evan.sp.jensen@gmail.com

*Flow everything, especially feedback.

*Always signpost and provide road maps. Slow down when reading tags and authors. I want to understand what you are saying and organize it; help me out.

*DO NOT steal prep time. I will subtract stolen prep from your time remaining and it will count against your speaker points. When you or your opponent are not running prep time pencils must be down and do not play with your laptop. I give a reasonable amount of time to send files which I do not count as prep. If you are having trouble uploading or sending let both myself and your opponent know. Be fair and courteous to your opponent.

*If you spread and I cannot understand you, I will not be able to fully comprehend your argument. Start slower and work into your spreading so I can adapt to how your sprea.

*Voters - from the beginning of the debate you should be telling me how to frame my vote. What does my vote do and why is your definition of it to be preferred.

Evidence - Use and extend your evidence, but don't just blanket extend all your cards.

Impacts and solvency are key for me. I enjoy real world impact arguments, as rare as they may be. You need to really make me believe you are changing something for the better and tell me exactly how much and why I should vote for you over your opponent.

Topicality arguments must be well explained or run when there are clear violations; explanation must be concise and valid.

CX

I love a respectful CX. If your case is good you will want to educate your opponent and myself about what your case does well. Disrespectful or rude CX will be given less weight.

If the questioner moves on to another question reasonably DO NOT just speak louder to take up cx time. You would probably find it uncool as well if done to you.

Don't make claims if you're the one asking, form a question and ask it. CX is not a time to be making arguments; save that for your speeches. CX gives me a good idea of how knowledgeable you are of your case.

Ask questions with a final end goal in mind.

Overall: Don't panic, just breathe and you will be fine. I look forward to see everyone debate.

Background Information:

I competed for Mount San Antonio Community College for two years, and then transferred to UCLA. My debate experience involves competing in IPDA for one year, and dabbling in Parli for awhile. This is my first-year coaching/judging collegiate forensics, and I am a graduate student at CSUN where I coach the IE and speech side of the team.

How I evaluate rounds:

I find clarity important, make it clear what your argument is and how your impacts are the most important in the round. I like full and completed arguments. Do you have Warrants, Links, Internal Links, and Impacts? I also value structure and organization in speeches.

Some other comments:

Debate is an animal that can bring out a lot of different emotions, please remember that you are competing against humans and treat each other as such. There is no need to reduce our humanity to “win a ballot.” Do not treat your opponents poorly.