At the Right Time and Place: Evgeny Akulov on his Studies at HSE University and Love for Debates
The hero of the April interview is Evgeny Akulov, a 2021 graduate of the bachelor's programme 'Political Science and World Politics' and a 2024 graduate of the master's programme 'Comparative Politics of Eurasia'. He is sure that political science is not about 'politics', it's about a mindset, analysis and an ability to debate correctly. Back in school, Evgeny took an interest in debating—and this hobby has turned into a profession. At HSE University, he became the head of the club 'HSE Debating Society' ('ВШЭсть') and took part in championships, including a world one. Now, he teaches others how to debate and helps speakers to perform confidently and persuasively. Why does a political scientist need debates? How does the experience in debating help in your career and life? Why is public speaking not a 'natural-born talent' but a skill which can be developed? Read on to find out the answers to these questions and much more.
— You are a graduate of the bachelor's programme 'Political Science and World Politics' and the master's programme 'Comparative Politics of Eurasia'. What attracted you to political science and comparative politics? Was there a moment when you realised that it was your thing or did you arrive at this decision bit by bit?
— I'd like to make a small remark. I think lots of freshmen have a distorted image of political science as they often associate it with politics. However, these are two different entities. People who want to engage in politics as a profession usually choose faculties of public policy or management. Political science is mostly about studying and analysing politics and political processes but not direct engagement. It doesn't mean that political science graduates cannot participate in election campaigns or engage in political technologies. But political science is more about theoretical understanding than practical use.
How did I end up in the bachelor's programme 'Political Science and World Politics'? It was back in 2017, I studied at a regular school with an in-depth focus on English. My teacher of history offered me to join our school debating team, and I happily agreed. As a result, I attended a debating championship at HSE University and realised that I liked the atmosphere there. I had a chance to communicate with some professors, and political science seemed a classical socio-humanitarian education which resonated with my values and political activity at that time. This is why I decided to apply for 'Political Science'.
In my story, there is no great love for science or history, no desire to be a politician. It just happened that at the right time and place, the choice fell on HSE University. I realised that I really wanted to study here, and 'Political Science' was the most suitable area for me.
— Back to the beginning of our conversation, there are a lot of stereotypes about political science—for instance, it is an 'empty' science which doesn't provide any real skills, or all political scientists must work in government entities. What myth about your profession do you hear the most often, and what is work in this sphere truly like?
— To be honest, I think that a discussion of whether each science subject must have its unique method and object is rather groundless. I have never faced heavy criticism, apart from some comments by the older generation which did not influence me much.
I'd say that not many people are engaged in political science. After graduating from 'Political Science', people often go into analytics, working with data, PR, marketing and consulting rather than political activity or public administration. It seems to me that this educational programme does not graduate a lot of people who engage directly in politics. Perhaps, something has changed since my graduation in 2021. As far as I know, none of my coursemates went to work in political entities but lots of them are engaged in consulting and working with data.
Answering the question substantively, I disagree with radical ideas about political science, though there is some truth in them. I have never felt uncomfortable or uneasy because of it as I have never faced unpleasant interactions. In terms of work, the experience shows that graduates of the bachelor's programme 'Political Science and World Politics' rarely go to government positions and work in politics, though it might be peculiar to HSE University and my period.
— Did you decide to continue your studies in the master's programme majoring in the same field to deepen your knowledge or was there another goal?
— In general, after my bachelor's, I had a desire to continue engaging in political science and study a little more. After completing the bachelor's programme, I found a job which I could combine with my master's studies. It was more of a coincidence because I won an olympiad and got a state-funded place. It looked like a good chance, so I decided to enrol in the master's programme on the principle of 'why not?'.
As a result, the master's studies were very interesting—an amazing curriculum, lots of amazing courses and professors, I got scholarships. These two years were wonderful, I don't regret them at all!
— Did you consider changing the direction of your studies?
— I considered an option to take after lots of my acquaintances and enrol in a master's programme in management. I had a chance to enrol in the master's programme in political science in Moscow or St Petersburg, and I thought: why would I invent anything? I decided to stay in the place, which I liked and felt comfortable in, and continue my studies, till it was interesting and didn't interfere with work. My master's studies went well with my job, even three of them, so I had no reason to change something radically.
