Summary

It’s your debate, I’m down to hear any argument. Comfortable with case/K/T/tricks/phil in roughly that order, but happy to evaluate any argument you make (including rejecting the res). As a debater, I went for a roughly even mix of K/case in tech rounds. Speed is fine if your opponents can handle it. Weighing and warranting win rounds. Be respectful to everyone in the round. Call the POO, articulate the cross-application, make the debate as explicit as possible for me. Email p.descollonges@gmail.com.

Background

I competed in parliamentary debate for six years, mostly at Nueva. I was most successful at tech parli, but also found success at both NorCal and Oregon lay tournaments (see bottom of paradigm for notable results if that matters for your prefs for some reason—it probably shouldn’t). I also debated 4 NPDA tournaments last year. I’m a sophomore at UChicago and coach for Nueva. You can reach me at p.descollonges@gmail.com. To prevent this paradigm from being too unwieldy, I’ve only included actionable preferences (i.e. preferences that have a clear impact on what arguments you should be making). Outside of these explicit preferences, I strive to evaluate all arguments fairly, but if you’re interested in my specific thoughts on an argument, feel free to ask me before/after the round (e.g. whether I personally like condo—I’m more than happy to evaluate it, but I also think condo bad is underused).

NON-PARLI EVENTS (feel free to skip if you are a parli debater!!):

I'm fine with speed up to ~300 wpm. If you're in PF, go as fast as you want. For LD, feel free to spread, I'll slow if needed. For policy, you'll probably need to cut speed, but feel free to ramp and I'll slow when I need to—just give me pen time and a speech doc.

I do not know your event. I do not know your norms. I'm sorry about that! I'll do my best to evaluate your round still. Regardless of event, I will vote on clearly articulated framework/weighing/sequencing claims ALWAYS, especially if I'm not comfortable with your event. In general, I assume defense cannot win rounds. I default to a net benefits/other offense-based framework, I'm willing to evaluate stock issues framing but am probably awful at it and need a justification for it.

My lack of knowledge about norms is not an excuse to be sketchy. I am more than happy to look up the (conviniently nationally codified!) rules for non-Parli events if something feels wrong to me. This doesn't mean I'll drop you for reading a K aff (because hopefully you're reading implicit or explicit args that breaking rules is good if there's a rule against your position); but it does mean that you shouldn't expect to get away with e.g. gross speech time violations. I'll generally defer to anything both teams seem to agree on if both teams seem comfortable and I am unfamiliar with the event, unless you try to convince me to give you a double win or something in that vein.

I am a parli person. This does not mean I don't care about evidence. I have a low threshold for ballot comments about sketchy evidence. I have a much higher, but still comparatively low, threshold for intervening on evidence ethics. I have an extremely low threshold for not voting on evidence your opponents call out as sketchy if it is sketchy. I will read cards necessary to decide my ballot (yes, this includes in PF.) I will not vote against you because e.g. you citing a specific sub-conclusion that helps you from a study that argues generally in the opposite direction unless your opponents point it out, in which case I will read the card. I will affirmatively intervene to disregard or vote down blatantly fabricated, misconstrued, or excessively powertagged evidence in compliance with NSDA evidence rules (7.4.A/B/C). I will also strive to comply with NSDA rules for formal challenges (7.2/3), but am not experienced with this procedure. Please just be ethical with your evidence.

Feel free to read my parli paradigm if you want an idea of more specific preferences! Ask me before the round if you have any questions.

PARLI:

Logistics

I hate protected time, but will grudgingly accept that some tournaments use it. It’s ultimately up to the speaker—I will not intervene if the speaker wants to take a POI during protected time. I will follow tournament rules on grace periods, but grace periods aren’t speech time—please don’t make new arguments. I will disregard them.

Call the POO. I protect in the PMR, but give the benefit of the doubt to the speaker unless a POO is called. Incorrect answers to a POO do not waive this protection. I do not protect in the LOR, because there are situations where the aff would prefer I not protect—call the POO if you want me to drop the arg. In novice/beginner rounds, I reserve the right to protect.

Please don’t shake my hand. I don’t care if you sit, stand, etc.—as long as I can understand you, you’re fine. I don't care what you're wearing.

