Anna Correa (she/her)

Hi there!

I debated LD for 3 years and PF for 1 year at Valley High School (2014-2018) and coached PF and some LD at Iowa City West last year (2018-2019).

In general:

- I'll vote for most arguments so long as it is supported and impacted appropriately. That being said, respect and human decency are important, so keep that in mind.

- Impacts are important. Your args and warrants mean nothing if you don't tell us why it matters or what it means for the way I'm supposed to vote.

- Debate is about debating, not listening to the sound of your own voice (that's for us coaches and judges to do lol). Regardless of your debate style or what kinds of args you're debating against, be sure to actually engage with your opponents. Don't talk over the substance of the round. Dig into the clash. We love to see it.

- Speak as quickly or slowly as you'd like. Whatever speed you choose, make sure you're speaking clearly. If asked to slow down, please do.

- I'm all about giving feedback and helping newer improve in their debating skill, so I'll give comments at the end of every round.

- If you have additional questions about my paradigm or after a round, please let me know!

LD

- I was mostly a phil framework debater, and I'm most familiar with that style/literature but will listen to anything. Whatever style you choose, tell me how to evaluate the round, whether a standard or ROB or otherwise. Make sure you explain all things clearly though because I won't use my own knowledge to fill in the gaps in your arguments.

- Go at whatever speed you want and can clearly speak. Slow down for important taglines or author names. I'll say clear or slow several times if necessary.

- Theory/T: slow down on interp language. tell me everything I need to know. Don't leave me to default on things like drop the arg vs debater, etc.

- All args you want to be evaluated should be brought up in each speech. Even if it's conceded, at least mention it in subsequent speeches, so I flow it through. I won't flow args that are new in the 2.

PF

- Persuasion is more important in PF than LD, but I'm still a flow-based judge. This means that args need to be pulled through the entirety of the round to be considered in my final decision.

- Non-empirical or "qualitative" args are totally fine, but you still need warrants of some sort and a reason it outweighs more easily quantified data.

- Crystallization and condensing in later speeches can be a smart strategy. Be intentional with the args you choose to spend time on as speeches get shorter.

- Weigh your args against your opponents' and impact your args to tell me why they matter. Tell me why your evidence and impacts mean you should win the round.

- I base PF speaks more on speaking style (but still strategy and overall approach) than I do for LD.

Policy

- I never debated policy but have judged some policy rounds at a state/regional level.

- Please include me on email chains, but keep in mind that this isn't a cure-all for my lack of policy experience.

- Don't assume I know anything about the topic or lit (because I probably don't).

- Be especially clear with T/theory interps, complex Ks, and CPs.

- I'll evaluate almost anything that is warranted, impacted, explained, and argued well.

- At the end of each speech, spend a few seconds summarizing your speech and telling me why you're winning.

- Clearly delineate offs as I should evaluate them, especially when a round includes a lot of layers.

Background: Public Forum debate for three years. Dabbled in Congress for all four.

My preferences are as follows:

1. Weighing: A debate round can have many different arguments/contentions flying around. Unless you weigh them and tell me what's important, I'm not gonna know who to award the win to. Draw your line in the sand, and let me know what you value and how your side of the argument does it better.

2. Extensions: I will not accept one-off arguments that are mentioned once and never brought up again. Mention your argument and your evidence, even if its a surefire win on that particular contention, it won't matter if it is never addressed again.

3. Cross Ex: Cross is one of the few times that you can interact with your opponent, use it wisely. Don't use a bunch of background as a preface for a simple question, it wastes my time and yours. Ask questions, don't just bring up a bunch of info in place of one, cross is not the right place for it, that's what speeches are for. If you have a gotcha moment and have a great response, bring it up in a speech or I won't count it in my decision.

4. Courtesy: If its necessary, I will judge around based off of courtesy alone. Debates can get heated, I get it, but you should attack the arguments, not the person. Acting intentionally rude over the course of the round is the quickest way to get a surefire loss and a complaint to your coach.

5. My bad ears/brain: I have difficulty hearing sometimes, so clear pronunciation would be great. I can only judge things I can hear and understand after all. I'm fine with speaking fast, as long as it doesn't compromise my comprehension of your arguments. So no inaudible spreading, etc...

I debated at Bettendorf for 4 years in Public Forum Debate. The things I look for in a round are clashing of warrants and impact weighing. In other words, I don't like card dumping, I want the debaters to interact with each others arguments and explain through logic/reasoning why their warrant is more sufficient. With impact weighing, I strongly stress that teams do an impact analysis and explain why their impacts should be weighed more, this will greatly help me decide the round and not try to weigh impacts on my own.

I give speaker points based on a combination of speaking style, strategy, and how well you debate. My average is around the 27/28 range, with very good speakers receiving a 29/30 score, and poor speakers receiving a 25/26 score. I will almost never give below a 25 unless a competitor does not attempt a speech.

