I'm your typical flow judge and I will evaluate any argument you put on the flow unless it's racist, sexist, xenophobic, etc. I did PF for 4 years at Colleyville Heritage so I understand jargon and whatnot but please don't spread. Treat me like a lay judge to the best of your ability. I usually don't know anything about the topic, but I do understand how debate works so adapt.

A few things to remember...

1. Sign post. If you do not then your arguments wont be flowed, wont be flowed where you want it to be or not at all.

2. Extensions. Please extend key things like framework/overviews in all your speeches. If it's not in summary I wont evaluate it in final focus unless the round is so muddled that I'm forced to; dont make me do that. Also, if something important is dropped, extend it because I wont do that for you.

3. If it's a panel and there are lay judges please adapt to them but make sure to still weigh in the round so my ballot comes just as simply as theirs.

4. I will evaluate any argument, but with that being said I will not make my own analysis for you and I cannot read your flow or your mind so make sure you and I are on the same track or that will only hurt you. Moreover, if there is not a clear warrant for me to extend, I will be forced to default to whatever makes the most sense no matter how much you weigh the arguments.

5. I dont understand spreading so please don't spread or I will just sit there extremely confused. I also seriously despise topicality and theory debates and I just don't think they belong in PF.

6. I love framework and I think it can make the round way easier to weigh but if you stray from it, then I will be forced to as well and with the way your case is framed that might honestly hurt you so do so at your own risk.

I debated PF and Extemp for Grapevine. I graduated in 2018.

SPEED: I'm fine with speed but don't mumble or lose clarity I'll just stop flowing.. it's PF for a reason.

FRAMEWORK/VOTERS: I like a framework debate. Numbering your voters helps.

LINKS/IMPACTS: I vote off of impacts and links. I'm not going to make the link or impact calculus for you so make it clear in the round.

EXTEND: I'm not going to extend something across your speeches if you don't bring it up. I don't expect the first speaker to extend their own case in rebuttal since there's no offense on it. If something isn't extended to the last speech I'm not voting on it. For the sake of all things PF, extend!

CROSSFIRE: I pay attention during cross, use this time wisely.

OVERALL: Don't be snarky in order to make a point. I was second speaker so I understand that it gets feisty but honestly, if you can't make your point by being respectful to the event and your opponent, then you can't really debate it at all. I will dock speaker points if you're rude.

Have fun! Debate rocks. Here's to a good round! Good luck and see you in the room.

I consider myself a tabula rasa judge, and will vote on anything if given a proper rationale and justification. I consider debate a game. That said, I am more familiar with policy arguments then critical ones. I place a high value on analytics and people who actually apply cards and arguments instead of reading large banks of cards with little application or reasoning. Please weigh the round or present me with a framework under which you believe the round should be judged. Do not take tag lines at face value. Challenge evidence and internal links (CX/crossfires are a great opportunity to do this). Nothing is more frustrating then having to weigh cards/links/impacts that aren't really there but are never challenged by an opponent.

Speed is fine, but don't do speed for speed's sake. I believe speed can give people the ability to present many more positions and arguments and ultimately make the round more educational and enjoyable to judge. However, I have seen people spread who could have covered more ground by not spreading and people who become completely unintelligible when they pick up speed. If you aren't clear then I can't understand your arguments. Vary speed, tone, volume, or something else to differentiate between tags and cards, emphasize transitions, present important analysis, signpost, etc. If you are lynch-pinning your entire case on one card or a challenge to one card, it would probably benefit you (and certainly me) to make sure I understand the card completely.

Ks: I have voted on K arguments but make sure you explain the links well and place the argument in the context of the round for me. It is safe to say that these arguments may have a higher bar for me just because of less familiarity than what I have with traditional policy arguments.

Conditionality is fine as long as you can explain what it is accomplishing in a round (a test of competitiveness, etc.). That said, I won't let you kick a DA with a clear turn on it unless your opponent also argued non-uniqueness, no link, or some other reason justifying kicking it.

Be careful with flips and inconsistent arguments. I have seen countless number of teams this year argue link flips and impacts flips against the same DA/Advantage, or go for and win a huge link flip but then separately argue that there will be no impact. Make sure you are telling a consistent story and don't shoot yourself in the foot. Sometimes you can go for too much.

T- I seem to be voting for T frequently as of late, but you need to make a strong argument and devote attention to it throughout the round. If you don't treat it seriously, don't expect me to. You must explain how it is impacting (or not impacting) the current round, as theoretical T arguments have less impact on me.

Be civil and professional. Passion is great, but avoid being mean-spirited.

