Debate is an educational activity, and part of that education is two people negotiating on the terms of the round. Do what you need to do for both competitors to have the best round possible.

If you're somebody whose case is claiming end-of-world level harms, have very strong links, and the fewer the better. I'm not a fan of scorched-Earth arguments that are tenuous at best.

Spreading is fine, but enunciate, and know your cards. It's more distracting (and detrimental to your overall speech) if you're going fast and stumbling rather than simply slowing down a bit. I am not a judge that will yell clear - the burden of clarity is on the speaker, not the listener.

I don't want to be yelled at all round. Think about that if that's what you depend on "loud" as your method of presenting everything you have to say.

I am a flow judge, but have been known to not take as many notes for 1A if it's a stock case I've already heard 8 rounds of.

Need a timer/Don't know how long speeches are? https://debatetimers.com/ld/ld.html

FAQ

Do you want to be on the email chain?

No, no I don't. The burden of me following the round, your arguments, and your evidence is on you PRESENTING this information to me - not on my reading your case. If I have to read your case to follow, you are not doing your job.

Secondly, it's MUCH more likely I will pick apart your evidence and quality of your cutting if I'm on the email chain.

Do you have any paradigms/preferences?

Isn't that why I filled this out? If you ask this, I'm going to assume you've not read this paradigm.

No - I want you to have the best round you can with the style of debate you and the other debater want to have. My own personal preferences don't come in - but read above the FAQ if you want the info on what I am more receptive to generally.

Do you disclose/give oral feedback?

No. I typically read my flow and make my decision after the round so that every speech is able to be really considered in the decision.

Oral critiques cause tournaments to run behind, and written critiques can be reviewed over time to improve overall.

For people who see this as a "I want to win the tournament" this is frustrating - but I am giving feedback that is meant to be a more long-term improvement over how to win your next round. There are exceptions for egregious errors in rounds. (Please don't make me do that.)

Do you care where I sit?

Nope! I do my best to position myself in the room so there's a clear presentation area.

Don't tear up the room moving furniture around too much. It's a respect for the teachers who are letting us borrow their space. Whatever you move, put it back. (I won't take off speaker points, but I will be annoyed!)

I'm cool w anything.

Speech: I am a lay judge with some community theater experience. I am a former music teacher so have also directed elementary/middle school and church musicals.

LD: I am a lay/classical judge so am unimpressed with modern techniques designed to win without meaningful back-and-forth dialogue between debaters. I am listening not only for you to convince me that your criterion is best, but also for how you respond to your opponent to promote meaningful discourse. Respect the event (air five if you can tell me a fact about the original Lincoln-Douglas debates) by being professional before, during, and after the debate, including being courteous to one another. If you must spread, be sure to slow down on tag lines.

I am a new judge and I may need some "coaching" until I have a full understanding of how the different methods of debate flow from beginning to end. I don't need debaters to speak slow but less than "full speed" will be helpful. Consider your ability to 'spread'. I am reluctant to interrupt a speaker, especially in the middle of a case reading.

LD Parent lay judge. You can speak at a good pace but no spreading please. Providing clear voters will always get you extra points. More progressive debate structures (Ks, conterplans ....) - Do it at your own risk!

I have competed in every event under the "debate" umbrella EXCEPT for CX. To be clear, I’m not as technically proficient as a policy judge would be- you have a better chance persuading me than bombarding me with jargon. Refer to the categories below for specific events.

Debaters start with 28 speaks.

How to Lose Speaker Points: I will say clear twice before deducting speaker points. During cross examination, attack the speech, not the debater- if you harass your opponent in cross examination, speaker points will be deducted.

How to Gain Speaker Points: Be a generally clear speaker. Slow down on tags if you’re spreading.

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LD I spent a lot of my time doing traditional, "by the book" LD, but I’ve seen my fair share of progressive debate. Debate with the style that you're most comfortable debating, but know that I decide winners on who best carries as much of their case as possible to the end of the round.

Kritiks - I’m unlikely to buy alts that rely on the way I sign the ballot.

Theory/T- Basic understanding.

DA's - I prefer a traditionally structured neg case over DA’s.

