I am as close to "tabula rasa" as possible... I will not interject my knowledge or opinions into the round, but that means it has to actually be stated in the round. I appreciate a line-by-line debate, but a dropped argument isn't necessarily a slam-dunk win without a compelling summary or weighing of the round. Give me voters, give me a reason to vote for you in your final speeches.

I was a policy debater 20+ years ago, and I currently coach at Warner Robins High School. In the past few years, I have judged all levels of LD and PF. I judge debate or IEs depending on our team's judging needs per tournament. I can follow speed if you are clear, and I appreciate an enunciated or emphasized tag or argument. I'm too pragmatic to enjoy philosophy - I can follow it, and I will vote on it, but you need to make sure to explain why I should vote on it.

I'll keep the official time for the round, but I love to hear competitors say they'll keep their own time.

One last thing, be nice to one another... I won't necessarily vote on your behavior or sportsmanship with your opponent, but poor attitudes and lack of respect for others can have a negative impact on your speaker points.

Good luck!

My Paradigm:

I am a high school counselor/teacher at Santa Fe High School in Alachua, FL. I have experience in judging some of the Debate styles, but by and large my preference is the Speech events. I earned a letter in Theater during high school which gives me an appreciation for the speech events. I also am interested in social justice concerns as well as current events, which is why I enjoy coming to these tournaments.

Things you should know about me:

1. I like for you to lay out your speech or debates in advance. I do not want to get to the end of your event and not be clear on what it was you were trying to convey. If you have three points tell me what they are and then proceed to flesh them out. If you are countering an opponent's points tell me which ones. My mind likely does not make the same assumptions that yours does so it will be helpful for you to state your logic.

2. I do not like spreading. Please don't do it. My mind is older than yours and I need more think time.

3. I like fair and respectful debate. Please don't be hostile to one another, it is unpleasant for all of us to be exposed to that.

4. I am a newer judge, please keep it topical. If you run a K I will be confused by it.

5. Lastly I love all things Disney so my heart will be warmed by any mention of anything related to the Disney Empire.

UPDATE: 2/14/2020, re: Harvard tournament - This will be my second tournament judging Congress; I judged previously at last month's Barkley Forum at Emory. In other years, here at Harvard, I've judged both PF and LD.

I have judged both PF and LD, on local circuits and at the Harvard National tournament, for the past three seasons and judged BQ @ the 2018 NSDA Nationals. I'm a former high school (Science) teacher, and love being involved with high schoolers again through Debate.

A few things:

-Although I've been judging for quite awhile now, I began as a parent judge, with no background in debate. After 3 years of judging and parenting a varsity LD debater, my technical knowledge has expanded tremendously, but still has limits. Know that I will judge you technically to the best of my ability. But ultimately, as judges, we are to award the round to the most convincing debater(s). You might have a technically perfect case, but that doesn't necessarily mean that you'll ultimately actually CONVINCE me.

- I'm not a fan of progressive debate strategies. IMO, spreading is a gimmick, and devalues the essence of debate. If I can't follow what you're saying, you're not communicating with me. And if you aren't communicating, what's the point? So, while a little speed is fine, if you see me stop flowing, you know you've lost me. Similarly I'm not a big fan of counterplans/Ks etc. either. BUT I'm always open to hearing them; sometimes they're awesome! (Just don't pull that if you're a 1st year novice debater going against another newbie. It's no fun to see a 14-yo kid get obliterated in only their second round ever because your varsity teammates shared their cases with you for the purpose of doing just that to your opponent. I've seen it - more than once - and it's really painful to watch and demoralizing for your opponent.)

- I WILL be flowing throughout the debate, so please organize/structure to make that easier for me - i.e. a clearly defined framework and contentions (signposts!), off-time road maps, voters etc.

- I like when opponents challenge evidence during CX, so that we ALL know the info is being accurately and honestly presented. Have your 'cards' ready!

- Typically I won't disclose at the end of the round, but will enter RFDs and speaker notes in Tabroom where I can better organize my thoughts.

- Demonstrating respectful behavior is huge for me. Sighing/eye-rolling behaviors are rude and disrespectful to your opponent. Be very cognizant about coming across as verbally abusive or condescending. Simply having the courage to come into the room and participate in the challenge of debate makes you worthy of MY respect, and your opponent's. I WILL deduct 'speaks' if this is a problem, or if really egregious, I will drop you.

- I'm very relaxed as a judge. I want you to be comfortable in the room with me, and am really proud to have gotten a lot of positive feedback from debaters about that. Introduce yourself. Feel free to joke/laugh. Smiles are great. Remember to have fun and ENJOY the experience!

I'm fine with pretty much anything structure wise. Just make sure your arguments are clear and understandable. Give voters and weigh impacts, as a judge it becomes hard to not be interventionist when you don't.

Also, if you're going to call your opponent abusive in round please articulate it with actual theory arguments or else I can't really weigh it.

If you plan on spreading or running a very technical case, please case flash or send over email. My email is frye10190@gmail.com for email chains

I am a parent judge - 2020-2021 was my twins' final year as high school debaters, and I usually judged at almost every tournament, so I have been lucky enough to see a bunch of really great rounds. I typically judged PF, but have also judged a fair amount of LD.

I am looking for a DEBATE - not just the best speeches. I will give the win to the team that makes the most compelling case as to why their side is right and/or the opponent is wrong. I tend not to flow every specific point, but rely more on which team's overall argument is stronger. I probably put more weight on cross-ex and final summary arguments than most judges.

I usually am more convinced by a smaller number of really great points that are well defended than a whole bunch of pretty good points (quality of argument versus quantity). I am also looking for the debaters to pay attention to what their opponent says and specifically give a good counter argument to those points.

I was an avid debater/speaker for the second half of my high school career. I had interest in furthering my experience so I enlist my help to my old coach and judge for the Valdosta Wildcats. Please ask me in person about my preferences. I will not share personal preference for the topics I judge on. Whether it's speech or debate events, I take great pride in seeing young debaters/speakers grow and develop their craft.