Put me on the Email Chain- debate.taylor@gmail.com

Currently Debate at the University of North Texas in NFA LD, similar to a one person policy debate.

About me: I competed in Policy debate for 4 years at Princeton high school, primarily on the TFA circuit. Better with policy debates because that is what I did in high school, but please do what you are most comfortable with. Tech>truth most of the time.

Speed: Slow down on tags and authors, I am generally okay with speed, since every judge is different I will say clear twice before I stop flowing.

Evidence: I might be reading evidence during the round, but I believe it is up to the debater to be doing comparative evidence analysis during the round. That being said my reading of the evidence will have not have any weight on my decision unless both teams make it a point of contention. It is not my job as a judge to vote against a team for reading bad evidence it is your job to tell me their evidence is bad and why that's important.

AFF: Plan less affs are fine. I enjoy ones that relate to the topic in some way but if they don't that is cool too. Fairness could be an impact but I am usually persuaded by the impact turns.

Disadvantages: The more specific to the aff the better. I am good with politics disadvantages, fiat does not resolve the link ever. Saying "Uniqueness overwhelms the link because of how many cards the neg read on it" is not an argument by itself you need to explain this. I am okay with hearing rider/horse trading disadvantage. You should always be doing specific impact comparison with the aff, disad turns the case arguments are convincing.

Counter-plans: Any counter-plan is fine, but if you read a delay, consult or any other counter-plan that may be seen as cheating by some, be prepared to defend the theoretical objections against it. Of course you need a net-benefit to the counter-plan in order to win it whether it is internal, a disad, or a case turn there must be some net benefit. Judge kick- 2NR Needs to tell me other wise I default to no judge kick.

Topicality: Topicality is fine. I do not have a bias on reasonability vs. competing interps, it just depends on the debate. Obviously the most important thing in these debates are the interpretations. Topicality always needs to have impacts.

Theory: Fine go for it if you want. Only theory I have a bias for is, conditionality, it's good in most cases. You should have an interpretation for your theory objections, absent that there is no violation.

Kritiks: Kritiks are fine, but I am less familiar with the literature than you. In these debates the more specific the link the better, but no matter the specificity of the link please contextualize it to the aff, examples are good for me. The better the link the easier this is, but if you read a generic link it is going to take more contextualization. Your links should be to the plan and not the status sqou and aff teams should be quick to call out neg teams whose links are to the sqou. I believe that long overviews that explain the kritik are okay, and for me important. Kicking the alternative is fine. I have gone for cap a lot.

LD:I do not know what tricks are. Please read an impact to T-FW.

CX Debate

I consider myself to be a Tab judge, but I also have more of a traditional background. I'm comfortable evaluating the style of argumentation presented in the round. However, I don't have as much experience evaluating policy debate rounds this year as I typically would because of the online format. That means I'm not as familiar with the literature, so be mindful of that. I recommend that you explain to me how there's a path to vote for you in the rebuttals. Tell me how you think arguments should be weighed in the round.

Speech

In interp, I look for a clear storyline and development of characters. I expect to see a teaser and an intro that justifies the selection/tells me why the performance matters.

In platform and limited prep, I listen for effective speech construction, meaningful content, and smooth yet conversational delivery. I like the use of humor and other elements to add personality to the speech.

Restrictive paradigms are problematic for good debate... hear me out:

Debate, to me at least, has always been more about the round than the ballot. The round should determine how the ballot is written: a good judge should adapt to the debaters in the room and not the other way around. I'm willing to vote on anything you read in front of me insofar as you're able to defend your position as net-better than the alternative. There is an avenue available to the debaters to explain why certain positions/styles shouldn't be considered in my decision, but I'm not here to do that work for you.

I check myself as a "tab" judge when I'm forced to, though I believe people too often abuse that term. I'm not "tab with the exception of x or y." I'm just as likely to vote on a standard STOCK debate as I am on a more kritikal approach. You do you in the debate and you shouldn't have to worry about me.

I'm more than willing to clarify or discuss my paradigm before a debate should there be any questions/comments/concerns.