PF Debaters should try and stick to an "ask-answer" format during grand cross. I know that grand crosses get messy, and debaters begin to argue and explain their case after someone responds to a question. If you begin to explain your case rather than asking questions, I will deduct speaks. Overall, I decide winners by whichever debaters appear more synced in terms of teamwork. That means debaters who extend their partner's arguments as opposed to only creating new ones will win over those who have their separate debates with the corresponding speaker on the other team. (I want 1st speakers to clash with 2nd speakers instead of speakers having 2 debates).

World Schools Debate I was on the NSDA Lone Star WSD team for 2 years. I understand that this event can be hard to fully grasp due to the focus on presentation over just argumentation.

1st speakers: Present your case. Do not read off the paper, especially if it's a prepared motion. I will be more lenient on impromptu motions.

2nd speakers: Pace yourself. Don't rush through offense or constructive, or else I'll deduct speaks.

3rd speakers: Set up the 4th speech's voters. Give me a hint at what I will have to be looking at in terms of clash points in the round. If you can do this better than your opponent, then you have a better chance at winning my vote. (Note: I'm a huge fan of the 3 question structure. Ask me about it before the round if you're not familiar with it.)

4th speakers: Summarize the voters as best you can. If you cannot give me decent voters, then I have no reason to vote for you.

Hello! I’m Itbaan- I'm good with almost everything

I'm fine with speed but slow down on tags and analytics you want me to flow

Email: colleyvilledocs@gmail.com

Experience:

I am an LD debater for Colleyville Heritage High school

2 years LD

1 year CX

What you need to know

- I love debates that are well warranted and have good impact calculus and weighing

- I want to see in round clash between arguments and clear weighing mechanisms. Near the end of the debate, I really enjoy debaters who make things clear for me and points out places for me to vote

-I am very familiar with util arguments and arguments like Disads, counterplans, and ncs. I am comfortable with Ks, but I would like to see a clear explanation of the link chain and what the alternative does to solve the K/ why the alternative is mutually exclusive with the affirmative.

-I am not very familiar with philosophical debates but will listen to them and will vote on them as long as you explain the philosophical stance, the weighing mechanism, and your offense generated in the round.

-I am ok with T debates and love to see T shells run with clear violations. I usually will default to reasonability unless you weigh it and give me reasons to prefer competing interps.

-I am also ok with Theory debates but absolutely hate frivolous theory shells.

-I will never vote on racist/ sexist/ homophobic arguments

-Please set up an email chain/ flash chain and put me on it

General CX/LD/PFD Preferences:

Professionalism and civility are required and weigh heavily in speakerpoints

Standing CX/Crossfire; seated Grand Crossfire; look at judge in CX/Crossfire

Don't use open CX/Crossfire as a crutch (I will dock speaks if it's clear one partner is doing all the heavy lifting)

I may critique after round, but only if both teams request. If I do critique, I will generally not disclose and I will keep it brief as I write a lot on the ballot for the benefit of your coach.

My view on speed (spreading) is that I will flow it, but a speaker should not sacrifice articulation for speed. If articulation is an issue, please slow down as I have some nerve deafness in my left ear, so you must be clear. However, PFD is an event where spreading is highly discouraged.

I'm a rule follower, so if there is a tournament prohibition on open CX, email chains, prompting, etc., don't do it!

CX Argument Preferences:

I most want to see in a debate round a few, well developed, substantive arguments

I will consider and vote on:

- Disadvantages almost always (i.e., if properly weighed against Aff advantages/turns)

- Counterplans almost always (however, must show solvency for Aff harms and not link to any DAs/other offense against Aff)

- Kritiks rarely (i.e., if properly weighed; compare worlds). Alt needs to compete. "Reject" isn't sufficient.

- Conditionality arguments sometimes (e.g., unless team offering argument argues otherwise, I will assume an unconditional status on all augments offered)

- Theory sometimes (particularly if there is clear evidence of in-round abuse such as over-limiting topic, denying fair ground, etc.)

