I am a fourth-year Assistant Debate Coach at Garden City High School. I did not debate in high school or college, but I teach History and Government. I expect for debaters to understand how government works, especially in regards to how their plan works (How is the plan passed? What powers/functions do each of the branches of government have? What government entities are regulatory agencies?)

I do flow debates. However, please don't take this to mean that I only want to hear tags, and then given a demonstration of speed reading. I would much rather see a concise argument with evidence that directly applies to the case, and a demonstration of your understanding of said evidence.

I'm not a big fan of extreme impacts (I find it relatively unlikely that a plan conceived by a high school student will lead to global warming or nuclear holocaust). There had better be a pretty strong, direct link for me to vote on those kinds of impacts. Be reasonable.

Topicality is not typically a voting factor for me - if you choose to take that route, it should be clear-cut that the plan is not topical.

Beyond that, please be civil to your partner and opponents. If you are rude to, or condescending to a competitor (or myself) that will likely affect my decision in the round, and definitely speaking points.

Debated 4 Years at Blue Valley West

Assistant Coach at Blue Valley West

I strongly believe that the affirmative has to defend hypothetical implementation of USFG action. If you choose not to, I will find it very hard to vote for you.

I look at a round through the lense of offense/defense. My knowledge on the topic is also limited so don’t expect me to know your acronyms.

K’s – I am not the best judge for them.

I generally have a pretty high threshold for what constitutes an argument when it comes to K's. For example, I think that you need to articulate a specific link based on the advantages. Also I’m not really familiar with the lit for most K’s so I am going to need clearer explanations of your arguments.

T - T I usually default to competing interps.

Theory – Theory is usually a reason to reject the argument. Condo is usually good.

CP – Should probably be textually and functionally competitive.

I debated for four years at Eisenhower high school (2011-2015) and then went on to debate for a little bit at Wichita State. I was an assistant coach at Eisenhower from 2015-2018. I am not currently a coach, and have not thought about debate since the last season ended. You can consider me a flow judge but I'm definitely not a judge you want to have a super technical round in front of.

I really hate sifting through flows at the end of the round trying to pick out what I think was most important. Tell me which issues to vote on, and I will greatly appreciate the clarity. Read whatever you want as long as it is competitive and has merit. Impacts win my ballot. Show that your framework is better for debate and I'll vote accordingly.

1. K's - not my fav but I'll listen to it. Don't expect me to know your lit well so overviews help a lot (honestly overviews for everything help a lot). Also, I think it is especially important to be clear on tags here - big words, difficult concepts. K affs with or without a plan text are fine too. Just keep in mind that I've been out of the activity as a competitor for a few years now and preferred classic policy debate arguments. If you want real brownie points you won't make me listen to difficult K round.

2. theory - I believe that education/fairness are important impacts.

3. I perceive each round as one large interaction between arguments, so I am a big fan of using arguments to create double-binds/prove in-round abuse, etc., and I am not a big fan of contradictory strats

4. Specific DA/K links are always good - generic links are fine only when there is a question of abuse on ground

5. T is my fav. I'm a fan of T being a strategic argument to prove abuse/create double binds. I am not a fan of reading T as a time suck.

feel free to ask about anything else you might want to know.

*updated for KCKCC tournament

I am a former high school and collegiate debater. I am an attorney and an assistant debate coach at Shawnee Mission North.

Since I flow on paper, you may want to slow down. Please be clear while speaking. If I stop flowing, you are not being clear enough. I do not want to be on your e-mail chain. I am holding you accountable for the articulation of all arguments. I am not simply going to follow along on a laptop while you arguably read the entirety of the cards.

I am open to all forms of argumentation EXCEPT critical arguments. If you make a critical argument, your team will lose.

Please don't try to shake my hand.

Please be nice to each other.

Sincerely,

The grumpy old man who wants you off of his lawn

My main concern when judging a round is whether or not I can understand what is being said. If a speaker stumbles over a lot of words when reading a case, it shows lack of preparation for the round. If you use vocabulary that is not in everyday language, you should define what you referencing, especially if you are using acronyms. I appreciate when the arguments have a nice flow to them. Evidence is extremely important to me. I like to see good sportsmanship, so being polite to the other team is key.

Name: Kyle Ellis

School: Derby

# of years debated in HS? 3 What School? Mulvane

# of years debated in College? 1 What College/University? Wichita State

# of rounds on this year’s HS Topic ____

What paradigm best describes your approach to debate? Tabula Rosa

How I feel about delivery (slow vs. fast)? Slower on tags, everything else can be as rapid as possible as long as you're not clipping. 

How I feel about generic Disads, Counter Plans, Kritiks? They're acceptable.

How I feel about case debates? Case debates should be the core of the round, but don't have to be. 

Other Comments/suggestions: I'll listen to anything. I just need to be given a way to evaluate and understand the positions and how they interact together. 

Anything else, ask in round.

My email is glanzman94@gmail.com ------please include me in the email chain if present. I do prefer speechdrop though.