Debate Experience: Highschool: 4 years Public Forum, National Speech & Debate Association. College: 4 yrs Individual Parliamentary Debate (IPDA), National Circuit Parliamentary Debate, NPDA & NFA Lincoln Douglas Debate (LD).

CX Paradigm: Overall- Have fun! Debate is a great, educational activity. I vote on the flow. I am looking for clash and clear argumentation. Read whatever you want in front of me.

Affirmatives: I like to see a clean plan, advantages, and framing. Please explain how you get to your impacts. I tend not to like "conflict X leads to nuc war" without a unique or detailed scenario explaining how you get there.

Kritiks: Feel free to read your K. Do not assume I know your author or the thesis of your Kritik. They should be explained clearly and have links to the resolution, the aff, or the debate space.

DA's: Please be sure the DA has a clear link to the aff, I will not make one for you.

CP's: I am looking for how it is competitive w/ the aff and CP solvency. Competitiveness can be shown via mutually exclusive argumentation. If the aff is competitive via net benefits, I am looking for a clear link between the counter plan and how it resolves the net benefit. I will not automatically assume because you are reading a net benefit to the CP that the CP automatically resolves it, you have to do that work.

Perms on CP's: Perms are a test of competition. In my debate career, I read many perms. I think having net bens to the perm will work in your advantage. I do not accept perms after the 2AC, so if they are brought up in the rebuttals, I will not flow them.

DA to CP: I think that DA's to the CP should have cards. I also think that DA's to the CP can be run alongside Perms of CP. Negative should be able to collapse to their best argument.

Condo CP's & Theory: Status of your CP should be established when asked or before then. I think that conditional CP's are acceptable. Kicking out of arguments it's a strategic move for negative teams to prioritize arguments they are winning. Additionally, CX has backside rebuttals. So I generally tend to think condo good. However, if the negative loses the Condo theory debate on the flow, I will vote aff.

Perms on Kritik's: I think that Perm's on K's are generally acceptable, but can be an uphill battle. The debater's must be able to explain how the perm can resolve the harms of the K. That being said, perm's are, once again, a test of competition, NOT an advocacy, so if the aff cannot resolve the K w/out advocating for the perm, it will lose my ballot.

Topicality/Spec: T can be fundamentally important w/ abusive aff's. I'm familiar w/ effects T, extra T, and definitions (substantially, etc) T. I need a clear interp, violation, standards, and voters to be able to vote for T. Spec is flowed on a separate page than the aff.

Answering T/Spec: Counter Interps and Counter Standards are offense against the T. I think a we meet is necessary, but defensive. T is apriori & I will vote for or against it as such.

Theory: Theory is a strategy. I view it in a very gamey way. Feel free to read whatever kind of theory you want in front of me. Theory must also be formatted as interp, violation, standards, and voters.

Collapsing: Please collapse. Negatives: By the rebuttals, I should know if you are going for the CP/DA or the T.

Impact Framing: It exists for a reason. Please use it. I don't want to do the work for you. To me- impact calculus makes the difference in close rounds and differentiates the scenario I should be buying over the other.

Lincoln Douglas Debate: Feel free to read whatever you want in front of me.

Value & Criterion: Please ensure that your value, criterion, etc are clear, well defined, apply to the resolution.

Contentions: Looking for clear tag lines that explain the thesis of your contention.

Overall: I will look at value & criterion first to see how I should evaluate your contentions. In order to look here, I need a reason why the aff or neg value/criteria should be preferred over the other. Second, I look for dropped argumentation on the flow & how this impacts the arguments in the round overall. The effects or impacts that come from your contentions matter most of all to my ballot. Why are they more important than your opponents?

Public Forum Paradigm: I like to see as much clash as possible. Please interact with your opponents contentions/ counter contentions. I like arguments with clear tag lines that explain the thesis of your contention. Evidence is crucial, please ensure your arguments are warranted.

Cross-ex: Please do not speak over one another. Allow your opponent to finish their answer before asking another question.

Rebuttals: This is the time to synthesize your arguments and explain why I should be voting for you. Please do not bring up new evidence or simply repeat your contentions.