- Topicality sometimes (e.g., if clear in-round abuse; over-limiting topic)

- Inherency sometimes (i.e., if plan is already in status quo, then no reason to vote for Aff)

- Solvency/Workability almost always (i.e., a plan that doesn't work, doesn't solve for status quo harms/claim advantages and thus doesn't provide a net benefit)

LD Argument Preferences:

If you run policy/critical arguments, I tend to vote as a policy-maker (see CX paradigm above). Traditional Value/Criterion arguments are also fine by me in LD.

I most want to see in a debate round a few, well developed, substantive arguments.

Empirical examples are as important, if not more important, than reading "unique", esoteric cards.

PFD Argument Preferences:

While I am a coach, this event was designed to be accessible for "lay" judges, so please adapt accordingly.

Empirical examples are very useful and don't necessarily require a source, if general knowledge.

While framework is not essential, it is often helpful in close rounds.

Congressional Debate Argument Preferences:

Speeches:

Structure and content are both essential. In each speech, there should be a clear intro with statement of position on resolution and preview of main points. Main points should be supported by the type of evidence you would expect a member of Congress to rely upon for a speech before the House/Senate. Responses to fellow members and a discussion of how the legislation would impact one's "constituents" are part of the "debate" aspect of this event. Walking transitions between points and when answering questions is expected.

Parliamentary Procedure and PO duties:

Efficiency, use of proper voting procedures and correct motions to move along debate are an obligation of ALL members of the chamber and should not have to be repeatedly prompted by the PO. The PO's primary duties are to keep speech time and recognize speakers/questioners based on a strict, impartial adherence to precedence/recency. Do not run for PO if you do not feel prepared to execute these duties. Serving as PO is never a guarantee of breaking; a PO's performance is weighed against the PO expectations outlined above.

About me:

Member of LGBTQ community

Pronouns: Prefer he/him

Licensed Texas Attorney

BA/MA in Communication Studies, Texas Tech University

Doctorate of Jurisprudence, Southern Methodist University

Former Speech/Debate Coach at Prosper High School, Prosper, TX

I am a lay judge. I do not like spreading and would prefer if you spoke at a conversational speed if not slightly faster is ok. I can vote on some policy type arguments, just explain your argument and why it matters. My email is down below if you want to email me your speeches.

All the best,

Naveen

naveen.pinjani@gmail.com

email: adebatejudge@gmail.com

I debated in high school for four years and competed at UIL State, among other high level/international tournaments. Additionally, I earned over 700 NSDA points during my time as a competitor. With that said, I know debate and am prepared for any type of debate you throw at me. As a judge I am what most people would call a gamemaker, I believe debate is a game and I'm prepared for whatever you give me. However, there are some exceptions:

1) FOLLOW THE TOURNAMENT RULES, I don't care if my preferences contradict the tournament rules, ALWAYS FOLLOW THE TOURNAMENT RULES FIRST AND THEN FOLLOW MY PARADIGMS.

2) Absolutely no racism/sexism/homophobia/transphobia/xenophobia. If you raise any argument of these themes, you will get as little speaker points as I can give you as well as make you lose the round. However, I will not accept baseless accusations that your opponent is racist, etc. I have a similar definition about my perception as Justice Potter Stewart said in Jacobellis v. Ohio, "I shall not attempt to define... and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it." Although his subject matter was different than what I'm talking about, the sentiment is similar when defining what is and what isn't offensive.

3) Insults, Teasing, and being aggressive are a no go. We're here to learn and have fun, don't be rude.

Like I said, I will judge anything. Just contextualize it, if I want to hear some funny case I can just read it, don't run it just because you know I'll listen. I want a good debate and I want you to bring the best you have. I love speed and you can go full speed with me, just stay clear. I believe debate is free-form art, do with that form as you like.

As for specific notes about args:

- I like advocacy/non-plan cases but I need it contextualized for the real world. Show me what the world of the advocacy looks like, saying the case is a good idea isn't good enough.

- Method vs Method debates are fun, one of my most important values in judging that sort of round is root cause.

