Points of information (POIs)
-
Anyone
can stand up, say "Point of information!" and ask a short question, or make a short statement; (short = 15 seconds).
This is fun!
It's usually a member of the opposing team, but sometimes someone on the floor. (We might, later, be more formal: "On that very point, sir!", or "On a point of information!")
-
The speaker can accept the interruption, saying
"Yes, please"
, and letting the questioner speak, before returning to his/her speech. There is NO further dialogue. The questioner must sit down again immediately.
-
The speaker can
refuse
to accept the point of information, saying
"No thank you"
or
"Declined."
, and the questioner must sit down (immediately, and without any protest.)
-
If several students stand up to make POIs simultaneously, the speaker decides which of them (if any) can speak.
-
The speaker will probably answer the POI in a few words or sentences, and
should not look at the questioner, but at the audience
, and should not indulge in a private discussion (even now speaking to an audience, or to judges, not to the opposing side).
It helps to start the reply by saying "Ladies and gentlemen..." or "Madam Chair..."
-
Why
ask POIs?
It is NOT to add information to the debate;
It is NOT to elicit any genuine information from the speaker; but...
The intention is to knock the speakers off balance, to make them forget their train of thought, or to subject the speaker to ridicule for having said something inane.
-
What
is asked in a point of information?
It can be a clarification.
It can question the facts and ask for a source.
It can be a witty comment, a pun, a reference to something topical, classical or literary.
It can be a short statement giving a source or a fact at variance with the speaker's.
It can be, and often is, a red herring.
It can be sarcastic or ironical, but not personal (ad hominem) and not vituperative or rude.
- So as to be fair, no POI is allowed in the first or (in any longer speech) in the last minute .
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