Experience/Accolades:

NFA-LD National Champion (2016)

NPDA/NPTE Top 8 (2016)

CEDA Double Octo-Finalist (2014)

Coach in High School Policy for 6 years

Coach for NFA-LD for 2 years

***Updated for NFA 2022***

We are back in person!! I have attended two tournaments nationally to get back into the swing of in-person debate and I believe the differences I have seen warrants me making changes to my paradigm. For some students this may be your first in person experience debating (whether that be high school or college) and I need to make it clear that certain debate practices and models do not translate well to in-person debate and causes me headaches when evaluating a winner. So I will attempt to pinpoint things I find make it difficult to judge while also providing a view for how I engage with debates.

1. Run strategies you understand and are comfortable with---do not let your peers or coaches tell you otherwise. I’ve found it incredibly disheartening that every year I go into judging and students run K’s or soft left stuff in front of me because they believe that’s all I can evaluate. It’s not true. Yes I can provide better feedback with K’s compared to a politics DA but I also evaluate every debate through offense/defense and how to frame it. So please stop running things you can’t explain beyond the surface level just because you think I like it.

2. Debate is about clash, and clash is much more than just saying “they said x argument”. Seriously I’ve judged too many debates this year where teams are just missing the point of clash and it’s annoying. Remember, comparison is necessary. Comparison happens when you provide actual warrants for your argument and then contextualize it to the debate (which means your opponent’s arguments). This means tagline extensions are not enough. This means being more predictive rather than descriptive in context to arguments clashing. Things like how your alternative solves the impacts of the aff. Or how regional conflict supercharges famine. Or how winning the epistemology framing means that you internal link turn their warming scenario or whatever. Point is---compare and contrast! Don’t just do normal impact calc that’s self-referential. Ask yourself constantly “how does this happen”/”why does this matter” and make sure you answer it.

3. Overprepping is a real thing, and reading blocks as fast as you can isn’t debate. Like for real if you go into debates just reading pre-written analytics and cards only there is no reason for *you* to be present in the debate. If at the end of your speech you ask yourself “if somebody else read my document, would the debate change in any meaningful way?” and you conclude no; you have done yourself a disservice. I get it---prep is great. But overprepping or losing yourself in fast responses creates worse debate across the board. Mainly because clash isn’t very organic. Or in most cases you ignore important arguments on the flow because it didn’t make it into your blocks. Just please…generate analytics specific to this debate. Allocate time to prove you have generated thought into how you want to approach this debate.

4. Just because you read a piece of evidence does not mean I will extrapolate its warrants and apply it to the debate unless absolutely necessary. Debate is a competition between you and your opponents. I try not to interject as much as I possibly can and leave it up to what said in a debate to filter a decision. Even if your evidence has a round winning warrant---if you don’t explain and extend it, I won’t consider it. In really close rounds that reference pieces of evidence, this changes because I naturally have to look into it. But it’s not good enough to say “extend my Zizek evidence. Cold conceded” and move on then blow me up during the RFD saying “but Zizek said this line”. That’s cool, but you didn’t after the 1AC/1NC or whatever. This is why I prefer debaters who read *less* evidence after the 1AC/1NC and focus on just explaining and contextualizing what was in their original shells. Your shells should already contain 95 percent of what you need to win. Pre-emptions and all.

5. Stop assuming the way you view debate is the way I view debate. That’s the purpose of a paradigm right? You see what I’m weak at and how I evaluate arguments. I’ve noticed this year especially teams take certain endpoints for granted. Like why competitive equity/education matters. Or why stock issues are a voter. Or why economic collapse is bad. These re-address the point I made about by asking yourself “how did this happen/why does it matter?” I am flexible at how I should vote---y’all tell me how I should evaluate the round. But you gotta give me tangible reasons why your model is good and why not following it is bad. Don’t just assume.

6. I tend not to look at speakers when they are presenting, so if I do it probably means I am looking for you to explain further/contextualize. Pay attention to my body language. Especially coming off of two years judging online, I haven’t adapted too well to making my body language neutral. Either way, never was that kind of judge. I have certain ticks. Doesn’t mean that I hate what you’re saying necessarily---probably just means I’m looking for more or think you need to move on.

7. I err tech over truth, but capital T truth will be persuasive no matter what. That’s kind of the purpose of debate, yeah? Multiple sides to multiple arguments? Kinda hard to find objectivity behind all that subjectivity so it always benefits you to focus more on the internals of it. I will say though that the way that I flow and evaluate does tend to allow for more “embedded clash” than others. And what I mean by that is that certain debaters just have that gift for knowing what matters in a debate and what doesn’t. If the endpoint of an argument you make inherently clashes and out-warrants the endpoint of your opponent’s argument; it’s not necessary in certain cases to pinpoint it on the flow and flag it. Best piece of advice I’ve ever received---you’re never winning every argument. So focus on what would win you the ballot. Not just prove you’re better at arguing.

8. Presumption can be a round winner in front of me if packaged correctly. If you are winning credible defense and they just aren’t really touching on it by saying “that’s defense so who cares?” and they don’t actively explain their scenarios then yes presumption is p cool. I do expect affs and negs to adequately extend their advantages/shells even if they weren’t addressed. So just keep that in mind.

