I debated public forum in high school, and I'm pretty traditional. Clash with your opponents, weigh arguments, don't spread, and clearly roadmap your speeches. Please be courteous to your fellow debaters.

Background: I did four years of PF in SD and qualified for nationals in three of those years. Now, I attend Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, MN (Go Gusties!).

How I Judge:

1) I try my best to flow, but it's up to the speakers to weigh arguments and persuade me.

2) Impacts are second to warrants. If there is clash at the warrant level, I will prefer the side that best explains why theirs are more correct.

3) I will be listening in crossfire, not only for arguments and demonstration of topic knowledge but also for rudeness. I believe that being unduly disrespectful can warrant a loss (or at least much lower speaker points).

Preferences:

1) Articulate speech is nice, but I'm more concerned about content. I can handle speed relatively well.

2) I think it is very important that the second team's rebuttal responds to the first team's rebuttal. In summary and final focus, please weigh arguments in some fashion.

3) In SD, theory/counterplans/plans/Ks are not used in PF, so I do not have any experience with them in rounds. Lest you leave me totally confused, I would avoid using them.

Hello!

For cases, I am fine with speed as long as you stay clear and organized.

For rebuttals, I like signposting and numbering your responses. It helps both me and you stay organized on the flow. If I don't know what point you're on, chances are it will be scattered across the flow and has a lower chance of being factored into my decision. With that being said, please do not spread. Nobody has 16 responses to one point. Nine times out of ten, five of those responses are the exact same, six of those responses don't even apply, and then you don't even have enough time to make your other responses impactful. I am very interested in hearing what you have to say, so make sure that you are more concise with those responses so you can get your point across.

For summaries, I know you have more time than I did when I was in PF, but I would still like you to summarize the round and give me some key voters. I would prefer this speech doesn't just turn into a second rebuttal. Address any points that need to be addressed in the round, but do so in a way that gives me a big picture view instead of going point-by-point down the flow. Be clear about voters, do some impact calc, and you'll be good to go.

For the final focus, I would like to see the same voters that your partner gave. It helps the flow stay clear and organized. Again, address any points you need to address, but it needs to be concise. You should definitely not be going point-by-point down the flow in this speech. Was something in the round uncontested and super unimportant? I don't need to hear about it. Chances are I can see it was uncontested on the flow and I'll make note about that. I want to hear about the big contentions of the round and how your impacts weigh against your opponents.

For crossfire, I love to see that everyone is so passionate and professional. That's great! Just remember not to take yourself too seriously, too. Please stay respectful. I know with an online format we might have some hiccups when it comes to accidentally speaking over someone because of lagging videos... that's fine. I can tell the difference between someone who is rude and someone who is having technical difficulties, and I will be a lot less likely to vote for you if you are rude to your opponents. If time goes off and you began a response, I'm totally fine with you quickly finishing! I want to hear what you have to say, but I will cut you off if your response gets to be too long.

Have fun!

Style: The style of PF I did and like is classic Public Forum. This means I love DDR (ask your coaches or look him up if you don't know who he is). Therefore, please don't run Kritiks or any nonsense like that. Don't use debate lingo either. Treat me almost like a lay judge. PF should be suitable for anyone to participate in, judge and enjoy. Public Forum is created for the common citizen, so treat it as such. Treat PF like you are trying to convince your city council to enact or deny legislation. Teach me. Don't just tell me things. Actually inform me. If you don't and I don't understand something or have to make my own assumptions and I'm not 100% confident about them, you will lose the argument you are trying to make or it will be a wash.

Speed: I can handle speed, however, use it at your own risk. The faster you talk, the more likely I am to miss something. Therefore, say things multiple times throughout the round so you can be sure I write it down. And if you speak too fast and your opponents cannot understand you, you are speaking to fast. Do not spread simply to gain an advantage. If you do, your "advantage" will result in a significant dock in speaks and more than likely a loss in the round.

Evidence/Framework: Just because you give me a piece of evidence or framework, does NOT mean I have to weigh it in my decision. And just because you say something, does not mean that your opponents have to respond to it. If you say the sky is green and your opponents never respond to it causing you to say that because they dropped it, you win the point, you are mistaken. Remember, treat this like I'm on the city council. PF isn't a game where you can try to bypass logic and common principles to win. It's an actual debate. With this said, you should help me weigh evidence. I can do my own weighing and do not have to accept your weighing if it is glaringly offensive or nonsensical, but it's best to show (not tell) me why you think your point is more impactful.

Drops: Don't drop arguments. Some people have this idea that you can drop 3/4 of your case and act like nothing happened. You present your case in the first speech and your job is to essentially uphold that case the best that you can. If your case falls, you probably won't win the round. I also don't like when debaters say "we're not running that anymore so it doesn't matter." No. It does matter. You just dropped a point because your opponents refuted it and you realized that you weren't going to win the point. That can't and won't be swept under the rug as long as I'm judging. However, it's not as simple as whoever has the majority of their case at the end of the round wins, but holding up more of your case than your opponents gives you more points to potentially win you the round. I am not opposed to giving a win to a team with one point standing compared to a team with three if the one point has a really good impact and it outweighs the other three combined, but that's really hard to do.

Lying: I can sniff out a lie or a misrepresentation of evidence from a mile away. So, do not lie. It is a disservice to the debate community and to people in general. You are debating real topics that affect real people and many judges are probably going to come out of a tournament informed on something they weren't that familiar with. If you lie to them/tell them false evidence or misrepresent it, you are influencing their thoughts and possibly even decisions. So do NOT do it. If I or your opponents catch you purposefully lying or misrepresenting evidence, you will get docked speaks, the evidence/argument will be thrown out the window, and I will be watching you even more closely the next time I judge you. This means that if I or your opponents have suspicion and I think you could be lying, I will call for evidence and I expect the full evidence, not just the cut card. PF rules say you need the page(s) with evidence, the page before it, the page after it, the first page of the article, and the last (you can use the internet to access this). If you do not provide this to me and thus cannot prove that what you're saying is true, I will throw the evidence out.

Politeness: Please don't be rude. Be polite. If you're being snotty to your opponents, dominating cross, making accusations about your opponents instead of addressing their evidence/argument, you will get docked speaks and I will not be happy. I want to be happy.

Have Fun: Other than that, have fun! Debate is a difficult activity and can be stressful, but enjoy it! If you look like you're not having fun, then I won't have fun. And I want to have fun! So make me smile, make me laugh, make me enjoy the round. Also, I love analogies and funny, witty sayings so you might get extra speaks if you can use one effectively.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me. My paradigm may make me seem like a meanie, but I'm a really nice, easy-going guy. So don't be afraid to ask. I'm here to help you become better debaters and speakers. The world needs more of you and I want to help you be the most informed, well-spoken, polite little angels you can be. Much love :)