Speaker Points: Please speak at whatever pace you are most comfortable with. I can keep up with speed, however, please be respectful of your opponent. You will not earn high speaker points on my ballot if there is unnecessary sass given to your opponents and partner.

TLDR: This is your round so debate the way you feel most comfortable, my only recommendation is to explain why you should win the round instead of why they should lose. I have experience with most forms of argumentation including the K and performance. I competed in NPDA for Texas Tech so speed and technical debate are something I consider tools. My only serious rule is to respect your opponents and avoid arguments we would all consider unethical. As a general rule, I will almost always default to tech over truth, if you concede a sheet of paper, pathological appeals won't win you my ballet.

LONG VERSION:

Yo, excited to judge your round. I have over 7 years of debate experience from all levels from novice to national finals for 2018 in NPDA. In HS, I did policy and a very small amount of LD. I have freelanced coached and judged almost every debate event, and don't have an argument preference. I have been out of the game for nearly a year so my flowing isn't as a fast as it once was. Clarity is a huge issue for me, but if you label and signpost arguments clearly I should be able to keep up with most speeds.

traditional paradigm: NA win offense, win round

AFF:

K affs and performative affs are fine so long as you are able to justify why you should be able to read them when challenged on things like framework and T. Preferably explain why your performance is UQ and K2 solving for (X), absent that explanation for the solvency mechanism I tend to be more lenient towards generic link scenarios.

Policy affs: Whatever aff you read is fine, but I find it nearly impossible to vote for a plan meets needs aff due to the lack of embedded offense. Beyond that, I don't believe it is my role as a judge to control what advocacies you're reading.

All theoretical objections to the negative strat must be read in the 2ac or as round framing at the bottom of the aff. This obviously changes in something incredibly abusive happens in the block, but those cases are few and far between, e.g. they read a new K in the 1nr or refuse to provide block evidence. I need a reason to drop the team if you want this argument to win you the round. I strongly dislike the current trend in policy that collapses theory into a single block of text on the offending sheet, so please put it on its own sheet.

In the end, to vote affirmative I want a clearly defined change in the squo and reasons that change is preferable in cost-benefit analysis.

NEG:

Thesis: I don't like all off in the 1nc and all on in the 2nc, it's sloppy and leads to less interesting debates. It also hurts you strategically because you don't actually start to develop ideas from the 1nc until the 1nr. I'm not saying don't do it, but I am saying I will have a much more difficult time voting for it.

T/Theory: I will vote for this type of argument when it is deployed and argued like a win condition. If you want to win my ballet on T, you will need impacts on fairness and education and not just a blip in the voter section. (AFF: please meet your counter interps) Consider T a disad and argue it as such. I default to competing interps unless instructed differently, and will not do standard weighing for either team.

Disad: Read them? I don't need to go in-depth here, I hope.

CP: The role of a counter plan is to either prove an opportunity cost to the aff or function as an advantage take out. Topical counter plans are fine, but definitely a fun theory debate to have. Absent external offense or a solvency deficit for the aff I probably won't vote on a floating advocacy.

K: I was a K hack when I debated. This has two main implications for your round, I hate hearing bad Ks and I am familiar with most critical lit. If you feel confident in your ability to run a critique effectively, then please read them because they open up a level of topic discussion that can't be accessed by reading a simple disad. If you don't understand how a K works or what your author is defending, I am not the judge to read a K in front of. In terms of lit, I am most familiar with Foucault, and D&G, but have at least surface-level knowledge on most arguments. I tend to vote on arguments that result in either a material or epistemological change to the status quo so yeah explain that.

On-case: Solvency take-outs aren't a voter unless they are paired with either an advocacy that solves the aff or external offense. Solvency turns are a voter. Just reading cards on the aff isn't productive beyond the 1nc; I need a reason it matters for it to change my ballet.

Strategy: Beat your opponents vertically, instead of horizontally. I.E. a lot of explanatory and interactive arguments on a single position is much more likely to win my ballet instead of going for 10 off in the 2nr.

Kicking arguments is fine if you answer all the offense on it.

MISC:

CONDO is good, but that is up for debate in the round. That being said, I will drop a team on condo bad if the opp wins the arg.

