A virtual conferencing system is described which provides discussion support services such as during a debate between virtual conference participants. For example, one embodiment of virtual conferencing system comprises: a plurality of clients operated by participants and at least one moderator of a virtual conference, each of the clients comprising state management logic to maintain a current state of the virtual conference; a virtual conferencing service to establish audio and/or video connections between the plurality of clients during the virtual conference, the virtual conferencing service further including a state synchronization service communicatively coupled to the state management logic on each client to ensure that the current state of the virtual conference is consistent on each client; a virtual conferencing graphical user interface (GUI) to be rendered on the plurality of clients, the virtual conferencing GUI configured, via signals sent from the state synchronization service, to display a video stream of one or more current speakers during the virtual conference utilizing the established video connections; and a discussion support module to implement a discussion between two or more selected participants in the virtual conference by generating a discussion configuration including data structures and GUI features required to implement the discussion in response to a set of discussion parameters specified by the virtual conferencing moderator, wherein the discussion configuration implemented by the discussion support module are synchronized to clients through the state synchronization service.