Additional notes to make me like you:

-Always Roadmap

-I love wild kritiks and kritik affirmatives (but you must explain it well enough, i.e. don't throw some crazy kritik plan out there without contextualizing it with impacts, etc)

-New in the 2 is fine, I'm not going to buy any abuse arguments unless they sandbag like 5 new args in the 2

-If you make good puns I'll give you more speaks

-I love speed but if you go supersonic get me a copy of your speech

-I'm a sucker for quality analytics, beyond just blocks that you've written down. Show me that you know what's happening in round.

-disclosure theory always sucks

please put me on the email chain: kateshadman@gmail.com

^^please send docs, don't dump an entire speech into the body of the email

Colleyville Heritage HS (TX) '20: 4 years PF (tfa and nat circuit)

University of Oklahoma '24: 4(ish) years policy

pronouns: she/her/hers

tl;dr (pf)

do whatever you want, i vote on the flow. your barrier to speed is your opponent (if they can’t handle it don’t do it). please warrant and weigh your arg and terminalize your impacts — if you do this you will most likely win. 2nd rebuttal should frontline, if they don’t defense is sticky in 1st summary. if it’s in final it needs to be in summary. have good evidence ethics.

come in pre flowed and send the email chain at the start time

for roadmaps: just tell me which piece of paper to have on top

tl;dr (cx)

my only cx experience is in college, so I'm not as with it as the other college policy debaters

I don't care what you read, I'll listen to pretty much anything. write my ballot for me, I love judge instruction (especially on the K, implicate it to the round plss). I'm biased for a good policy round but don't get me wrong, I love a good K (most familiar with set col, security, and cap). pls label each piece of paper in the 1NC. regardless of the argument, make sure to extend the link (really hard to vote on anything in the 2AR/NR if it's missing) and implicate your args.

come in pre flowed and send the email chain at the start time

for roadmaps: just tell me which piece of paper to have on top

welcome to my paradigm:

*before your speech, pls just tell me what piece of paper to start on and I'll follow you from there (cx: just give me the order of the sheets of paper)

Warrant, Weigh, Win- it's that simple.

- it needs to be on the flow, I need clean extensions and weighing if you want me to vote on it

(please weigh. please, please, please weigh)

- for it to be an extension, I need claim, warrant, and impact

- tell me why/how you're winning and why your argument matters (write my ballot for me)

- terminalize impacts

- please come in pre-flowed and prepared to debate (i want to start the round asap)

- speech doc/email chain should be sent at the start time of the round (or earlier, just not later)

- signpost, I want to write down all of your wonderful arguments (in the right places)

- speed: i don't care how fast you go, know your opponent (if they can't handle the speed -- don't go fast, if they don't have experience flowing off speech docs, this isn't the round for them to learn), if you're going to go sicko mode, give me a doc, otherwise, I flow on paper if I'm not writing stuff down, slow down

pf specific:

- quality > quantity

- tech > truth

- default util

- I don't like calling for ev. you should be doing the ev analysis yourselves, ie. compare the ev between speeches then say it in the speech (I won't vote on it if it's not on the flow)

rebuttal:

- 1st rebuttal shouldn't be doing case extensions (unless it's an ov, fw, or weighing you want flowed on your case), i already got the args from case, it's just repetitive

- 2nd rebuttal: pls frontline offense

summary:

- if 2nd rebuttal frontlines, defense is not sticky

- if 2nd rebuttal doesn't frontline, defense is sticky

- please weigh (pls, pls, pls)

final focus:

- final focus should mirror the summary (if it's not in the summary it shouldn't be in final) (weighing should also be the same)

- PLEASE DON'T GO FOR EVERYTHING, collapse and narrow down the debate

crossfire:

- start whenever y'all are ready, don't wait on me

progressive args (pf)

I would rather not but, do whatever you want, but, it's extremely hard to do the work you need to do within the pf time constraints and the bar doesn't lower just because it's pf. if you are going to do something funky, one of the biggest mistakes I see is not implicating the K (or whatever) to the round, make sure you do work on page comparison otherwise, it's really hard to see how the argument is relevant to the round. tell me how to evaluate the arg in the context of the round.

