Background: I am part of a club in my university which deals primarily in public speaking, debating, etc. It's been close to 6 months since I joined and to be fair, I haven't done quite well in debating tournaments. Since, it is Asian Parliamentary Debate, much of the results depend on your teammates. However, my scores during these tournaments has only been average or in its neighborhood i.e. either slightly below average or slightly above average. However, the seniors in my club tell us, "You've got great potential. You are a good debator. You speak well" and variants thereof. However, my performance in the past 6 months show nothing that suggests any of the above.(At least, I feel so.)
For instance, I don't feel any marked improvement in my speaking skills. So, "Are these words only false praises just to not make us feel dejected?" If so, "How do I tell false praises from genuine ones?"
(P.S. - If this question is too broad, do tell in the comments how do I make it less broad)