I’ll give at least one of oral or written feedback depending on the specific circumstances of the round, defaulting to a longer oral RFD with a summary in the ballot. You are welcome to record anything I say after the round and/or request I write it out in the ballot. I will try to get substantive and substantial feedback to you in all circumstances—if the tournament bans disclosure and/or we’re running on a tight double-flighted schedule, expect a longer ballot. My preference is to give both an RFD in which I explain how I analyze the arguments in the round and individual speaker feedback, but in complicated outrounds especially, there’s a chance I won’t get to individual speaker feedback. If you’re specifically curious, always feel free to ask. I’m open to postrounding, but if I’m talking to you, I can’t change my ballot. If you think there was a genuine equity issue in the round and I've already submitted my ballot, the person to talk to is the tournament equity director, not me.

I’ll ask for any information I need for my ballot (e.g. speaker positions). No double-wins, no double-losses except in rounds with equity issues.

Speaker Points

If the tournament seeds based on speaks (speaks, -1HL, or z-score) as the first tiebreaker for teams with the same number of wins, I’ll default to 29s (or as close as possible). I’ll give 30s to anyone who impresses me, particularly with strategic argumentation. I will not hesitate to drop your score as a clear signal that I disapprove of some behavior (see equity section below), but will not go below 29 due to mistakes or perceptions of you as a “weaker” debater.

If the tournament does not seed based on speaks as the first tiebreaker, I’ll give speaks in the ~26.5-29.7 range in most rounds. You’ll get higher speaks for good strategic calls, clean argument execution, and cool extemporaneous warranting. Arguments I like that I haven’t heard before are 30s. I won’t go below 26.5 except as a statement of active disapproval (i.e. if you get a 26.5 or below, your debating was not bad/sloppy/inexperienced, it was problematic).

Equity

Please strive to be a good person in round and out of round. Be respectful to your opponents. I will stop the round if necessary to protect any participant in it. If you are uncomfortable, I’d appreciate it if you communicated that to me (or the tournament staff!) in some way.

Misgendering your opponents will result in lost speaker points at minimum and a round loss if egregious and/or intentional. This is also true for gendered/racialized/etc. negative comments or behavior. As a white man, I don’t have a great way to evaluate the exact harms of specific behaviors, so I’ll generally defer to preferences expressed by affected individuals in dicey situations and/or go to the tournament.

Regardless of current literature on the net effect of content warnings, in the context of the debate rounds, content warnings seem clearly net-good in terms of their risk-reward tradeoff. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to make the round better for you!

Case

I love case debate. I wish more people did case debate. Good case debate will make me very happy as a judge. That means clear arguments with clear impacts, good interaction with your opponents arguments, and a clear (and preferably explicit) articulation of what offense will win you the round. Warranting is also key. Arguments with well-explicated warrants backing them up will almost always beat arguments without warrants.

The best way to win a close case debate is weighing. The best way to win a close weighing debate is to do metaweighing. Please tell me whether I should prefer e.g. evidence or logic. Please explain to me how that applies to your arguments specifically. If you do this, you will win 90% of the case debates I have seen.

I’d love to see more link turns. I’d love to see more uniqueness leveraged after the PMC/LOC. I’d love to see more warrants on internal links.

CPs

Down for anything. Win the theory debate. I’ll evaluate all CP theory I can think of. I’ll also evaluate all CPs I can think of, but please have good reasons to prefer, especially if you’re reading delay, etc. Condo is fine by default. Dispo means you can kick it if there’s no offense by default. PICs are fine by default.

Advantages to non-mutually-exclusive CPs are not offense (or defense). Advantages to mutually-exclusive CPs are black swans, but I’m open to hearing why they’re offensive. Perm debates are good, but please don’t say anyone is “stealing” anyone’s advantages.

Evidence

Please do not fabricate evidence. Please do not plagiarize unless the tournament requires you to do so (please reference evidence you use rather than presenting it as original analysis). If the tournament empowers me to do so, I will check your evidence after submitting my ballot, and go to tab/equity if I discover something that seems like an intentional fabrication. Obviously, you have limited prep—mistakes are human, and I won’t hold them against you.

If you give me author’s name/date/source for a claim, you’ll likely win contests over whether that literal claim is true or not. This does not modify the strategic position of the claim in the round. If you do not give me a citation for evidence, I will treat your claim as a claim. Given that I try to be tabula rasa, this is normally fine (i.e. in most debates, it won’t matter if you cite a source for the US unemployment rate).