Floating Pics are generally bad, but if the aff doesn't notice...

ROB debates are generally a waste of your time, the role of the ballet is to say who wins the round. Instead, tell me the role of the judge or just tell me what offense to prioritize via weighing (probably faster TBH)

I tend to dislike rejection alts (reject the res, reject the aff, etc), but I will vote on them. It's just going to take more work on your end.

Don't be rude or hateful. I will drop you and the speaks will show it.

Speaker point range: 27-30 Average: 28.7

LD:

I am traditionally a policy judge so my approach to LD tends to fall along those lines. The easiest pathway to my ballet is warrant comparison and impact analysis. I dislike arguments like "my value supersedes theirs" unless they include a specific reason why that's a voter.

Beyond that, a clearly defined weighing mechanism for the round is critical. Am I an educator, a policymaker, or a Nihilist? All three of these fundamentally shape how I view the round, so tell me what kind of judge you want me to be. Absent this, I will default to cost-benefit analysis to evaluate your claims and determine my ballet.

Director of Forensics @ Athens HS (2023 - Present)

DoD at Austin LBJ ECHS (2022 - 2023)

Texas Tech Debate 2019-2021 (Graduated)

Athens HS (TX) 2015-2019

whonea@athensisd.net

Please have specific questions about my paradigm if curious. Just asking, "what is your paradigm" is too broad of a question and we don't have time before a round to run down every little detail about how I feel about debate.

Speed - I think there is a place for spreading, I have judged and debated against some of the fastest debaters in the country. In a UIL setting, I would prefer you not to spread. I think this allows us to maintain the accessible nature of the circuit. For TFA, NSDA, or TOC debates, go for it. I think in any type of debate slow down for tag lines and key analytical arguments, especially voters in the rebuttals.

TFA STATE 2024 UPDATE: I feel like at this point in the season, judges should outline specific preferences that align with the topic, given they've judged a considerable amount thus far. I have developed a few of those preferences. First, because this is an economy centric topic, I need you to isolate a market indicator that should frame the direction of the economy. Whether is the CPI, Stock Market Projections, BizCon surveys, etc. Absent this specification, it makes it hard to judge econ uniqueness in debates. Second, the central T debate is Taxes v Deficit Spending. A lot more time needs to be allocated to the predictability standard when going for "you must tax". There are tons of taxes the aff could choose, only one way to deficit spend. Finally, is evidence recency. Though I believe dates on cards matter less than the warrants themselves, when debating the ever-changing economy, the most recent analysis is more likely to sway me. The same can be said for politics scenarios. We are deep into an election cycle, Super Tuesday is 2 days before tfa state. Please update your evidence.

TLDR: My overall judging philosophy can be boiled down to, I am going to take the path to the ballot that takes the least amount of judge intervention. I don't want to do any work for you, that means any warrants analysis/extensions. You do what you do best, I am pretty familiar with just about any argument you want to read. I will make my decision based on a metric established by the debaters in the round.

Policy -

MPX - I have no preference for types of impacts. Make sure your internal links make sense. Impact Calculus is must in debates. Also impact framing is necessary when debating systemic vs. existential impacts.

Affs - Read one..... Advantages need to materialize into impacts. Saying "This collapses the economy" cannot be the end all to you advantage. Explain why that matters. Whether its war, structural violence, etc.

K Affs - The K aff needs a point. Don't just read one to try and throw your opponent off their game. I like K affs and have read them a lot in HS/College. The aff should always have some FW/Roll of the Ballot for me to evaluate the round on. Also, if your kritiking the World, Debate Space, Topic, etc. explain the utility in doing so rather than taking the traditional route of reading a policy aff with a state actor.

Performance - The performance needs purpose. Don't just read you poem, play you song, or do a performance at the beginning and then forget about it for the rest of the round. Tell me why you doing what you did has significance in this debate and how it should shape my decision making calculus.

T- I default that the aff is topical. The neg has the burden to prove otherwise. I default to competing interps weighing offense in the standards level debate. I often find that competing interps and reasonability require essentially the same amount of judge intervention. Competing interps relies on a judges individual metric for "how much offense" is needed to win an interp, this is mirrored by "how much of a we meet" is needed to throw out T.

