For MSPDP:

Hi yall, I'm a high schooler who does Public Forum but did MSPDP for two years. Some key things for you to know:

• I will be flowing the whole debate, so don't try to trick me, it won't work.
• I'm tech > truth - meaning I evaluate what you tell me in the debate (tech) over common sense (truth).
• Please weigh.
• I can handle speed, but make sure you are clear
• I'm going to give you 10-15 seconds as a grace period to finish up your speech, but I will NOT be flowing anything past the 5 minutes you are allotted.

I will be going over all of this before the round starts, you can let me know then if you have any questions!

I hope you enjoy your rounds!

Hi! I'm Kaelie. I'm a junior and have been doing policy since freshman year. Also did 2 years of middle school parli debate.

Put me on the email chain! mykaelac2025@headroyce.org

Just do what you do best, I understand it's hard to stand up and speak to a bunch of strangers. I am pretty open to all types of arguments as long as you can explain them to me.

I read a K aff on the aff and usually go for Ks and T on the neg, but I should be able to hold my own judging DAs and CPs.

I'll probably be able to hear you at most speeds, but if you think you're going too fast, you probably are. Make sure to be clear and sound confident.

Good luck and make sure to have fun!

Middle School Debate

PLEASE SIGNPOST FLOWING'S ALREADY HARD DON'T MAKE IT HARDER FOR ME!

POIs and heckles

- Love them, so please do it as often as you can (obviously stick to the rules). I think its super important for the clash in the debate and shows me you're engaged and listening to your opponents' speaking.

Impacts/Weighing

- It's super important to me to have fleshed-out impacts and do impact comparisons. I want to know why your assertions matter more than theirs and evaluate debates based on who has done a better job explaining why bigger/more probable impact under their weighing mechanism.

- Weighs, when done well, can be works of art. I love weighs that are engaging and persuasive. PLEASE do weighing mechanism comparison, it makes my job so much easier as a judge.

Evidence

- PLEASE DO NOT MAKE UP RANDOM SOURCES -- I CAN TELL WHEN YOU MAKE UP A NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE!!!!

Refutations

- These are probably one of the hardest things to do in a round, but a good refutation will put you far ahead in the debate. I like refutations of the flow, and please at least try to refute the arguments, even if its just with your own points.

Speaking

I have a pretty high threshold for speed. That said, please don't go too fast, slow down and articulate each word.

Debate is a fun activity so please be nice and don't be disrespectful.

please don't spread

Hi, my name is Ruturaj Pathak, and I am a parent judge. I have been judging debates for 3 years now. I judge fairly in an unbiased way. I like the teams to be respectful of each other.

Speed: Go as fast as you want as long as you enunciate, and everyone can understand what you are saying.

POIs: Have no more than 3 POIs per speech otherwise it is disruptive. Please use them correctly and ask them in a form of a question.

I always flow the debate and write what you speak. I judge on clear contentions, evidence that supports them and impacts. I also like clear refutes based on logic and analysis. Clear evidence strengthens your refutes.

I add 10-15 second grace period to your time to allow you to complete your chain of thought. But I will not add or write any new information presented once you pass your time limit.

Please speak slowly and articulate your words so I can understand what you are saying.

Hello debaters,

My name is Emma and I am a high school debater. I did two years of competitive debate in middle school and know the rules well. As you'll hear with most high schoolers, I'm okay with faster speeds but ultimately, no one should ever be going so fast that it detracts from their speaking ability or my comprehension. I'm also someone who is not afraid to give an 80 or a 72 so here are some things I value in speakers:

• fluctuation of tone
• effective and logical refutations
• practical pace
• eye contact
• FUNNY INTRO OR JOKE
• POIs and heckles so long as within ebdl regulations
• ethos + logos evidence
• Trustworthy sources
• How well you fulfill your duty as the first, second, or third speaker
• First --> establish a foundation, be the best in terms of delivery since most prepared, provide comprehensive evidence, break down your arguments establish a weigh, impact, and stay engaged by POIing + heckling + helping your teammates
• Second --> Begin to break down the other side's arguments, expand on your arguments,rebuild your arguments, continue to connect everything to weigh, impact, and stay engaged by POIing + heckling + helping your teammates
• Third --> Destroy other side's arguments, rebuild your arguments, WEIGH + IMPACT + COMPARISON, stay engaged by POIing + heckling + helping your teammates

