In the lead up to the leaders’ debate tonight, Stefanie Preissner speaks about the purpose of these debates and why we love to watch them.

On RTÉ One tonight at 9.35pm, the leaders’ debate with 10 political party leaders will take place.

Ahead of the actual debate, journalist and broadcaster Stefanie Preissner told The Hard Shoulder all about the purpose of a programme like this.

“There's two types of people who are going to watch tonight,” Ms Preissner said.

“I think there are the people who are engaged in politics and who might want to know… You know, like it's a litmus test for, I think, assessing the clarity, the consistency and the feasibility for the proposals, because we're seeing so many promises now.

“With the debates, you get someone hosting the debate who gets to push back and defend their answers, defend their policies under pressure.

“I think that can help voters to cut through the noise of conflicting narratives online and the live format is kind of it prevents them from being so polished and relying on the curated sound bites.”

"Entertainment"

Ms Preissner said the second type of person will watch the debate for “entertainment” value.

“There's kind of a bit of drama and conflict that debates often bring and makes them feel like entertainment rather than politics.

“You can kind of see the personalities clash and gauge the charisma of participants, which is sometimes the only thing that people are voting on if they're less engaged in the policies side of things.”

"Detailed pushing"

The large number of participants in the debated might lead to losing the “detailed pushing on some of the larger parties”, Ms Preissner said.

“They won't be able to really press them to give an answer, so we might be hearing some of the more curated, prepared lines, because they don't have time to push them and ask the same question again,” she said.

“Or we might see actually see quite little from the some of the leaders of the smaller parties because they do focus on those larger parties.”

Canvassers

Ms Preissner said these debates are really important for people who aren’t getting canvassers at their door.

“So I think [people should] have a little think about, what are the things that will sway you, that you are looking for, and then hope, I guess, that the host asks them on those topics,” she said.

“It's the same as preparing for if you do get one of these elusive canvassers at the door, prepare to ask the questions about the things that matter to you - otherwise you're kind of gonna go on who you like the look of.”

"People vote for people"

The journalist thinks “people vote for people”, adding that it’s important for voters to feel like they know the candidate in a way.

“If we look to the US… the criticisms of Kamala Harris were that you heard what her party stood for, but nobody really knew her,” she said.

“They don't know much about her, and people vote for people, so be memorable - be interesting.

“I would be advising any of the candidates - don't say anything that's already on your poster or in your manifesto - we've heard that, we've seen that.”

Ms Preissner said giving examples and being relatable keeps the debate “human” and “interesting”.

Listen back here:

Split image: R, Simon Harris, Middle, Mary Lou McDonald, L, Micheál Martin.