— As far as I know, you won the scholarship competition of the Vladimir Potanin Foundation in the 2021/2022 academic year. Could you tell us how you got the idea to apply for the scholarship? What was the most difficult and unexpected in the process? Did it influence your studies in any way?
— Yes, I received a presidential grant and have been a holder of the Potanin programme scholarship since the first year. My groupmates were talking about an opportunity to get this scholarship. I checked the website to find out how to apply and decided to try. I spared an evening to work on the first round. The competition for the Potanin scholarship is held in two rounds: the first is presenting your achievements, and the second consists of business games and cases. With my experience, the second round was quite easy.
We often overestimate the complexity of such competitions and don't dare act. In my case, preparation for the scholarship competition took me three hours asynchronously and five hours synchronically. In the end, everything worked out.
— At the beginning of our conversation, we touched upon the subject of how you got into debates. You started debating back at school and then joined the club 'HSE Debating Society'. Could you tell us what your journey was like and how you became the head of the club?
— For me, debates are much more than just a student club. They shaped me as a person and a professional because my job is directly related to the skills gained thanks to debates. I joined the club 'HSE Debating Society' in my first year of studies in 2017 when debates were considered an important part of political scientists' education as any political scientist must be able to have rational discussions.
It was obvious that as a student of 'Political Science', I had to engage in debates, especially because I liked it at school. In the autumn of 2017, I attended the club presentation and realised that it suited me. Together with other students of political science, we started actively attending the classes. I have very warm memories of that time.
Together with my colleague Kirill Tamogashev from the bachelor's programme 'Public Policy and Analytics', who later re-enrolled in the bachelor's programme 'Economics' and is getting a PhD degree in Edinburgh, I took over the leadership of the club in January 2018. Under our management, the club has become one of the strongest in Russia. My leadership lasted up to the fourth year of my studies. Now, I sometimes help the debating movement and attend their events.
Debates remained an important part of my life even after I stopped being the club head. In the period of my leadership, I actively participated in competitions, won a lot of all-Russian championships, and we even qualified twice for the playoffs of the World Debating Championship in English. Debates are a pleasant 'side effect' of studying at HSE University.
— Can you compare debates at school and debates at university? What is the difference between them?
— University debates are more interesting because they include various formats. School debates are more oriented on educational goals and require a lot of preparation time so that school students can work with information and data. University debates give you less time for preparation. The format is more stressful requiring great patience, knowledge and understanding of the world.
When I engaged in the school debates, we discussed topics related to school life. Topics in university debates are much harder—for instance, at one of my first competitions, we discussed the World Trade Organisation and the genocide against the Rohingya people in Myanmar. Student debates require broad-based knowledge to be successful. If you debate in English at the international level, you have to study the analysis of current events and be versed in economics, politics, philosophy, law, morality and ethics.
The specifics of debates are that you often have to dispute over something, about which you know not as much as you'd like, and even defend not the point of view you personally stick to. That's why university debates are much harder but if you started with school debates, this is a great platform for development.
— Could you tell us which difficulties you had to face while participating in debates and managing the club?
— People who stay in debates often have sports backgrounds. Those who have sports background often hate losing—this has always been the hardest thing in debates for me. In my childhood, I played football, engaged in athletics and other sports, that's why at the university, I found a new intellectual competition. Preparation and public speaking have never been difficult for me as debates are public speaking in a nutshell.
The most difficult thing was bitter failures in the finals of large competitions which I really wanted to win. Going through these failures was quite painful but it was also a valuable experience provided by debates—learning to put up with defeats and failures. It's an important school of life which I got at the university.
As for managing the club, it was pleasant, especially because I believed in the value of skills which the club develops. I liked helping others to create the context for developing vital skills.
Lots of the debating club participants said that it helped them in many ways—in studies, work and life. This is so nice! Of course, there were some difficulties in organising events and recruiting into the club but when you are passionate, it doesn't stop but, quite the opposite, energises you.