FW - Policy FW against K affs can be a useful strategy to have. However, i often find debaters constantly reading generic standards like Ground, Predictability without any in depth impacts to those standards. Have specific warrants about why them reading their K aff in that instance specifically is bad. You probably have little risk of winning a collapse of debate impact. K's have been read for decades and yet, here we are. Probably should go for a more proximal, in round education lost scenario.

DA - The more intrinsic the better. I will not evaluate links of omission unless it goes completely dropped. While I like intrinsic/specific disads i also recognize the utility in reading generics and will vote on them.

PTX - Needs to be very specific, we are in an election cycle right now. Generic election projections are unlikely to persuade me. Please make sure your evidence is up to date.

CP - I like counterplan debate. Make sure you pair it with a net benefit AND solvency deficits to the Aff plan. Additionally, spend time explaining how the CP resolves the deficits you say the aff solvency has. The CP needs to AVOID the link to the net benefit, not SOLVE it. If the CP solves the link, the permutation probably does as well.

K’s - Don’t assume I know your author. I have experience reading CAP (Marx & Zizek), Agamben, Foucault, Bataille, Baudrillard, Halberstaam, Butler. I have a preference for identity arguments when i debate but as long as your K provides a logical FW and competes with the aff it should be fine.

Theory - I have voted in and debated some of the wackiest theory positions. As long as you have good warrants as to why your interpretation is better than you should be good. Please do interp comparison between you interp and your opponent's. That being said don't get too out there with you theory positions. I feel like you and/or your coaches should know what is a winning theory position and what is hot garbage.

LD

I have the majority of my experience judging traditional LD with values and criterions. I prefer traditional LD debate and do not typically enjoy policy arguments being brought over into this event.

PF

My Experience is in judging TOC circuit level PF. Provide voters and impact calculus. For online debates PLEASE establish a system for question during Grand Crossfire. There have been too many debates already where everyone is trying to talk at the same time on Zoom and its frustrating.

Current coach/DOF at Lindale High School.

For email chains: mckenziera @ lisdeagles.net

CX - This is where I have spent the majority of my time judging. While I am comfortable judging any type of round, my preference is a more traditional round. Debate rounds that are more progressive (kritikal affs, performance, etc...) are totally fine, but you'll do best to slow down and go for depth over breadth here. I think that judges are best when they adapt to the round in front of them. Writing the ballot for me in the last few speeches can be helpful.

LD - Despite judging policy debate most, I was raised in a traditional value and criterion centric area. Still, I think that policy debates in LD are valuable. See my notes above about progressive argumentation. They're fine, but you'll probably need to do a few things to make it more digestible for me. Again, though, you do you. Writing the ballot for me in the last few speeches can be helpful.

PF - I judge only a few PF rounds a year. I'm not up-to-date on the trends that may be occurring. I naturally struggle with the time restraints in PF. I generally feel like teams often go for breadth instead of depth, which I think makes debate blippy and requires more judge intervention. I'd rather not hear 20 "cards" in a four minute speech. Framework is the most reliable way to construct a ballot. Writing the ballot for me in the last few speeches can be helpful.

Congress - Speeches should have structure, refutation, research, and style. Jerky Parliamentary Procedure devalues your position in the round.

Speech - Structure and content are valued equally. I appreciate, next, things that make you stand out in a positive way.

Interp - Should have a purpose/function. There's a social implication behind a lot of what we perform. I value great introductions and real characters.

Tab, do whatever you do best. I do not have any categorical prohibitions on any types of arguments. While debating I mostly read the K (Cap, Psychoanalysis, Queerness, Schmitt, Heidegger, Biopolitics, etc.) with T and heg as secondary strategies.

Impact comparison is incredibly important for my ballot. Debate is a game of world comparison, for instance if the debate comes down to an aff vs a disad, I will ask myself if the world of the aff or the world of the status quo is net beneficial. This is what it means to weigh impacts. My default impact framing mechanism is Util. If you present an alternative impact framing mechanism tell me how it impacts my evaluation.