I debated in PF for Colleyville Heritage for 4 years. I have pretty basic preferences:

-I don't care about speed but if you're unclear or speed seems unnecessary, I'll dock speaks (remember quality over quantity)

-Don't bring up new evidence in summary or new arguments in final focus

-Framework and overviews need to be extended (and responded to) in order for me to evaluate them

-You should be weighing throughout the round but I prefer a big picture final focus that tells me why I should vote for you. Voters are greatly appreciated since they make the round so much easier.

-Short off-time roadmaps are appreciated, but please signpost in your speeches if you're moving around a lot!

--> Most importantly, be respectful and have fun! Feel free to ask me specific questions before your round.

Austin Johnson

Trinity Valley School

Head Coach/Program Director

Debating experience

Debate coach for four years. Took kids to TOC and NSDA Nats.

Role of the Judge

I’m willing to evaluate any and all roles-of-the-judge you put forward. It’s the judge’s job to weigh the round under the criteria you give. That is, the judge is a referee who makes decisions about a game whose rules are determined by its players over the course of each round.

Email Chain

If you're going to spread, I want to be on it. I'll give my e-mail at the time of the round.

CX

I do not flow CX.

Logistics

Track your own prep. I’m okay with flex prep. Flashing is not prep.

Speed

Speak as quickly as you are comfortable. However, if you’re going to spread, please be sure to include me on the e-mail chain.

Theory

The primary thing, in my opinion, that leads to worse debate is spending a lot of time explaining your opponent's model leads to worse debate. I've tried to be gentle about this. It is apparently time to be clear: I do not want to hear a theory argument. I hate them.

I’ll weigh theory if I must. But I would prefer to vote on literally anything else. If something genuinely abusive (not even in the direction of the topic, undisclosed, etc.) happens in the round, then you should call it out. Otherwise, don’t waste time on. If the only reason you’re winning a debate is because you’re manipulating the rules of debate, you’re not winning a debate.

Additionally, don't run Theory just to suck up time. The only thing worse than winning a round because you're just manipulating the rules is winning a round because you're wasting time talking about manipulating the rules and then not manipulating the rules, because that means I had to listen to your crappy theory non-argument which you then did nothing with!

Plans

I’m cool with plans. Just remember that reading a plan in LD means taking on a heavier burden of proof than defending the resolution as-written.

DA/CP

If I’m letting Aff run plans, I should probably let Neg run DAs and CPs. So I do.

Performance Ks

Performance is cool. I buy in-round solvency and pre-fiat alts.

Kritiks

The K is the reason I’m a debate coach. I’m a Ph.D. in English lit who got his degree after 2000, which means I had to be conversant in a loooooot of critical literature. I like materialist or semiotic approaches; psychoanalysis Ks are very slippery and I don’t generally enjoy them.

K Affs

K Affs are fine, but you need to be prepared for a protracted debate about framing that you can actually win.

Background:

I competed nationally for Colleyville Heritage in PF debate for four years.

How I Evaluate Rounds:

TL;DR Weigh your arguments in summary and ff, what's not in summary should not be in final focus, and the second speaking team must do case defense in the second rebuttal on offense from the first rebuttal.

1. The team that does a better job weighing the offense they're winning is going to win the round, you know this. Just don't go for only defense at the end of the round, because that's not a reason to vote for you, that just might be a reason not to vote for your opponent.

2. Any offense in the final focus that is not in summary will not be evaluated. If you're a "new in the two" kinda person, you will get lower speaks, and you will more than likely lose my ballot.

3. If you don't answer offense (overviews, turns, whatever it may be) from the first rebuttal in the second rebuttal, I will consider that offense dropped. You don't have to answer all the ink on the flow, just respond to turns and overviews and you'll be fine. I would prefer all of the first rebuttal to be answered, but I will not punish you for not doing so. If the second speaking rebuttal answers the entirety of the first speaking rebuttal, the first summary should extend defense. If the second speaking rebuttal only answers offense, then the first summary need not extend defense.

Other Concerns:

Overviews are great; if you read an overview that goes unanswered you will probably win my ballot unless it's terminal defense. But tell me where to flow them before you start reading it or I will likely miss a lot of what you're saying. Also please answer frameworks if you don't agree with them, don't expect me to ignore what someone else has presented.

I appreciate taking the time to weigh responses way more than I appreciate card dumping. If I catch a team powertag or strawcut stuff or any other funky evidence misrepresentations, I will be very mad about it and at the very least you will be getting bad speaks.