— It seems to me that when a person manages a club, they start playing less themselves. Is it true?
— This is a good comment. All other factors held equal, it is true. However, if you are an absolutely enthusiastic and motivated sophomore, everything can be different. I would stay up at night and ask professors for additional tasks but I would go to the debating championship with first-years, who I recruited into the club, and I would do it four times in November. I would spend every weekend in different cities—two in Moscow, one in Rostov and one in Voronezh.
To be honest, when you only become a head, at first, you start debating less. Now, many talented speakers deliberately choose to attend not all the events because they want to focus on developing their debating skills. I didn't see those as mutually exclusive things back then, so I managed the club and kept participating in debates. The second and third years were a period when each week, I participated in a debating championship—it could be held in another city, in St Petersburg, online or in English.
— You took part in the World Universities Debating Championships Belgrade 2022. How was this championship different from the others?
— International debates are the same as student debates but on a more global level. For instance, there are the World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC) and European Universities Debating Championships (EUDC). These competitions unite debating communities from all over the world at one site. While preparing for them, participants often 'practice' at local international tournaments. We participated in local competitions only in an online format because of COVID-19.
In fact, international debates do not differ from the student ones in format—it is the same British parliamentary format with four teams and two sides. However, there are two key differences. The first one is the international community which entails a great number of various approaches to refereeing debates. People of different cultures prefer different reasoning which makes debates complex and interesting.
The second difference is the interaction style. Russian and post-Soviet culture of debating often focuses on monologues and the narrative of the arguments. In the Western tradition, they pay more attention to a dialogue and interaction between speakers, which makes debates more dynamic and aimed at rebuttal. In international debates in English, it's important to work with the arguments of your opponent to succeed.
My English wasn't that good, I started learning it in the tenth grade after transferring to a new school. However, my stubbornness and regular performance at championships in English helped me to develop skills which helped me to speak English without prejudice to the arguments. My English is not perfect, and, of course, it is a barrier, especially when we debated the best world teams. But even in halting English, we managed to win against the teams with strong speakers. Perhaps, it is the biggest reputational difficulty but we have overcome it.
— I know you run a Telegram channel where you discuss the championship topics and give some advice. How did you come up with the idea of creating it? Do you have a goal you'd like to achieve through it?
— To be honest, no, but I want to work on this channel more actively. It appeared after my partner and I qualified for the playoffs of the online debating world championship in 2022. The main task of the channel was to help debaters and create a platform with the materials which would help them to develop in debates in Russian and remove the fear of debating in English.
With time, the channel became less specialised and more oriented on debates and discussions in the public space as well as thoughts on reasoning and rhetoric which I am keen on and engage in as a part of my job. I'm pleasantly surprised that the channel resonates with people.
— Let's imagine you see a novice who only starts their way in debates. What would you advise them?
— I really like giving short answers. If I had to give advice, I'd say: doubt. Debates teach us to doubt everything happening around us and critically analyse it. Even when we express a stance in debates, they teach us to doubt it. If implemented correctly, doubt can encourage an action or analysis. Thus, my advice is to doubt and analyse.
A specific advice is to explore the world around us. It is also a part of doubt. Study how the world works because a beautiful speech won't be enough if you don't understand what you are talking about. Good debaters are not those who can scream loudly but those who know more than others. Thus, to study and practice are the most important things.
— Could you tell us about your work at BEsmart: how did you join this company? What tasks do you perform?
— BEsmart was founded by debaters who brought debates to St Petersburg and founded the St Petersburg Debating Federation. They noticed me as an active debater and speaker, who won tournaments and performed at events, and invited me to the company.
We carry out various communication projects, create educational products and programmes for companies and universities, and also consult on public speaking. For instance, my colleagues taught at HSE University in Moscow. My main task is to prepare speakers for important public appearances at conferences, debates and negotiations. I guide speakers through the whole process of preparing for a good public appearance, so that their messages would reach the target audience and help to reach their goals.
Apart from that, we are involved in various communicative activities, such as facilitating strategic sessions and improving communications inside companies. My specialisation is preparing speakers and creating educational programmes on public speaking and critical thinking. I develop these programmes, implement them, collect feedback and adapt them for clients.