9. I am not very strong at counterplan debates, so be weary. Doesn’t mean I can’t evaluate the usual ones like agent CPs, etc. But process CPs tend to go over my head. Either way, 95 percent of the time CPs only matter because of the net benefit that is rarely internal but rather a DA that can stand on its own. You should naturally be winning the DA for the CP to matter. But that statement probably proves my conception of CP debate is bad. I love PICs though!

10. I love cheese. So anybody that brings me cheese, or cheese flavored snacks automatically gets a 29 worst case from me. Better snacks increase it. Or a drink to pair it with increase it.

So now to answer questions people like to ask:

1. Can I run a K aff? Yes. I would say that 3 out of my 4 years were me running K affs exclusively minus maybe 4 parli rounds and having to run a policy in front of NFA judges who I know can’t evaluate it well. Run it well and try to contextualize it to the neg as much as possible. Don’t get lost in blocks or generalities.

2. Do I have to have a plan? Nah. I’m not KU and saying “no plan no wins no speaks”. You don’t have to do anything in front of me to curry favor other than debate in a way strongest to you.

3. What about performance? Go for it. I did performance for 2 years of my career and had a lot of success with it. I naturally view every speech act as a performance so it’s not a thing for me to be weary about re-evaluating spaces/poetry/music/silence/narrative/whatever right? The debate is always yours in front of me. I’m just here to determine the ballot.

4. Will you vote on framework? Yes. So far voted more for it than against it. I think framework debaters tend to focus too much on prepped blocks though. Be more organic and really engage with the specifics of the 1AC/1NC instead of just generalizing it to “they say anti-blackness” or whatever. You should also be prioritizing the internal links of your framework shells. Things like clash, switch side, preparation, resolutional stasis, etc. only matter if you contextualize it to the specifics of the 1AC. Like it’s not just good enough to tell me why balanced clash is good. You have to not only justify why your model of debate is good, but preferable to the affs model.

5. Will you vote on T? Yes. It’s how I won NFA. And I actually think T can be read against policy affs. Even if there is some ground/offense baked into their relation to the topic (sorry Lincoln Garrett, your take was kinda silly lol). Point is, topic is important yeah? You can debate it isn’t important. And you can win that debate. But by default, I tend to believe the topic matters in some fashion. T debaters have a horrible tendency to focus on top level though compared to internals. This mirrors the framework arguments I painted above since T and Framework are essentially the same thing (yes they are, interpretations are models for how the community should engage a word/phrase. Framework just makes more meta arguments about the generalities of debate). Talk about specifics, not generalities. Be predictive about what they justify and how that worsens debate. And why that matters. Just please explain stuff…even if you win the interp and violation debate doesn’t mean it’s an automatic vote.

6. What about the K? Yeah run it if you actually know how to explain your arguments and use it strategically. Too many times I get students in front of me who get jazzed saying capitalism is bad and get caught up trying to correctly historicize China or Cuba because they know factoids compared to focusing on the strategy and overall purpose of the debate. K’s were my bread and butter and naturally I can provide the best feedback for it. But that is double-edged---it means I demand more from you in context to how you deploy and debate it. Also, very important note. Please explain your methodology instead of just saying cool leftist things. And I mean it. Your alternative evidence should be pointing out an actual method/praxis/starting point. Your alternative text should be written with meaning where every word is necessary. Too often students don’t really know what the alternative specifically means and just say things they’ve heard in other K rounds like “epistemic disobedience” or “guerilla tactics” or “flipping the script” without actually relating that back to the alternative evidence/text proper. Alternatives are varied and vast for a reason. Real differences between historical materialism and critical pedagogy on the *methodological* level. Point is---please explain your alt. Explain it correctly. Utilize it efficiently so that it solves the aff and your K proper.

7. How about impact turns? Yeah but obvi don’t read racism or patriarchy good. Not a fan of Malthus. De-dev is my jam. Wipeout is cool too.

8. Will you vote on theory? Yes, but just like the T and Framework stuff you need to explain the internals and impact theory out effectively. I don’t have any pre-disposition to any theory position that makes a certain side preferable to me than others. For instance on condo I honestly couldn’t care less because I think both sides have good reasons and am not a 50 year old coach who believes condo makes or breaks good debate. It’s up for debate!! Debate is up for debate!! And you win it by winning the debate!! What I will say is that I’d rather see 1-3 offcases with development out of the 1NC compared to 6-10 with little development. I enjoy more in depth debate but again I don’t intervene in this situation and it’s not gonna be persuasive for you to just say “hey you said you like depth!”.

Any other questions just ask. Happy debating!!

Yes email chain please:

nolangoodwin21@gmail.com

Debated four year at Salina South High School

Coached on and off since 2013

Speed is fine. If I can't understand you I will just say clear.

Don't just read pre-prepared blocks straight from your laptop at full speed with little contextualization to the arguments the other team is making. Please don't just speed read over views to me in the 2NR/2AR and expect to win my ballot. Don't force me to make a decision because you chose not to slow down and contextualize your arguments. It's pretty easy to tell if I am agreeing with your argumentation. I will either miss important things you want me to vote on, or I will try to keep up with everything and not think about the arguments which will most likely result in me voting on something that you didn't actually want me to vote for.

