If you're being judged by me you're in trouble, I retired from debate in 2018. Good luck!

As a common rule, please don't go your top speed at the beginning of your speeches. Go slower and build up speed so I can get accustomed to your voice. I've had times where debaters started at their top speed, which wasn't really that fast, but I wasn't accustomed to their voice at all, so I missed a few of their arguments. To prevent this, please don't start blazing fast. Build up to your top speed.

Also, I flow the best on paper, but I'm a bit irresponsible, so I might not have paper and a pen all the time. If you have extra paper and a pen, then you'd help me adjudicate the debate a lot easier. Otherwise, I'd have to flow on my laptop, which means I'll be slightly more likely to miss an argument. I'll do my best to have paper and pen, but like I said I'm a bit irresponsible.

I'm far from a tabula rasa judge; if you say or do anything that reinforces racist, heterosexist, ableist norms then I will vote against you. This is not to say that you'll always lose Kant against Wilderson; rather, it's about the way in which you frame/phrase your arguments. If you say "Kantianism does x, y, and z, which solves the K" then I'm more willing to vote for you than if you say "Kant says empirical realities don't matter therefore racism doesn't exist or doesn't matter"

On that note, I'm an advocate of argument engagement rather than evasion. I understand the importance of "preclusion" arguments, but at the point where there are assertions that try to disregard entire positions I must draw a line. I will be HIGHLY skeptical of your argument that "Util only means post-fiat impacts matters therefore disregard the K because it's pre-fiat." I'm also less likely to listen to your "K>Theory" dump or vice versa. Just explain how your position interacts with theirs. I'm cool with layering, in fact I encourage layering, but that doesn't mean you need to make blanket assertions like "fairness is an inextricable aspect of debate therefore it comes before everything else" I'd rather you argue "fairness comes before their arguments about x because y."

I think that theory debates should be approached holistically, the reason being that often times there are one sentence "x is key to y" arguments and sometimes there are long link chains "x is key to y which is key to z which is key to a which is key to fairness because" and I guarantee I will miss one of those links. So, please please please, either slow down, or have a nice overview so that I don't have to call for a theory shell after the round and have to feel like I have to intervene.


UPDATE: I will not call for cards unless
a) I feel like I misflowed because of something outside of the debater's control
b) There is a dispute over what the evidence says
c) The rhetoric/non underlined parts of the card become relevant

Otherwise, I expect debaters to clearly articulate what a piece of evidence says/why I should vote for you on it. This goes in line with my larger issue of extensions. "Extend x which says y" is not an extension. I want the warrants/analysis/nuance that proves the argument true, not just an assertion that x person said y is true.

Don't make me intervene-- use weighing analysis, framework to make my decision easy. Warrants > evidence. Ask me more specific questions before the round. I generally like to disclose as I feel oral feedback is more meaningful than anything I hastily scribble down in round

Former high school debater.

I will vote for the team that makes the most compelling argument for their side. I give special emphasis to reasoning over an overflow of evidence.

In the first crossfire, I expect both debaters to establish why we’re debating the issue at hand. In other words - why are we talking about this topic? Who can we expect to be affected by its outcome? I will use the arguments made relating to these factors to decide the round.

Hello!

Remember both to be respectful toward your opponents and to speak at an understandable pace (please, no spreading - I know you want to get your arguments/evidence/rebuttals/etc. across, but it's important to do so cogently.) Thank you!

I'm a junior at Princeton majoring in Physics, minoring in East Asian Studies and Computer Science.

I debated for four years in high school. I like warrants, comparative weighing, and organized final speeches.

Feel free to ask me other questions before the round. Good luck!

I have no background in debate, but I've been judging since 2013. I have also been a practicing attorney for over 35 years. I am looking for a thoughtful exchange of ideas. I do not emphasize technicalities often associated with high school speech and debate. I do not like K’s.

Speak clearly and avoid spreading. I cannot credit arguments that I miss because you were speaking too fast. Arguments should be supported by evidence.

I like signposting and prefer quality of evidence and argument over quantity. Teams should do their best to collapse and weigh.

Explain why I should vote for your side, including why the other side's arguments fail and why yours don't, or why your arguments are better than theirs.

Although I “flow” arguments on a flow pad, please note that I am not a technical judge which provides points here and there and tries to determine which arguments were “carried” to the end of the round or which ones were “dropped”. Instead, I flow to help me keep track of the arguments that are made by both sides and the critical analysis that is conveyed to me to support or refute arguments. Please use the crossfires to ask each other questions and speak to each other, rather than addressing me and asking me to take note of certain statements (which can and should be done during summary and final focus). Consider the final focus as the points I should consider in my reason for judgement write up.

Please weigh, as I find this to be critical to my analysis.

Use "cards" only to support your analysis, not to say "my card is better than your card". A round that heavily relies on "card" after "card" has missed the mark of what debate is about.

-I did PF back in the day, and I've judged a lot of it (New to other formats though).

-I love to see strong warranting in debate, and more generally a logical progression of ideas.

My paradigm is pretty simple; answer these three questions:

1. Where am I voting?

2. How can I vote for you there?

3. Why am I voting there and not somewhere else?

I'm not going to do work for you. Don't try to go for everything. Make sure you weigh.

In addition, I strongly favor teams that provide a clear narrative, one that is usually anchored in a clear framework that defined key terms and concepts fairly.

I really like a properly ran cap K. Down with capitalism!!

Feel free to run anything in front of me, but I would ~prefer~ that you not run frivolous theory.

I believe disclosure is very good unless you give me a reason to believe otherwise.

Topical puns in you speech will increase the speaker points you get.

I have previous LD and PF and Policy experience but I was not a tricks debater.

I won't vote on the K if the alt is unclear - same goes for policy advocacies. Clear solvency please.

awelton001@gmail.com for questions

I debate at Millburn High School, meaning I am probably judging novice. If you want anything more detailed, please ask. 

Pls don't:

Miscut evidence

Make new arguments in FF

Card dump

Line by line summary/FF

Be racist/sexist/mean

Read K's

Pls do:

Warrant your arguments. I cannot extend an argument if there is no warrant.

Correctly read evidence

Line up Summary/FF

Analysis

Voting issue Summary/FF

Color coordinate outfits

Make puns

Offer me food

Have fun

Compliment my sweaters

Path to a 30 - if your entire case rhymes and meets pentamic hexamater

Path to a 20 - If your case rhymes but only meets iambic hexameter 

Path to a 10 - If your entire case rhymes and meets pentamic hexameter but I'm not feeling it

Path to a 0 - If your case fails to rhyme