Ultimately, the entire debate comes down to CLASH:

1. If your team and the other team both say the same argument (ex: Aff is saying motion will help economy Neg is saying motion will harm economy) repeating your arguments endlessly is not the way to win. Compare evidence through source trustworthiness, date, which has better/more comprehensive analysis, which is more pertinent to circumstances at hand, etc. Go beyond the wall where most debaters fall and prove to me, not just that your point has evidence but it has BETTER evidence and should be taken into account instead of theirs. The same thing goes if you guys have the same weigh, then you don't need to convince me that the economy matters but rather how you impact it more realistcally.
2. If your team and the other team have different arguments you should always and firstly refute the foundation of their arguments. However, you can also clash through comparison. For example, if Aff is weighing on economy and Neg is weighing on the environment, Neg can say that the environment matters more than the economy because the environment refers to the livelihood of our entire planet and is something necessary to our survival whereas harming the economy affects less people and on a lesser magnitude. Conversely, the Aff can say that serious changes to our environment through reducing harmful practices we rely on are unfeasible in today's age and even if we accept the Neg, while they may provide a benefit in the long term, it does nothing for the millions of impoverished starving people right now who need more job opportunities, higher pay, etc.

- When this circumstance occurs, you prove to me not what your argument is, but why it matters more. The best way to compare in my opinion is using the PMTS methods (probability, magnitude, timeframe, scope) and you don't need these terms in your speech but you can utilize the premise of these concepts to compare arguments.

MAXWELL WONG - updated after EBDL May

Co-Head Coach, Head-Royce Middle School Debate. Head-Royce School '25.

I have a name, it is Max or Maxwell, not judge. He/they pronouns.

Head-Royce Middle School Debate '19-'21, Head-Royce High School Policy Debate -current, Head-Royce MSD Coaching -current.

Top-Level:

Hate speech is an L.

Weigh and clash.

Have fun. Look like you want to be here.

tech > truth; truth breaks ties.

Middle School Debate:

I will vote for the team that I think should win solely by evaluating the content presented to me in the 6 speeches.

To increase your chances, do impact calc and weigh in the last speech.

Use your weighing mech. If you do not do this, you most likely will not like my decision.

Arguments that I will vote on have a claim, reasoning/warrant, evidence, and impact.

I will have decent topic(s) knowledge from coaching but don't use this as an excuse to under-explain things.

I’ll decide quickly and write shorter rfds now.Please ask questions or postround me (don't be offensive/step over boundaries)

What you shouldn't do (lower speaks)

No weighing in the third speech

2nd opp speeches with new assertions

Pointless/abusive heckling and interruptions

Taking 10 years between speeches and giving unnecessarily long roadmaps. There is no prep time in MSD!

What you should do (higher speaks)

Weighing and writing my ballot

Line by line refuting

Clash and good POIs

Signposting and good structure - don't jump between flows it's hard to follow, I don't like matching the args for you

Being funny and being nice to others.

Addendum

Please don’t shake my hand.

Time yourself; be hydrated and prepared.

if you get this person tell him I'm a better judge.

I flow straight down on my computer; please ask pre-round questions.

Speaker Points Scale

I try to keep my speaks normally distributed; u = 76.5 sd = 2.5.

80 - Perfect. Best ms debate speech I've seen. I will be sparing with this.

79-79.5 – Great speaker - Both content and delivery-wise. You are likely a top 10 speaker at this tournament.

76.5-78.5 – Above average speaker - moments of brilliance throughout speech, engaged with opponents' arguments, and had clear delivery, but did not grasp strategic moments to win debates.

74.5-76 – Average speaker - you are filling time, making some smart arguments, but not fully engaged in rebuttals of opponents' arguments.

73-74 – Below average speaker - structural speech mistakes, or not clashing with opponents' points.

71-73 – Unclear speaking-wise, did not fill sufficient time, or did not make compelling arguments.

>71 - You did/said something offensive, or you didn't make any arguments.