I hold a Bachelor of Science in Communication Studies from the University of Montevallo and a Master's in Education, Art P-12.

I am looking for not only a strong case, but confidence with public speaking, articulation, and professionalism.

Smile, make eye contact, and prove to me you won the round with knowledge and grace.

My name is Caroline Cannon. I am a freshman at Auburn University. I debated in my Junior and Senior years of high school, mostly Public Forum and a little Congress. I never did Lincoln-Douglas or Big Question, but I understand the basis of the two.

For BQ, I like to hear evidence, especially if both opponents are butting heads over a point in a cycle. Make sure to have specific refutations on why your opponent's particular points are wrong and why yours are right.

For Public Forum, again, evidence is critical. Have evidence for your points, and make sure they're recent enough. I will always choose to believe the more recent evidence unless you give me contextual reasons not to. Even if you have better reasoning, if you don't have the evidence to support it and your opponent has evidence to refute it, then I'm inclined to go with your opponent. These debate tournaments are a competitive game, not a conversation, and you need to follow the game's rules to win, even if you would have won the argument in real life. Refrain from spreading (speed-read) because I will not process the information at all.

Summarize your points in summary/consolidation. In the summary, no new points should be introduced, just a recap of the round. A good approach could be something like, "This is their first point: ____. This is why they're wrong, and my team is right:________" for each point, unless you're collapsing (collapsing has been very effective for me before).

No new material in Final Focus. Even if you bring up new material, just know it is a waste of time because I will not flow it nor consider it a part of your argument.

If you go over time, I will not interrupt you, but I will stop flowing/stop considering what you are saying.

No misogyny, racism, or any other kind of discrimination toward anybody in the room. If there is, you will be docked speaker points based on severity.

Feel free to let me know if you have any questions.

Hey guys!! My name is Greta Christiansen, and I am a junior at Vestavia HS. I primarily compete in Lincoln Douglas, Congress, and Speech- so I have a pretty good understanding of debate. I also have competed this year with this BQ topic, so I have a decent grasp of what is going on.

- CLARITY IS SUPER IMPORTANT! If I cannot hear your argument or understand it, then I cannot vote on it. Make sure to explain any complex arguements that you might have.

FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL BQ 24:

- If you are rude or show any sort of poor sportsmanship to your opponent(s), I will dock your speaker points. This is Middle School BQ, so I expect for everyone to show each other lots of grace. Ya'll are new to this, and it is supposed to be fun!

- In this tournament disclosure is not allowed, so please do not expect for me to tell you who won. I will be sure to provide lots of feedback in my rfds, and if you have any questions, feel free to email me after the tournament atgretachristiansen7@gmail.com .

Happy debating! :)

Hi! I'm a current high school sophomore. I usually compete in PF (2nd speaker), Congress, and speech.

Debate:

Constructive:

Nothing much to say. Clear signposting, obvious claim-warrant-impact structure. I'm pretty tech, so I'll buy your points. If you say that Russia is planning to take over the moon, I will buy that until your opponents provides sufficient evidence that its not.

Cross-Exams:

I don't pay too much attention to cross exams, but use them to your advantage. Be confident. Ask questions. Discover your opponent's weaknesses. If you point out something brought up in cross in a later speech, I will flow it.

Rebuttal:

It is important to address all of your opponents' points. Please go down their case in an orderly fashion so I can keep up. Make it obvious where you are. I love the use of terms like turn and delink. Unless you are clearly collapsing, if you drop something, that counts toward your opponents (unless they fail to bring that up). Defense is sticky. If your defense is unaddressed, it flows through.

Summary:

Do solid frontlining in 1st rebuttal. Start boiling down the round and compare both sides. Why are you winning right now? Why should I affirm/negate this resolution? Why should I choose you over your opponents? Weigh. I would prefer it if you could collapse.

Final Focus:

Please tell me if your opponent abused their 2nd summary or 1st final focus to sneak in new arguments. I will probably notice, but abusing speeches results in a huge point decrease. If they drop and bring arguments up again, that's still dropped. Weigh and tell me the points you won and/or what your opponent dropped.

Overall, just be confident! When in doubt, yap it out!

For help/questions/email chains/contact info, my email is gaotd2008@gmail.com.

My Instagram is TopGao720. I post debate content and art. You can also DM me. Please follow me! I can't increase your speaker points, but I can give more tips if you do. :D

I am a lay judge and have been judging speech and debate for about 6 years. I believe that debate should include a clear presentation of your arguments and evidence. I also believe your speeches should be well organized. In the end, I will value argument over style, but the way you present your arguments is important to my understanding of those arguments. If you call for evidence, please have a legitimate reason for it. I don't like spending a lot of prep time on it. I expect you to time yourselves, but I will be timing too. I like clear, organized flows with clear voters at the end. I weigh heavily on impacts so compare your impacts and convince me that yours are stronger. Please be civil and respectful to your partner and competitors.

My background is in theatre and speech. I love judging speech events and will typically vote for the presenter who has the strongest emotional connection to their piece and the audience. There must be an effective balance of design, style, and presentation. The pieces that showcase who you are as a performer as well as communicating something new and fresh are welcome.

Willing to give progressive a chance.