Interps must be textually competitive, there is no spirit of the T. For instance, if your interp is "the aff must spec their agent of action." I will vote on a we meet if the aff specs it at some point in the round. So, a better interp would be "the aff must spec their agent of action in the pmc."

T and theory require explicit interps,

If you are going for a non-extinction death impact under a util framing (which is my default if you dont present me with an alternative) please quantify your impacts.

I have very ambivalent feelings about MG theory. The absences of backside rebuttals makes it structurally abusive but on the other hand without it there is not way to check back for neg abuse. My attitude can be summarized thusly: "lets not!"

Speed is not an issue

I see to minimize judge intervention. Many debate that I judge often miss the forest for the trees, the entire debate becomes a show line by line tit for tat responses without either team pulling across a warrant that is predictive of the opponents arguments nor taking a step back and establishing the stakes of these line by line attacks as it relates to the substance of the debate. Please do predictive comparisons.

Theory defaults to common issues: Condo good, don't need to spec, speed good, cx is binding, presumption goes neg.

Fiat is required for any negative argument that does not defend the status quo.

I did policy debate in High School and was the 2018 4A CX state champion. I did parli at UT Tyler and was a two time NPTE finalist and a one time NPDA finalist. I currently coach parli at William Jewell College.
masonaremaley@gmail.com

CX Philosophy

As a judge, I look to you to tell me the rules of the round. I try to be as fluid as possible when it comes two framework and arguments. I only ask that you make sure you explain it and how it impacts the round. In regards to speed, I would say I am more comfortable with mid level speed, however it would be smart to speak slower on tag lines. Remember, if I am part of the email chain/Speechdrop then that makes speed much less of a factor in my decision. I am good with CPs, DAs, Ks, and pretty much any other style of argument as long as it is run properly. If you have any other questions don't hesitate to ask.

LD Philosophy

I'm up for about anything when it comes to arguments. Run what you feel comfortable running. I prefer the debaters to tell me what they want the round to look like. If you leave it up to me I will vote almost exclusively on framework and impacts. Not a big fan of speed at all. If you are spreading then you aren't trying to win my ballot. If I can't follow you then I won't flow the arguments. If I don't flow it then I won't vote on it. If you have any other questions don't hesitate to ask.

Please add me to the email chain: hstringer@princetonisd.net

CX Philosophy
As a judge, I look to you to tell me the rules of the round. I try to be as fluid as possible when it comes to framework and argument. I only ask that you make sure you explain it and how it impacts the round.

I enjoy topical affirmatives and unique arguments from the negative that link to the affirmative case. If an argument applies to any topical affirmative, I tend to not vote for it (provided the affirmative shows that it is non-unique). Really good impact debate is my happy place.

In regards to speed, I would say I am comfortable with mid-high, however it would be smart to think slower on procedurals and tag lines. Go ahead and add me to the email/flash chain and then do what makes you happy.

My facial expressions are pretty readable. If you see me making a face, you may want to slow down and/or explain more thoroughly.

I don't count flashing as part of prep, but prep for flashing/sending files (organizing files, trying to find the right speech, deleting other files, etc) are. It shouldn't take more than about 30 seconds to send files. Going on 5 minutes is a bit excessive.

In terms of critical debate: I am not opposed to it, but I am not well versed, so be sure to really explain any kritiks and how they impact the debate. One of my students called me a lazy progressive judge. That fits. I don't read the literature or envelope myself in the K. Do the work for me; I don't want to.

Counterplans, disadvantages and solvency/advantage debates are great.

I think topicality is necessary to debate, but tend to skew to the aff as long as they can show how they are reasonably topical.

All that being said, I will flow anything and vote on anything until a team proves it isn't worthy of a vote.

LD Philosophy

I have been near LD Debate for about 20 years, but have never been trained in it. So, I am knowledgeable about the event, but not about the content within it. You will probably need to explain more to me and why I should vote on a particular issue. As a policy debater, I tend toward evidence and argumentation. However, I will vote on what you tell me is important to vote on unless your opponent makes a more compelling argument for me to vote on something else.

