I've judged over 14 tournaments since 2014 but I still consider myself a novice judge. Most of my knowledge of judging debate comes from trolling the internet for material that pops up from search terms like, "how to judge high school debate". In real life I'm a research scientist (evolutionary biologist), so I'm well-practiced at evaluating evidence and whether or not conclusions logically follow from the analyzed data. I'm more persuaded by logos than ethos, and even less so, pathos. I like to think that I can set aside my biases, but I am honest enough to say that this is difficult, especially if presented with evidence that is factually incorrect. Thus, try as I might, I cannot bring myself to approach each debate completely tabula rasa. Just because you can make a claim and state it as fact doesn't make it so. So I'm big on cited evidence/sources. Primary sources are superior to secondary, and tertiary sources are more like non-authoratitive opinions than evidence.

Flow: I may have a PhD in biology, but I also played college football and underwent plenty of brain trauma. Use your flow to help me keep mine straight. The harder you make me work to keep my own flow, the less likely it is that I'll pick up points in your favor.

Speed: I'm totally fine with spewing, but I'll call for clarification if it gets too fast.

Articulation: Wins out over speed any day. I minored in philosophy and English in college and appreciate points that are made and justified economically versus wind bagging and circumlocution.

Timing: I’ll set my timer and when it beeps, you’re done. I have ADHD and can’t multi-task. I’m either flowing or playing with the timer. So I flow. If you see me counting down and giving hand signals and all that stuff, it might be because you’ve lost me. Try hard to keep me engaged. I love this stuff, but I’m easily distracted. Stay on point, and I will too.

I am a Professor of Biology at Brigham Young University.  While I have little experience with Debate judging, my occupation requires that arguments be backed by credible evidence.  My positions on topics are mostly formed with hard data from top tier sources.  Hence, in competitions I look for evidence based assertions, not assumptions.  I also  applaud intellectual humility instead of pontification.