K vs FW- If you are going to read a K aff in front of me please take the time to explain what the aff does. Defending some type of advocacy statement in front of me is going to be the best option when reading a K aff. I enjoy topic debates but that doesn't mean that I haven't voted for K affs. I often end up voting neg on FW because the aff doesn't effectively argue against a topical version of the aff. I don't really find arguments about framework creating violence to be very persuasive and reading debate bad in front of me is not going to get you anywhere.

CP- I would prefer that you have a well thought out text than just some vague text that says we do the plan minus x or something like that. Don't be afraid to go for theory arguments in front of me on cheating counter plans that don't actually do anything. I would much rather vote for theory arguments than some process counterplan that does nothing.

K- I'm good on basic K lit but if you are reading some new alt that you haven't read before or are breaking something new I would probably not suggest doing it in front of me unless you can clearly explain what the world of the alternative actually does in a method that you can defend. You need to contextualize your link arguments. I'm not going to give you a lot of lead way on generic masking links.

I think that if you are reading more than 5-6 off that you are just doing too much most of the time. You should spend more time burying them in the block on case rather than reading 4 different CP's that all have next to no way to actually solve the aff and are just baiting them into undercovering something so you can go for it because you were just faster. That just leads to boring debates.

If you have any more question feel free to email me or just ask before round.

The TL;DR version of my paradigm: Much like in life, in debate, just because you can, doesn't always mean you should. I default to policy maker. Make my job easier, and I'm more likely to vote for you.

General judging stuff: No handshakes please, germs are icky. Introducing yourself is fine and appreciated though. My concentration face is apparently very close to my angry face so please don't freak out if I look mad, I'm hopefully just concentrating hard. I'm not huge on oral kritiks outside of world schools debate, so unless there's something I think is absolutely necessary to discuss, I'm probably not going to for the sake of keeping the tournament running fast.

Semi-retired assistant coach for Hutch, been doing this forever. I'm pretty out of the loop this year due to lots of factors, I've only watched a handful of rounds this season, so please don't expect me to know everything about everything on this topic, making assumptions is probably going to make me grumpy. Seriously. Rank me above a lay judge, but I'm not as hip and with it as I used to be.

Delivery stuff: Rate of speed preferred is Moderate. I don't need you to be so slow like you're talking to Grandma Ethel, but I really don't enjoy fast debates and don't have the energy for it. Rule of thumb: if you're gasping for air like a fish with asthma, you're going too fast. I need to be able to understand the words you're saying, and things like tags and cites are extremely important to make sure that they are clearly said. If I can't understand, I don't flow. I won't interrupt the round, but it will be painfully obvious if I'm not flowing. 1AR I have a little more sympathy towards rate of delivery, but it still needs to be understandable. Also, everyone needs to signpost arguments so I know where we're at on the flow, PLEASE.

When paneled with one or more lay judges, my paradigm should be treated like a lay judge. I believe in making debate accessible to all backgrounds and experience levels, and making less experienced judges feel intimidated or confused by the activity is bad for everyone, so when choosing your strategy, don't throw away the lay judge unless you're also throwing away my ballot.

Also! Roadmaps! I would like one, please, because I don't typically ask for a flash of your speech. Your roadmap should be a sentence, not a paragraph. "T, Federalism, Advantage 2" is a roadmap. "First, I'm going to start off attacking Topicality. Then, I will read a disadvantage on blahblahblah..." is a speech. I'll start the timer if your roadmap turns into a speech. Did I mention how I also love debaters who signpost?

Timing: PLEASE time your speeches. I'm usually running a timer or stopwatch but it may not always sound when you've hit the time limit so it would be super if you're responsible about that. Yes, you can use your phone as a timer if it's on airplane mode, if the tournament and your opponents are fine with it.

Arguments:

Affs: Affs should defend the resolution and be topical. Not a fan of performance/k affs. I'll listen but you're probably not getting my ballot. Please, for the love of the flying spaghetti monster, don't read me something you pulled directly from OpenEvidence with little to no modification, don't be that team.

On case/stock issues: I feel like too often, negative teams get too wrapped up in the off that the on case gets ignored and we're having generic boring arguments. I enjoy case debate, but there needs to be impacts in round by the negative, so don't expect me to vote neg because you focused on inherency and solvency the entire round with no case turns or any reason other than you attacked their stock issues and the table analogy.

T: I love good topicality arguments and some level of topicality theory. T ran for the sake of running T make me sad. If you understand topicality and have good interpretations that are more than fill in the blank on the shell, I will happily vote on topicality and will do so plenty of times this year.

DAs: The more specific the link, the better, but I also understand the nature of the topic means that there may not be specific links- so give me analysis to show why they apply. Meh on terminal impact scenarios.

Kritiks: Please don't, unless there is actual, legitimate in round abuse/impact that you can prove. Someone unapologetically using _____-ist language and you arguing why that's bad in the framework of the K and the real, actual impacts, and using understandable language is going to be more compelling than you reading "capitalism bad" without really understanding it. The amount of analysis and explanation that is given to me in rounds has never been enough for me to feel like I can understand your points. Generic link kritiks that implicate the topic or large areas and can be run in like, 99% of your rounds are not the kinds of arguments I am going to vote on. That being said, if your coach is okay with it and you want to concede the round to the other team to pursue your K position in your side's first speech and have a discussion about your position, I'm willing to sit and listen/participate in the discussion for a reasonable (45 minutes-1hr) amount of time.

