proceeding to the final.

The award for Best Debater went to Andrés Lopez of Parque Arauco who earned the highest combined score in the preliminary rounds and won a weekend for two courtesy of the Hyatt Hotel.

DIRECON’s team won a trip to the United States courtesy of American Airlines, but generously donated their prize to Hogar de Cristo in recognition of the charity’s work following the earthquake. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will display the AmCham Great Corporate Debate Cup in their offices until next year when the DIRECON team will have a chance to defend their title.

The jury for the final consisted of nine distinguished public figures: Kathy Uribe, advisor to the Minister of Economy, Juan Andrés Fontaine; Alejandro Ferreiro,  former Minister of Economy; Vittorio Corbo, former president of the Central Bank; Paulina Dittborn, president of the Chilean-North American Institute of Culture; Juan Carlos Délano, president of the Chilean branch of Transparency International; María Olivia Recart, former Undersecretary of Finance; Andrés Velasco, former Minister of Finance; Drina Rendic, former vice-president of the Corporación Cultural de lo Barnechea (COBA) where she organized an interuniversity debating competition; Álvaro Fischer, former president of the Chilean Engineers Institute; and Soledad Arellano, an economist and consultant at the Inter-American Development Bank.

Promoting Public Speaking Skills

The AmCham Great Corporate Debate has two main aims. The first is to give young Chilean executives practice speaking English publicly in a competitive environment. The second aim is to promote public speaking skills through debating techniques.

Businesspeople are often required to speak in front of groups including their employers, board members, or potential clients. And all of these situations involve using communications and persuasion skills. The AmCham competition included instruction and training for competitors in debating techniques, public speaking, and how to prepare a convincing presentation. The results of this training were noticeable throughout the tournament, as was the old adage that practice makes perfect.

Debating is especially good training for executives since debaters may find themselves forced to defend or refute a motion in which they do not necessarily believe. This makes the exercise that much more interesting since it requires even greater skill.

Every speaker has a set time, which is indicated to them and the audience by a traffic light device that turns yellow when there is 30 seconds left and red when the time is up. Going over time is penalized by the judges, which encourages the debaters to keep within their limits and ensures the debates are entertaining.

The AmCham Great Corporate Debate has finally come of age and made its presence felt in the business community. Chile is not a country with a highly developed debating culture, a point that was forcefully made by Vittorio Corbo at the final. In his closing comments, Corbo added that the debate culture must be developed at the school level and he hoped that competitions such as this, and the COBA interuniversity debates, would inspire Chile’s educators to add debating to their school activities. AmCham hopes so too.

Michael Combes is the president of the Great Corporate Debate 2010, executive director of Marco Chilena, a U.S.-controlled shipbuilding and repair business, a former chairman of bUSiness CHILE’s Editorial Board, and a former president of AmCham.