— To your mind, are public appearances a gift or a skill to develop? What would you recommend to those who are afraid of the stage?
— The answer definitely lies in how we formulate a question about public appearances. We talk about it as a skill, not a talent. Everyone has different starting positions—some people are more confident, others are less and are scared to speak to an audience. However, the concept of public speaking is often distorted and associated with rhetoric and external manifestations, such as loud speech and gestures.
In fact, public speaking is about giving the audience value, understanding their needs and structuring your speech in a way to make it easily perceived. A good speaker may not be rhetorically gifted but they know how to meet the needs of the audience. You can gain these skills, and 90% of the performance success depends on a right strategic preparation.
Even speaking skills can be developed with the help of various tools, such as right emphasis and pauses. For example, if someone talks too fast, it is not about speech speed but about the absence of sense pauses which help the audience to distinguish the thoughts. By adding those pauses and structuring the speech, we help the speaker to be understood better.
You don't have to be loud or scream to reach the audience. In this case, debates are a great tool to overcome the fear of public speaking. Fear of stage is fine, and a speaker, who is a little nervous, is often perceived better by the audience than the one who is not worried at all. It shows that the speaker cares.
To cope with the physical signs of worry, you have to understand how it shows in your case—whether your palms sweat or your throat tightens. Try to fight these manifestations, so that the appearance will be more comfortable. It's impossible to eliminate the fear fully but you can minimise physical consequences.
— When you prepare speakers for public appearances, is there a universal template or do you choose an individual approach to each person?
— These are not conflicting things. We have a methodology of speaker training which includes several stages: the audience analysis, understanding of strategy, looking for key messages and implementing theoretical techniques to polish up a presentation and choosing visual highlights. However, each appearance is unique and requires an individual approach.
If it is an appearance of a technical director, it will have one structure. If the speech is aimed at inspiring the team, the structure and elements will be different. If it is a complicated report about infrastructure solutions in an IT company, it requires a third approach. Everything is always individual, and we adapt to each case.
— What inspired you to become a teacher at the St Petersburg Academy of Talents? What do you do working in this company?
— Apart from BESmart, I have a lot of projects. I work at the Academy of Talents as a teacher in the programme on debates. I like this idea because it attracts talented school students in ninth and eleventh grades who are developing in debates, and I help them with it. It is a labour of love which I really like.
Besides, I'm actively developing debates in Moscow Oblast. I help students prepare for debates and implement several projects which popularise debates, critical thinking and reasoning.
— You work in several companies, keep engaging in debates and run your Telegram channel. What is the secret of success? Are there any strategies or rules which help you to cope with difficulties?
— There is a great TED Talks video which I recommend watching. Tim Urban is a speaker, and his speech 'Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator' is one of the best popular science speeches. There is an interesting metaphor about how a procrastinator's brain works. At the moment when a deadline comes, a 'panic monster' wakes up in our head and scares a lazy monkey which usually postpones everything for momentary pleasures. The 'panic monster' evokes crazy activity.
It's almost the same for me—I procrastinate quite a lot but when a deadline comes, I mobilise everything and manage to do all the tasks. An advice which can help is to start a calendar. I use a calendar and don't know what I would do without it. Arrange your plans and highlight slots for tasks without a deadline. For me, such tasks are hard, I'm still trying to figure out how to work with them.
— Can you share your plans for the near future?
— Firstly, I'd like to continue doing what I'm doing now, as I really like the job and what we do with my team. I'd like to have more interesting cases in consulting and creating educational products related to reasoning, critical thinking and public speaking.
Secondly, my dream is to become a university professor. In the next two years, I would like to become a visiting lecturer, perhaps, at HSE University—there are some programmes I'm interested in.
As for my personal ambitions, I want to contribute to the development of debates in English in Russia. My dream is to send Russian teams to the World Debating Championship. We are already taking steps to help some teams from Russia to take part in it in 2026.
— What three words do you associate with HSE University-St Petersburg?
— Flexibility, pragmatism and responsibility.