Counterplans: CPs need to have a competitive purpose in round and have more to them than just a pointless timesuck. I'm okay with them, just expect me to be real grumpy if you're reading states CP with generic links you pulled off OpenEvidence. These days I'm neutral about condo/uncondo, but I'll listen to/vote on aff theory on conditionality if they run it. In general, just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

Generic spec arguments: ew.

Impacts: Everyone needs to emphasize them and everyone needs to have them. Without impacts, I have no reason to vote for you. Mehhhhh to terminal impact scenarios, rounds where I'm forced to vote based on body counts are lame. I see a lot a bad rounds where I have to default aff because the negative fails to have any substantial reason to not vote for plan. Also your rebuttals really really need impact calc.

Theory: I can enjoy a little bit of theory if it's well thought out and doesn't dominate the round.

And finally, don't be a jerk. It really upsets me and makes me try to find any reason to vote against you even if you're the best debater ever. There's no place for racism/sexism/ableism/all those other -isms in this activity.

Feel free to ask me specific questions if you have them, and good luck to all!

Email chain: hjantzen89@gmail.com

I'm an assistant coach for Washburn Rural and debated in high school.

As far as my preferences go:

Do what you're comfortable with, and feel free to be creative. Just because it's unfamiliar to me doesn't mean I won't evaluate it, but it does mean you need to explain carefully.

Overviews and well developed impact calc in the final two rebuttals are major plusses for me. Tell me a coherent story about why you're winning.

Even if I am familiar with your K authors and their work, please assume that I'm not. Demonstrating that you know your stuff well enough to lay the groundwork convincingly will help you out.

I default to competing interps but don't love T debates. Will do my best to evaluate them nonetheless. If you can show in-round abuse this is a huge plus.

Speed is fine with me, but if you want me to flow what you're reading you should signpost clearly and slow down a bit for tags/analyticals/your blocks.

Theory is rarely a reason to reject a team unless you win that there is in-round abuse. If there's new offcase in the 2NC, the 1AR will get some leeway.

It is not possible for me to vote on things that happened outside the round.

Don't be a jerk to the other team. That will affect your speaker points and, if it's serious enough, will also affect my vote. If you can, try to relax and enjoy yourself - I appreciate debates where both teams are having fun.

University of Kansas Class of 2019
Debated 4 years at Blue Valley North High School.

Surveillance: I have judged 10 rounds on this topic.
Please don't use insane acronyms or expect me to understand all of the intricate parts of the topic. I will flow and understand what you tell me and explain to me.
Overview
I was mainly a policy debater in high school. I will flow all arguments and weigh all arguments based on how the debaters tell me to value them. I believe that the role of a judge is to do as little work as possible when coming to a decision. If debaters are not making clear reasons for why they should win then I won’t be persuaded and I will not pull strings for a certain team.
I think strategy and decision making are important skills. If you want to win the debate you must paint a clear picture of why you should win or why the opponent should lose.

General Specifics
Spreading- I can keep up with any speed, but it is only fine as long as you are reading tags clearly and not slurring words during the text of the card. If you aren’t reading a card clearly, I will yell clear. After that I will stop flowing if you don’t slow down.
Disclosure- I am not highly persuaded by disclosure theory, but if it is read I will evaluate it. I think that disclosure can be good, but I don’t believe in forcing norms on the debate community.
Cross-X – This is the best place to earn extra speaker points and to build a good ethos. I value cross-x very highly and believe that the best teams are those that can use three minutes to change a debate. I also HATE people who answer questions by not answering them. If you think you are clever by spiking out of answers, you will be docked speaker points.
Evidence vs Spin –Spin will always come first. I don’t want to call for evidence, but if it comes down to that usually evidence is the tiebreaker.

Argument Specifics

Case – impact calculus is paramount for the affirmative no matter what the 2nr is (the exception being T). That means that impact defense is key or “try or die” becomes persuasive. I generally give the aff some risk of winning some case solvency, but there is nothing better than a well-researched and well-prepared case strategy from the negative. Challenging all parts of the case with good evidence can put you in a great position to win. Case debate is often about detailed distinctions and it’s important to explain why those distinctions matter.


Topicality – I default to competing interpretations, but can be persuaded of a well-done reasonability argument. That does not mean “our aff’s pretty close”. If the 2ar puts the work in, reasonability can become an offensive argument. Limits are good, but overlimiting is bad – it’s the job of the debater to tell me who is doing what. Case lists and topical versions of the aff are always helpful.


DAs – impact calc should be the first thing I hear in the block and 2nr overviews of the DA. That also means every 2ac should have impact defense to the DA. Turns case arguments can be deadly when executed properly and a smart turns case arg is invaluable. There is no such thing as zero risk of uniqueness/link/internal link/impact unless there is a major dropped argument/piece of evidence. Otherwise, there is always a risk of the DA and everything must be contextualized. When the UQ and link debates are close, make sure to include which should be evaluated first and why.