Ks

I like hearing good K debate! I really like hearing new shells, well-thought-out strategies, good historically-backed warranting, and solid links. I really dislike hearing canned shells from backfiles you don’t understand.

I like KvK debate. I am open to rejecting the res, I’m also open to framework. I have a high threshold on Ks bad theory from the aff, but would consider voting for it.

I’m most familiar with Marx, modern Marxists, and queer/disability theory, but I’m open to hearing anything—just explain it well.

Please have specific links that are not links of omission. Please give me a role of the ballot.

I’m not convinced the aff gets a perm in a KvK debate, but I’ll default to allowing it.

T/Theory

I’m happy to listen to literally anything. I generally prefer fairness on T and education on theory, but please don’t feel bound by that. Jurisdiction is absolute BS but I’ll vote for it.

I default to competing interps over reasonability, potential over proven abuse, and drop the argument when it makes sense. I do not default to theory being a priori, make the argument (especially if your opponents could plausibly uplayer theory). I do not understand why an OCI is not a separate shell, but I’ll listen to them. I’ll reluctantly vote on RVIs, the more specific the better. I view RVIs as making local offense on the theory sheet a global voting issue by default, but will appreciate and evaluate specific texts as well.

If an argument boils down to "did the team say the magic words," I'll default to the team that spent the most time on it in absence of argumentation on either side (e.g. what counts as an RVI). If that doesn't make sense to you, ignore it, and rely on good argumentation rather than linguistic technicalities.

Results

College: Second seed at NPDA nats '23;Mile High Swing 1 Finalist

Champion/Co-Champion: Evergreen ‘21, ‘22; Campo ‘21; TFT ‘17; Lewis and Clark ‘22; UoP ‘20; NorCal Champs ‘21, ‘22

Finalist: TOC ‘22

Semifinalist: NPDI ‘19, ‘20, ‘21

Hi, this is my second year judging parliamentary debate, last year I judged parliamentary novice for my twins. I don't have prior parliamentary debate experience (like in high school), but I do understand many world topics that might be discussed in the debate round. I also have picked up knowledge of debate terminology when discussing them with my sons. Here is my stance on certain parliamentary debate aspects:

Theory: I understand the fundamental steps of the theory shell, but it needs to be well explained for me to flow it through in a debate round. I don't have any issue with a team running theory, but it just has to be well structured and explained.

K's: I do not have much knowledge of K's so you would have to explain it well to me if I am going to flow it through in a debate round. I am always open to learning new things so if you can explain it well I might vote on it.

Permutations: I understand what a permutation is, and the idea of mutually exclusive plans. You don't have to explain in large detail what a perm is, just explain to me why you can perm it.

PICs: I understand the idea of a Plan Inclusive Counterplan, you might go into a little detail on what it is, but then again like permutations, I understand the basics.

Overall I am not going to vote against you just because I don't like that you are running theory, K's, etc. I am open to any aspects of parliamentary debate being run in a round, they just need to be logical and well explained for me to vote on them.

Ok, moving on to other things I like debaters to do in a round:

I tend to give feedback on how well a debater can address something to me. For instance, if a debater is moving around a lot or making other distracting gestures, I definitely tell them this in my feedback (harder to do online though), but it won't have any real bearing on my flow. Overall the main things debate has to offer in life is knowledge of world events and practice articulating your point of view. If a speaker cannot speak in an orderly and smooth fashion this will definitely be considered in my flow. I am ok with debaters talking a little bit fast, but if you are spreading I might not catch all your points. I would suggest talking at a moderate pace and taking up most (if not all) of the allotted time.

Overall have positive energy in the round and act like you want to be in the debate round. I know 4-5 rounds can be a lot of debating so don't stress it.

In terms of speaking, please be slow, loud, and clear. Do not run attrocious Kritiks, and explain any topicality arguments. Please explain any debate jargon if used. I would like signposting and clear arguments that I can flow.

I am a parent judge for parliamentary debate and speech.