"progressive args don't belong in pf" isn't a response (unless you have a beautifully curated block on this arg), you need some legitimate ink on the flow

again, I would rather not judge progressive rounds in pf, if you want to, you run the risk of losing the ballot a lot easier than if you debated traditionally

evidence:

don't do anything stupid and don't take forever to pull up evidence, evidence should be cut properly and cited with a working link, if your opponents are doing something bad/sketch with ev make it a voting issue--I am very likely to vote on it (if it's legit)

personal thing about ev- evidence shouldn't be paraphrased when it's introduced into the round, you should be reading from cards, obviously this gets lost in the back half of the round (which is fine)-- if you are going to paraphrase make sure you have the cut cards available and that you are representing them correctly

coppell 21 | jhu 24 (?) | they/she | email chains: docs.andersondebate@gmail.com

active coaching conflicts 23-24: lc anderson + lindale in an institutional capacity, a ton of independents. updating this is hard. just ask if you're curious ig.

please call me vaish or vaishali! i did ld/cx at coppell. i had an uneventful competitive career and pivoted to coaching, where my students have been in outrounds/earned speaker awards at almost every major bid tournament including the toc. if you have any questions abt stuff below just ask.

ld

arg prefs

1 - k + larp

1/2 - topicality + theory + phil

3 - tricks

i'm definitely able to evaluate whatever debate you give me with a lens of objectivity and care and have voted for things i'm less knowledgable about vs. things i've written papers on. make good strategic decisions, focus on making arguments that have a claim/warrant/impact, don't be bigoted.

getting my ballot is shockingly uncomplex. i am becoming increasingly irritated with the rabid forms of ideological dogmatism that have taken root on both sides of the policy/k divide and the steeply declining quality of judge rfd + feedback post-return from lockdown. i am privy to watching debaters put gargantuan time and effort into reading cool and valuable things from a spectrum of different arg types and i want to see good debaters do what they do best. this means that i put immense care into rfds and value the privilege of coaching and judging at each tournament i attend. anything else is silly, wastes copious amounts of time, and waters down the quality of debates. this is your debate, not mine. do not abuse that privilege. feel free to post-round, yell at me, or whatever you have to in a respectful manner to get the most out of this experience, i will not take it personally.

cx

same as ld stuff -- i don't judge it super often + will likely not know topic terminology but i anticipate that i should still be good for most debates irrespective

speaks

ballot is urs speaks are mine

hey what's poppinnn. i debated PF for colleyville on the yeehaw and ~national~ circuit.

what i think matters:

- tech > truth: if an argument is conceded/lack of responsive defense it manifests with 100% probability.

- second rebuttal should respond to offense from first rebuttal. only giving the first speaking team final focus to frontline is not a bro move

- summary: i don't really have a preference if you go line by line or big picture but make sure to sign post bc i can't draw arrows on my laptop :(

- final focus: just in general new in the 2 not cool. FF should mirror summary so if an argument isn't in summary i won't evaluate it in ff

- defense is sticky

- quality > quantity: i cannot stress how much more effective fleshing out one good argument is vs blippily extending subpoints A-H. this means collapsing and extending your offense (not just frontlining defense) in summary with a clear link story that is well warranted and impacted! (too often forgotten :c)

- theory: i will be straight up, i have like no experience with running/evaluating theory so if you do decide to run it there is a very high chance it won't go too well with me (high barrier for theory). if you wanna run theory just to trip a team up - don't. please.

- weighing: ok. weighing is great when it is done STRATEGICALLY and not just to get the words probability and magnitude on the flow. telling me you outweigh on magnitude bc 900 million people go into poverty is not weighing, it takes two (impacts) to tango. if you have the same impacts....LINK WEIGH!

- evidence: if you're trying to indict/have conflicting evidence please ᵖˡᵉᵃˢᵉ do the evidence comparison and analysis during the round, or else ur leaving it up to me and you may not like the outcome :( oh and if you call for evidence in round pls be speedy

https://www.tabroom.com/index/paradigm.mhtml?search_first=anisha&search_last=navendra

^this is my partners paradigm, it’s way better than mine. i agree with 99% of it. if you see her tell her i said thanks (not tall brown girl) and feel free to ask questions