CPs – I think that cp’s are all about strategy and ability to adapt in the debate. I am fine if the negative wants to run any type of counterplan, but I can also be persuaded by the affirmative on why certain counterplans are cheating. I ran the delay counterplan and I believe that debates come down to what arguments are made and how they are impacted. Also please do not run a counterplan without atleast one piece of evidence that says the CP can do the aff.


Ks on the neg – I generally believe that the aff should get to weight its impacts and the neg should get its alt. Given that this is my least comfortable style of argumentation, the neg must do a good job explaining the alt and giving clear overviews that compare its impact to the affirmative’s.
I am typically not persuaded by arguments that exclude the aff. If fiat is illusory and the aff can’t be weighed, this creates a bad debate which is not good to the debaters or to the judges.

I also don’t like the way negative teams explain some of the impacts to kritiks. If someone perms the kritik and you read a X DA to the perm. That DA must be impacted and explained during the time it is read. You can’t read a DA to a perm and blow it up in the 2nr. Just like a 2ac must explain the impact of an add-on to their aff.

Also if the 2nr extends an alternative, there must be at least thirty seconds of explanation on how the alt solves the impacts to the kritik and how it works.


Non-Plan Affs/Framework on the neg – I typically think that the aff ought to defend the hypothetical implementation of a topical plan, but can be persuaded otherwise. If you win on the line by line and you win the big picture, you win.

Name: William Klausmeyer
School: Kapaun Mt. Carmel (Wichita, KS)
Experience: 3 year high school debater, 2 of those were high flow years

    1 year Wichita State University Debate

I debated 3 years in high school and was a high flow kritikal debater. I’ve debated most types of debates from straight up policy to performative and everything in between. That being said don’t assume that I know your literature base. I’m a tabula rosa judge (meaning I’ll vote for anything if it’s a warranted claim) but I default to a policy maker paradigm.

Speed – I prefer clarity over speed especially in nuanced arguments. It’s been a while since I’ve debated a high-flow round so start off slow and give me time to adjust. If I can’t understand you I’ll yell clear.

T/Theory – Give me a quality theory debate and I’ll vote for you. That said, my threshold for quality is probably higher than most. Theory was my baby in high school so if you want me to vote for you do it right. That means impacting your arguments out and explaining your arguments well. You’ll have a tough time winning the round on a blip theory argument unless its extended correctly (tell me what your argument was and why I should vote on it).

Disads – I like a specific story and a good link chain. Impact cards should be updated as well as the link cards. Don’t be making economic collapse causes war arguments from 2005 cards. That’s an easy way to lose credibility. I’ve always liked good DA turns case arguments, so if you have them use them. It’s an easy way to get more ground out of 1 argument.

Case – Case debate is vital to a good round (unless you have an AMAZING argument as to why case doesn’t matter). Good, logical arguments give you a lot of credibility. Case turns are an easy way to generate offense. At the very least you should mitigate case as best as possible.

Kritiks – I ran kritiks in high school but I by no means know the entire literature base. Don’t assume I know what you’re talking about, explain your arguments well. If you don’t have an interwoven argument to take out case you need to attack it separately.

Performance – Go for it but make real arguments and be able to explain them. Know your framework and how to win it.

Go for clash and debate warrants not just tags and you’ll have a much easier time winning. This is by no means comprehensive so ask any questions you have before the round.

·          I am all about direct clash.  

·          I have been known to vote for just about anything when it’s done well, but I am old and not inclined to like the performance debate.  

·          Criticisms are okay, if they have clear links and some way out of the impacts.  

·          I am not a fan of the "debate is limited to the people in this room" argument.  Either evidence matters and the debate extends beyond the round, or it doesn't and anything either team cares to say would seem to be fair game.  

·          I tend to vote on topicality when the impact debate is fully fleshed-out and the violation is clear.  

·          I will vote on theory arguments particularly when the impact on education or competitive equity is strong.  

·          Speed is okay, but if I can't understand card text, the evidence doesn't exist.  Tag lines are irrelevant.  

·          If an argument doesn't make it into final rebuttals, I won't weigh it.  I don't extend anything for you.  

·          I tend not to call for evidence after the round as I believe it is the debaters jobs to provide clarity regarding the meaning and key elements of evidence.  Doing so, in my opinion tends to lead to me reconstructing the round and intervening.

·           In the end, you need to explain why I should care about your arguments.  Give me reason to vote for you.  

·          I tend to default in the direction of the story that appears to be most true.

Pronouns: he/him

Email chains: Yes, please add me. johnsamqua@gmail.com

speech drop is fine as well.

TLDR:

I coach.

I don't coach that many fast teams. Clarity is what I put the most stock in.

Speed=4-6/10

Debaters that clean messy debates up will get my ballot.

I understand the K to a serviceable degree, but I wouldn't stake your hopes on winning on it in front of me unless you're just miles ahead on it.

Experience:

I competed in Kansas in both speech and policy debate for 4 years in high school.

I've judged and coached for 10 years. I tend to judge infrequently, and I haven't had many rounds on the economic inequality topic.