I appreciate clarity of argument and argument development through the course of the debate. Please do not spread, talk extra fast or use jargon. DO NOT RUN THEORY because I will not understand it or flow it. Please do not attempt to argue anything outside of the resolution (ie. kritiks and nontopical arguments) as this strategy will not be a winning one. I will always favor debaters who speak clearly at a regular pace, who treat their teammates, opponents and judges with respect, and who focus directly on the debate topics as presented.

Please time your own speeches accurately and honorably. Please follow tournament rules regarding use of internet, citations, etc. Please treat everyone in the room with respect.

I am relatively new as a judge for debate, so essentially what I value from debate teams are:

concise and clear speech, not too fast, logical arguments, backed up with empirical evidence and past precedence, data and stats. I have a background in engineering and financial service, so I am used to data driven decision making, and will weigh more heavily on economical impacts in terms of net benefits. I am open minded, so which team is able to deliver their messages and convince me the most will likely be the winner of the round.

Do not try running theory, unless it's very critical to the round. If you do run, make sure I understand exactly, what the theory shell is, and WHY it is absolutely important. Theory that is run should then be a priori, and make sure you repeat the situation and why.

I am a judge who has some prior experience judging parliamentary debate.

Courtesy: Please be respectful to everyone at the debate.

Overall Judging: I am fine with any type of argument, but encourage you to not speak super fast. I will be taking notes and while I can write fast to keep up, as long as you go reasonably fast I can keep track of the debate's arguments.

Reasoning: I am also willing to fact check evidence if points are raised about the credibility of evidence during the round. I will keep argumentative points at a lower regard if they are shown to be wholly or majorly sustained by wrong evidence. I encourage debaters to use strong and solid evidence and reasoning to validate their arguments.

Road Maps are fine, and I even encourage them since they help me keep track of your arguments in my notes. However, road maps won't improve or decrease your chances of earning my ballot, so don't feel inclined to use or not use them.

Have fun, be nice to your competitors, and try to learn more about complex topics during preparation and during the debate!

# Introduction

This is my first time judging a formal debate. I am an engineer, so my debate criteria may be different from what you are accustomed to. I will most likely be struggling to keep up with all of your arguments, so I will not be able to give feedback.

# Debate Criteria

## Communication

- Speak at a pace that an outsider can follow

- Avoid obscure terms if a more common word conveys the same meaning

- Avoid redundant words

- Structure your thoughts

- Agree on the meaning of the topic with your opponent before debating

## Arguments

- Prefer facts or data over guesses

- Provide evidence to support the credibility of your facts/data

- Use sound logic

## Professionalism

- Honest

- Respectful attitude

- Respond to all points

## Showmanship

- Confident

- Relatable

Observe Silence when not Speaking: Please respect the speaking team by observing silence when it is not your turn. If you need to communicate with you partner, do it on paper. DO NOT WHISPER while the other team is speaking.

No tag-teaming - do not interject or add onto your partner's speech.

Debate Speed: Keep your speech at a normal, conversational pace. If I cannot keep up with you, then I will not be able to consider your arguments thoroughly. You will be better served by having fewer, well articulated arguments than by trying to cram in extra points.

Theory: Arguments based in theory will be considered, but I don't give a lot of weight to them. I care most about your ideas and ability to structure an argument.

Other:

Presentation is important: eye contact, posture, clarity of speech and appropriate volume. Please speak loudly and clearly enough for me to hear you.

15 second grace period to finish your speech after time, after that you will loose speaker points.

Kriti Sharma

- Presentation High School - Class of 2015 - 3 years of LD Debate, 4 years of Speech

- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - Class of 2019 - 2 years of Parli, LD, and Speech (Interp)

- I use they/them pronouns!

Things I Like
- Environmental & Systemic Impacts
- Plan-specific links, disads, and CPs
- Impact calculus that isn't just about magnitude
- Clever CX
- Clear roadmaps
- Good speaks

Things I Dislike
- Accidental racism, sexism, etc. that isn't corrected with an appropriate apology
- Men talking over female debaters
- Climate Change Denial
- Affs that aren't topical
- ASPEC/OSPEC
- Avoiding clash in the debate
- Both debaters speaking during the same speech outside of prompting

Things That Will Cause You To Automatically Lose
- Any kind of harassment or intentional 'isms'
- Misgendering someone repeatedly
- Referring to undocumented immigrants as "illegals"
- Clipping cards, manufacturing evidence, or otherwise cheating

Evidence

Cards should be used as logical support for your contentions. I especially respect empirical evidence and real-world examples. Evidence means nothing until you link it to your case and the resolution. Explain why the evidence brought up matters. For me, content is what counts. I am more likely to weigh evidence if the content is thoroughly covered and does have a fair impact in the round.