Public Forum Debate Philosophy

My favorite part of public forum debate is the niceties that are expected here. I love to watch a debater give a killer speech and then turn to politeness in crossfire. Polite confidence is a major selling point for me. Not that I won't vote for you if you aren't polite, but I might look harder for a winning argument for your opponent. In PF, I look more for communication of ideas over quantity of argumentation. I don't coach public forum, so I am not well versed in the content. Make sure you explain and don't just assume I know the inner workings of the topic.

Background: I currently coach at Caddo Mills High School. I attended Athens High School and competed in forensics all four years, graduating in '14. I also competed on the collegiate level at Tyler Junior College and UT Tyler.

If you have any questions about a particular round, feel free to email me at phillipmichaelw91@gmail.com

For my general paradigm:

I consider myself a tab judge. I'll listen to any arguments that you want to run as long as you're doing the work and telling me why they matter (I shouldn't have to say this but I also expect a level of civility in your arguments, i.e. no racist, sexist, or any other blatantly offensive arguments will be tolerated). When I am evaluating the round, I will look for the path of least resistance, meaning I'm looking to do the least amount of work possible. At the end of the round, I would like you to make the decision for me; meaning you should be telling me how to vote and why. However, if need be, I will default to a policymaker.

Speed is okay with me. However, as the activity has become more reliant on the sharing of speech docs, I don't think this means you get to be utterly incomprehensible. If I can't understand you I will call "clear" once. If your clarity does not improve, I will stop flowing. I also believe that debates should be as inclusive as possible and speed, by its very nature, tends to be incredibly exclusive via ablenormativity. If your opponents have trouble understanding you and call "clear," I believe it is your job to create a space that is inclusive for them. *Note: this is not a green light to call "clear" on your opponents as many times as you'd like and vice versa. Once is sufficient. If clarity does not improve, I will make notes on the ballot and dock speaks accordingly. Keep in mind that the best debaters do not need to rely on speed to win.

Please keep your own time.

I evaluate LD, Policy, and PFD through the same lens. I'm looking for offense and I'm voting for whoever tells me why their offense is more important. This doesn't mean that you can't run defense but 99% of the time, defense alone, will not win you my ballot.

As for how I feel about certain arguments:

Theory/Topicality: I look to theory before evaluating the rest of the round. There are a few things that I want if you're going to run and or win on theory. First, I expect you to go all in on it. If you aren't spending all your time in your last speech on theory, that tells me that it's not worth my time voting on it. This means if you go for T and a disad, I won't vote on the Topicality, even if you're winning it. Second, I want to know where the in-round abuse is. How is what the other team is doing specifically detrimental to your ability to win? (hint: don't just say "That's abusive") Lastly, please extend an impact. Why is the way that the other team has chosen to debate bad? Please don't stop at the internal links, i.e. saying "it's bad for limits/ground/etc.". Tell me why that matters for debate.

Framework: I look to FW before evaluating the rest of the round, after theory. It would probably be beneficial to run arguments on both sides of the framework in case I wind up voting against or in favor of the framework you go for (especially in LD).

Kritiks: If you want to run a K, I would like it to be done well. That means you should have framework/a roll of the ballot/judge claim, a link, impact, and an alt. I want to know how the way I vote impacts the world or pertains to the argument that you're making. I will listen to multiple worlds arguments but if it becomes ridiculous I will not be afraid to vote on abuse. To win the kritik, I expect well-fleshed-out arguments that are extended throughout the round.

Counterplans/Disads: Counterplans don't have to be topical. They should be competitive. Please don't read counter-plan theory on the same sheet of paper as the counter-plan proper. Tell me to get another sheet of paper. Your theory position should still have an interp., standards, and voters. Disads should be structured well and have case-specific links.

In LD, I don't think running counterplans makes a ton of sense if the Affirmative is not defending a plan of action (Hint: defending the resolution is not a plan). This is because there is no opportunity cost, which means the perm is always going to function. If you're going to run a counterplan, you're going to have to do a lot of work to prove to me that you still get to weigh the counterplan against the Aff case.


If you have any specific questions or concerns about my paradigm or the way in which I evaluate the round, don't be afraid to ask before the round starts.