Debating is a skill, like chess or tennis.  It gets better with practice.  It also helps to meditat, 

When I was a student from 1979-1981, Kenneth Roettger Ph.D., who had been the Debating Team Coach for Parsons College, was the volunteer coach of the MIU Debating Team.  We met every Sunday afternoon in the library conference room, and several times in the video studio.  It was very educational, and inspired me to do my M.A. in Education thesis on Critical Thinking and Logical Reasoning.

My thesis has just been found in the M.U.M. Library.  I scanned it and posted it on my web site.
www.CICorp.com/TM/Research/CTOMEEG

"Critical Thinking, Open Mindedness, and EEG Coherence in MIU Students."


Consciousness forms the basis of Critical Thinking, and Open Mindedness.  They are two qualities that go hand in hand.  One has to be open minded enough to consider new ideas, in order to analyze them.