Judge Philosophy:

Generally: Run the things you want to run. My background basically makes me a policy hack. If you want to read something out of my wheelhouse just make sure you have good explanations. I coach teams that compete on a mostly traditional (meaning there's an emphasis on communication, and the debates are much slower) debate circuit, where it is seldom we see that type of argumentation. However I have coached a handful of varsity teams that do contemporary varsity style debate and I'd say they're pretty damn good. I may not be the most qualified judge when it comes to very fast and very technical debating.

Inclusion: I think that the debate space should be accessible to everyone, and if you engage in behaviors that negatively affect the people in the round then I will vote you down. I do not care if you are winning the debate. It's simply over. I've voted teams down in the past for being rude, racist, sexist or otherwise problematic. Just don't be a horrible person, don't talk over people, if you must interrupt try to do it politely.

Style: It's seldom that I see really good line by line. The more organized that you are during your speech the better chance you have of winning in front of me. Otherwise it's hard for me to parse where one argument ends and another begins and things get missed which is going to cause you to be not happy with me. Basically I'm saying that you're the master of your own destiny here.

Delivery:

Speed 4-6/10

I emphasize clarity

If I'm on panel with other judges that can handle more speed, I understand if I get left in the dust.

I mostly coach teams that are slow.

Argument Specific:

Disads: Read a specific link. I don't care for huge internal link chains. The bigger the chain the more untrue the argument sounds to me. But also if the other team completely bungles it then I guess I have no choice.

Counterplans: yep.

T: yep. If you're going for it, make sure you spend a lot of time on it!

K: I have pretty limited experience with K's. But that doesn't mean you should avoid them in front of me. My wheelhouse in terms of critical theory is Cap, and Biopower. I think that framework should be accessible to both teams. I would prefer that your alt actually did something

Theory: This is usually very hard for me to wrap my head around unless it's something like a spec argument. But also if we're reading spec then maybe you've already lost?

Debated at the University of Kansas (3 years) | Assistant at Shawnee Mission South

TL;DR:

I'm fine with speed. K affs are a legitimate strategy, but I do find myself having a bias for framework (i.e. should things break even - which hardly happens - I would probably vote for framework). K's are fine, but links to plan action are preferable (unless your framework convinces me otherwise). I strongly dislike it when you're being a jerk and your speaker points will reflect this if you are being one.

Big Questions Debate Paradigm

For Big Questions, it is hard to put a paradigm into words (unlike with my policy paradigm, which is below if you are interested). Because you cannot run the K (thank you Jesus!) this is about clash, argumentation, and evidence. This is what debate should be about in my opinion. So, present your arguments, provide some evidence, and listen to your opposition and try and prove your case is the better option than theirs. I know this is not much, and this sounds simple, but this is what good, real-life applicable debate is all about.

If you have more questions, ask before the round and I can clarify things further (well, hopefully).

CX Debate Paradigm

I am an old man. I am angry. I generally hate the K. instead, why don’t we talk about the resolution and throw an actually somewhat serious plan out there. Then, maybe the Neg could run a DA or two, and maybe an off-case item or two, all which have some basis in reality. I realize The Butterfly Effect sounds really cool and all, but a gnat farting in Florida should not provide enough impetus to launch a global thermonuclear war. I do not mind speed, but please be clear. If you cannot be understood, it does not really count as an argument. Also, I will also note that I hate open cross-ex. Both members of your team should know your case or arguments and be able to defend or expand upon them.

Final, fun note. I flow on paper. It means I will not take your document/data dump like the other team. It also means that I will give you the benefit of the doubt for reading the contents of a card if you do not actually do so. What is actually said in the round during a speech is what I judge upon. Nothing else. In addition, do not argue over a card the other team never read that somehow got mixed into a speech transfer by accident (I have watched this and I still do not understand it to this day).

I hope this helps.

Debated 4 years at Dowling HS in Des Moines, Iowa (09-12, Energy, Poverty, Military, Space)
Debated at KU (13-15, Energy, War Powers, Legalization)
Previously Coached: Ast. Coach Shawnee Mission Northwest, Lansing High School.
Currently Coaching: Ast. Coach Washburn Rural High School

UPDATE 10/1: CX is closed and lasts three minutes after constructive. I won't listen to questions or answers outside of those three minutes or made by people that aren't designated for that CX. I think it's a bummer that a lot of CXs get taken over by one person on each team. It doesn't give me the opportunity to evaluate debaters or for debaters to grow in areas where they might struggle. I'm going to start using my rounds to curb that.

Top Level
Do whatever you need to win rounds. I have arguments that I like / don't like, but I'd rather see you do whatever you do best, than do what I like badly. Have fun. I love this activity, and I hope that everyone in it does as well. Don't be unnecessarily rude, I get that some rudeness happens, but you don't want me to not like you. Last top level note. If you lose my ballot, it's your fault as a debater for not convincing me that you won. Both teams walk into the room with an equal chance to win, and if you disagree with my decision, it's because you didn't do enough to take the debate out of my hands.