Topicality

If you run T, do it right. T is a question of "is the aff topical." Break it down. Read cards on it. Do not use T as a time skew. If you choose to run T, make sure that you have a version of the aff that is topical.

CP/DA

I will vote on these if they are convincing and if legitimate and compelling evidence is used and explained to back up the argument. Simply make sure that they are actually competitive against the aff, and tell me why I should vote on it. As for the aff side, please explain why I should vote accordingly with your own evidence and reasoning.

Kritik

If you use K, explain it as clearly as possible since K should never be used to make yourself, as a debater, sound more like a genius or to inflate your own ego; nor should it be used to force your opponent to respond to it even if it isn't topical (aka abusive argumentation).

Theory

If run and explained well, I will weigh it in the round. "Reject the argument, not the team" is generally sufficient, but I am familiar with some other theory if you decide to use it. That being said, still explain the theory as well as the reason why the theory argument applies; do not just name drop it or leave it underdeveloped.

Framework (Value and Value Criterion)

I love framework debate. Framework is fundamental in high school LD Debate, so while you read each contention, I expect you to outline a clear connections back to your value criterion as well as back to your value (like a link chain). Contentions should contain smaller arguments for why your V/VC is the most ideal/most pertinent/most important etc. Make your lines of reasoning explicit. I may have an idea as to where you're going with your thoughts, but I can't write down these said ideas if you don't fully elaborate on them yourself.

Other Notes

- I'm generally okay with some speed/spreading, but I'm a stickler for clarity. If you're going too fast, I will say "Clear" so you know that you have to slow down in order for me to follow the flow.

- Follow your roadmaps. If you have to divert, be clear about where you are going on the flow. Please verbally emphasize and tag your arguments/evidence. Also, I definitely appreciate when debaters "write the flow for me"/crystallize/discuss voting issues towards the end of the round.

- I use a standard speaks system. Speak up and enunciate, but don't yell. Unless you need a lot of improvement, I wont give you less than 26. If I give you anywhere between 26-28.5, I'll explain what you need to improve. To get 29-30: As I'm also a speechie, I'll admit that I'm 5% lay judge at heart, so I definitely value confident, straightforward, eloquent, succinct, expressive delivery.

- I'm open to any argument as long as it is not offensive.

- As always, be respectful towards your opponent. That being said, I do enjoy clash/if you are clever during CX. However, try not to be too smug. Channel your inner Spock (for Trekkies - I mean TOS Spock).

- If you have any questions about your case, high school/college debate in general, or want to talk about college life, feel free to find me at the tournament or email me! :)

- I WILL drop you under all circumstances for not reading trigger or content warnings. Lack of content warnings when discussing issues such as addiction, mental health, physical harm, abuse, etc, as well as racist or offensive behavior will cause me to drop you, without exception. If you are unclear about whether something needs a content warning, message me.

- I will NOT dock you for not using all your time. If you do not have anything more to say, end the speech instead of repeating points. It is not a good use of anyone's time to do otherwise.

- Speak slowly, do not spread your opponent out of the round. If you do not respond to requests to slow down from either myself or your opponents, I will drop you. If I cannot understand a point, I will drop it. Do NOT gish gallop - I will drop you.

- Theory and RVIs are *acceptable*, but I will usually not go for them unless the violation is severe. Define jargon when used to make the theory more accessible to both myself and your opponents. Do not run friv theory.

- Do not run a K. I understand them but do not believe they are valuable to debate.

- Aff state resolution

- opponents keep time. I will not call out going over time if opponents do not call it out. Raise hands to call time, if there is no response in 20 seconds then unmute. Any argument 20 seconds over time will be ignored if the opponent calls out time.

no longer active in debate! if you're interested in reading my paradigm for some reason, email me at eugxu@sas.upenn.edu and we can talk.

I am a parent judge.

Here is how I judge:

Don't speak too fast. Normal speed is preferred.

I look for clear arguments that are supported with facts, data, examples, etc.

If you can respond to all the arguments, that would be great!