Judging

We will use 2 judges for each debate and so your commitment is 7 rounds per entry.

Yes, you may bring your junior or senior debaters to judge. Please make sure they are reasonably experienced and, more importantly, will take it seriously. Remind them to be the kind of judges they want. Judges who work hard to make good, fair decisions based on the arguments made in the debate.

Our community's best judges work hard to make students feel comfortable. Respecting the time and effort students put into debate by being positive and helpful is what we are looking for.

We prefer, not require, that judges disclose and do so in this way:

1) Announce a winner

2) Quickly identify the most important argument(s) that shaped the decision.

3) Give each debater one positive comment and one recommendation for improvement.

We ask that each judge strive to conclude their post round comments in 5 minutes or less. This will help us keep our tournament running on time.

Providing a significant number of written comments using the tabroom ballot feature is more likely to give students an opportunity for reflection and improvement than a 15 minute discussion after a debate when they are already thinking about their next debate.