I personally think grand crossfire is a waste of 3 minutes so if both teams agree to throwing it out I will be much nicer with speaks. Let me clarify, this does not give you extra prep time. I will not at all be angry if you decide that grand cross is important to the round for whatever reason, I simply just want to extend this offer that I would have appreciated as a competitor.

Recently I have noticed a speed trend in PF which is fine and I can keep up with, but most teams sacrifice weighing and clarity simply to go faster. Please note card dump statement above: if you read 20 responses that aren't articulated well or weighed etc., you are not gaining any points with me.

I am a student at the University of Pennsylvania. I debated all 4 years of high school with 2 years of CX and 2 years of PF experience. I qualified for TFA state in both CX and PF.

Speed is fine as long as you are clear. I am okay with pretty much any type of argument as long as you can fully explain the link chain. Theory is fine but it should be highly relevant for me to weigh it. I will only account for your arguments if they are extended, I won't extend your impacts for you. Impact calculus is crucial.

Background:

I graduated from UTA with a major in Political Science and a minor in economics. I graduated from SMU with an EMBA (Executive Master of Business Administration).

Arguments:

I tend to follow economic arguments pretty well. With that said, if you run it wrong or you don't fully understand it, I'll be able to tell. I won't automatically vote you down though, both sides should agree on how specific arguments like that functions and I'll vote based on the agreed upon function.

Things to Keep in Mind:

- I tend to favor longterm impacts over short-term impacts, so I would suggest doing some weighing on timeframe throughout the round.

- Crossfire is a 3 minute period to ask questions. I heard your constructive speech the first time, I don't need to hear it again. And if you spend 45 seconds just avoiding the question because you don't want to answer, I will doc your speaks

- Don't go crazy on the voters. I don't need 30 reasons why I should vote for you. Just keep it short and weigh both sides

- I haven't been judging long enough to follow spreading. Not to mention, it's PF, you shouldn't be talking fast anyway.

- Weighing is very important. I won't do any work for you, tell me why you won.

I'm a junior, 3rd year debater, at Grapevine High School.  I did CX for 2 years and I'm now in PF.  I am okay with any speed.  Make sure you extend your impacts, don't drop arguments, and make sure you show me exactly why you win the round in your last speech.  I am fine with basically any argument, just don't do anything offensive.

TL;DR: warrant, collapse, implicate, weigh, extend consistently and don't be offensive/rude. Add me to the email chain: Alina.shivji1@gmail.com

SPEED

Go as fast as you want, and I’ll flow it. If you’re unclear, I’ll say clear twice and then put my pen down. After that, what I can follow is entirely based on your clarity.

PROGRESSIVE ARGUMENTS

Feel free to read them. That said, these arguments don’t typically function well in PF due to time constraints. So, I do prefer substance in PF. If you do debate progressively, note that crossfire and flex prep serves as accountability on your advocacy. My default is reasonability. If you want me to approach these args from a different standpoint, tell me.

Feel free to read arguments about any of the -isms. But, make sure in the process, you’re not otherizing. For example, if you are not a Muslim woman who identifies with the LGBT+ community, don’t read arguments about it. Also, if you are reading any arguments concerning sexual harassment/assault/suicide/etc., I expect a trigger warning BEFORE the round.

EXTENSIONS

I have a high threshold for extensions. I expect you to extend the internal links to the argument as well as the impact. In other words, just tell me how you get from point A to C before you extend the impact. If you don’t, I’ll still evaluate the arg but I’ll be less inclined to vote for it.

Defense is sticky until it’s frontlined

FRONTLINING

respond to offensive responses ie turns and terminal defense before you access weighing in the second rebuttal

WEIGHING

Tell me WHY the extended argument matters more than your opponents. If your opponents give me a different mechanism than you to prefer their argument, explain why your mechanism should be evaluated first (metaweighing).

Don’t introduce new weighing in second FF unless your opponents made a critical weighing concession in GCX. The only other exception to that rule is when neither team has weighed up until the second FF.

INTERVENTION

I try not to intervene as much as possible. If there’s no offense in the round and its a policy-oriented topic, I’ll default neg aka the status quo. If it's not a policy-oriented topic, I'll default towards what's most probable.

I won’t call for evidence unless you tell me to. If the evidence is miscut, I won’t evaluate it and I will penalize your speaks for it.

TECH > TRUTH

If you didn't say it in the round, don't expect me to evaluate it regardless of how "true" the argument may be. That said, use common sense and have good judgement. If you say something incorrect, it won't influence my decision, but I will call you out after the round.

IMPLICATE!

The link to an argument matters but if you don't tell me HOW it fits in the round, I won't know what to do with it. So, tell me what argument serves as turns/terminal defense, why, and what that means for you/your opponents in the round.