Carrot and Stick
Carrot - every correctly identified dropped argument will be rewarded with .1 speaks (max .5 boost)
Stick - every incorrectly identified dropped argument will be punished with -.2 speaks (no max, do not do this)

General
DAs - please. Impact calc/ turns case stuff great, and I've seen plenty of debates (read *bad debates) where that analysis is dropped by the 1ar. Make sure to answer these args if you're aff.

Impact turns - love these debates. I'll even go so far as to reward these debates with an extra .2 speaker points. By impact turns I mean heg bag to answer heg good, not wipeout. Wipeout will not be rewarded. It will make me sad.

CPs - I ran a lot of the CPs that get a bad rep like consult. I see these as strategically beneficial. I also see them as unfair. The aff will not beat a consult/ condition CP without a perm and/or theory. That's not to say that by extending those the aff autowins, but it's likely the only way to win. I lean neg on most questions of CP competition and legitimacy, but that doesn't mean you can't win things like aff doesn't need to be immediate and unconditional, or that something like international actors are illegit.

Theory - Almost always a reason to reject the arg, not the team. Obviously conditionality is the exception to that rule.

T - Default competing interps. Will vote on potential abuse. Topical version of the aff is good and case lists are must haves. "X" o.w. T args are silly to me.

Ks - dropping k tricks will lose you the debate. I'm fine with Ks, do what you want to. Make sure that what you're running is relevant for that round. If you only run security every round, if you hit a structural violence aff, your security K will not compel me. Make sure to challenge the alternative on the aff. Make sure to have a defense of your epistemology/ontology/reps or that these things aren't important, losing this will usually result in you losing the round.

K affs - a fiat'd aff with critical advantages is obviously fine. A plan text you don't defend: less fine, but still viable. Forget the topic affs are a hard sell in front of me. It can happen, but odds are you're going to want someone else higher up on your sheet. I believe debate is good, not perfect, but getting better. I don't think the debate round is the best place to resolve the issues in the community.

Speaker points.
I don't really have a set system. Obviously the carrot and stick above apply. It's mostly based on how well you did technically, with modifications for style and presentation. If you do something that upsets me (you're unnecessarily rude, offensive, do something shady), your points will reflect that.

I am a flow judge. I will listen to any argument. Argumention is the heart of debate and weighs heaviest on my ballot. Clear arguments and reasoning for how a round should be decided, especially in those last two rebuttals, will weigh heaviest in my decision. At the end of the day, your argumentation should decide any round.

Mitch Wagenheim

4 years debated in HS, assistant coaching since 2015. Last updated September 2022

If we’re still doing email chains, I’d prefer to be on them: mwagenheim@outlook.com 

Overview: 

My basic paradigm is that I will vote on almost anything so long as you win the argument and demonstrate that argument is sufficient to win the round.  I used to be more of a policymaker judge but have become less attached to that framing. I firmly believe in tech over truth within the scope of the round. The only exceptions to this are arguments or types of discourse that seek to exclude people from the activity (racism, sexism, homophobia, etc.) If your arguments fall into the above categories, you will lose my ballot regardless of anything else on the flow. I am wiling to vote on almost anything. What follows are my general views on arguments and I can be convinced otherwise on any of them. 

Specifics: 

1. For theory arguments, you need to specify a compelling reason to reject the team. Saying “reject the team, not the argument” is not actually an argument. 
2. Topicality is often an underdeveloped argument in rounds I’ve seen. 
3. If you are running a K aff, it should have something to do with the resolution. It doesn’t need to be topical in the same way a policy aff does, but there should be a clear reason why it’s directly relevant to the topic. If you don’t want to engage the topic for whatever reason, you’ll need some strong framing why. 
4. I can generally follow the theory of your K, but make sure to clearly articulate your arguments and don’t just read blocks. Your alt needs to be supported by the literature base and somehow mutually exclusive with the affirmative. ROB/ROJ arguments are extremely helpful.
5. In terms of familiarity with critical arguments/authors I’m pretty conversant in Fem/Fem IR/Security/Foucault/Heidegger as well as the basic Cap/Imperialism/etc. arguments. Topics like Afropessimism/Queer IR or less common authors (Baudrillard for example) I can generally follow, but am less knowledgable about. 
6. DAs should have a clear link story and generic disads generally don’t hold much strategic value.
7. Smart analytics are just as valuable as cards. 
8. Clarity is substantially more important than speed. If you are unclear, I’ll give you a warning if you’re unclear but it’s up to you to make sure you are communicating. If I miss something because you’re unclear, that argument won’t be considered. 

Overall, do what you are comfortable with as best as you can. Don’t let my preferences discourage you from running your strategy. 

I am a Policymaker judge that also pays attention to the Stock issues. I believe that I can handle a faster rate of delivery as long as it is articulated well. I debated in high school and have been an assistant debate coach for over a decade. If most everyone else understands the delivery, odds are that I will also. If you fear you might be going too fast or not certain that you are being clear you are probably correct and I would suggest slowing down. If I can't understand you I will not say "clear" I will only understand less. Fast delivery does not mean stronger arguments.

I expect the 1AC to present a plan text. I also prefer case-specific evidence for links to DA's. I'm fine with Counterplans but I am not an advocate or fan of Kritiks or theoretical debate.

I expect everyone to be polite, courteous and professional. I genuinely care about this event and everyone involved.