It's been my belief for a while that such public debate actually hurts our cause more than helps it.
Recently I did a fair amount of reading on the subtitles theme. Unfortunately, at the moment I can't find the prime webpage I liked so much.
A couple of (Talk Origins) pages I did track down are:
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/debating/globetrotters.html and
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/debating/gish.html
The site I liked so much contained something along the lines of:
"Be prepared for a "Gish gallop" presentation from the creationist. Then DON'T try to refute every point of the gallop. Instead, point out to the audience that the creationist is doing a gallop, presenting more erroneous arguments than it is practical to refute in a short time period. Then select one or two of the creationists points and demolish them".
Moose
Edited by Minnemooseus, : Fixed a "in in" to "in a".