Here's a couple pet peeves I have for you to keep in mind. I hate competitors talking extremely fast in PF debate. I don't mind if you talk quickly, but if it is so fast that I can't keep up with what you're saying, you are going too fast. A good rule of thumb is don't talk like LD circuit debaters. This is not the point of PF debate; you should try to be convincing and use persuasion skills to help win a round, not just have 10 warrants and then extend the one your opponent didn't have time to respond to. I also HATE card dumping. If you just say extend [card name here] and move on, that is not sufficient enough, you have to explain what the card says and weigh its impact. If you card dump, I will not without explaining the warrant AND impact, I will not weigh it in the round.

I also prefer the Summary and Final Focus to be a similar format. I will say I look at the summary very closely because it is where you should collapse on a few main arguments. I also would really urge teams to make sure that if they bring up an argument in the Final Focus, they should also make that argument in the summary.

I do generally disclose unless the round is extremely close and I need more time to go over my flow and come up with a decision. I also do like giving general comments and explaining why I voted for what team in the round.

***I've only judged a couple of tournaments this year, so I won't be as used to some of your top speeds***

Kyle Kopf (He/Him/His)

West Des Moines Valley High School ‘18 || University of Iowa '22 || Iowa Law '26

I want to be on the email chain (but I do my best to not flow off of it): krkopf@gmail.com

Conflicts: Iowa City West High School, West Des Moines Valley High School

Bio: I coached Iowa City West LD for 5 years. I debated LD for Six Years. Received one bid my junior year and 3 my senior year.

I don't like long paradigms so I did my best to keep this as short as possible. My opinions on debate aren't what matters anymore. I try to be as tech as possible and not intervene.

OVERVIEW:

I won’t automatically ignore any style of argument (Phil, Theory, K, policy, T, etc), I will only drop you for offensive arguments within that style (for example, using a policy AC to say racism is good). That being said, I am more familiar with certain styles of arguments, but that does not mean I will hack for them. Shortcut for my familiarity with styles:

Phil – 1

Theory/T – 1

K - 1

Policy - 2

Tricks - 3

Online Debate:

-Please speak at like 70-80% of your top pace, I'll be much more likely to catch your arguments and therefore vote for you if you actually slow and don't rely on me shouting "slow" or "clear" a lot. Also, slow down extra on underviews, theory, and author names because I'm extra bad at flowing those.

-Please keep a local recording in case your speech cuts out to the point where I miss arguments. If you do not there is no way for me to recover what was missed.

-I find myself flowing off the doc more with online debate than I do normally

-If you think there are better norms for judging online I should consider, feel free to share before the round!

-I will always keep my camera on when debaters are speaking. Sometimes I turn my camera off during prep time. Feel free to ask me to turn my camera on if I forget.

SPEAKS:

Based on strategy, quality of discourse, fun, creativity etc. NOT based on speaking style. I will shout “clear” as needed without reducing speaks.

SPEED:

Don’t start speech at top speed, build up to it for like 10 seconds. Slow down significantly on author names and theory underviews.

IDENTITY AND SAFETY:

Firstly, I've stuttered for my entire life, including the 6 years I was in debate. Speech impediments will not impact speaks or my evaluation of the round whatsoever. I default shouting “clear” if needed (I always preferred being told to clear than losing because the judge didn’t understand me) so please tell me if you prefer otherwise.

Secondly, If there is anything else related to identity or anything else that might affect the round, please let me know if you feel comfortable doing so.

Ks:

This is what I primarily read in high school. I’m familiar with K strategy, K tricks (floating PICs need to be in some way hinted at in the 1N), etc.

Theory/T:

I read some theory although significantly less than Ks. Since I've started coaching I've become a lot more familiar with theory strategy. Assuming literally no argument is made either way, I default:

- No RVI

- Competing Interps

- Drop the debater on theory and T

- Text of interp

- Norms creation model

- “Converse of the interp/defending the violation” is sufficient

Phil:

I started reading phil in high school and I coach a lot of phil now. I'm comfortable in these debates.

Tricks:

I'll vote on just about anything with a claim warrant and impact.

Policy:

While I never debated policy arguments in high school, I've judged a lot of policy-style rounds and am much more comfortable with them now.

Postrounding:

I think post-rounding is a good norm for debate to encourage good judging, prevent hacking, etc. Always feel free to post-round me. I'll be VERY strict about starting the next flight/round, allowing debaters to be on time, etc but feel free to find me or email me later (email at top).

Misc:

*If you're kicking a CP or K, you need to explicitly say "kick the CP/K", not extending is not sufficient to kick

*All arguments must have some sort of warrant. The warrant doesn’t have to be good or true

*If an argument is new in the 2, I will disregard it even if it’s not pointed out. To clarify, you still should point it out in case I missed it.

GENERAL: I debated for Bettendorf HS '14-'18. Any questions feel free too ask.

SPEECHES: Summary can be line by line and FF should generally go over the same issues in the same order.

CROSSFIRE:I don't flow crossfire, questions must require some nuance or explanation so don't force opponents to quickly answer yes or no to make them look bad. At the same time answer the questions and move on. If you opponent wants more of an explanation don't just try and push past it for your turn. Feel free to capitalize on concessions but everything that happens in CF must be used in the speeches for me to flow it.

Speech must be clear and understandable if reading quickly. I appreciate when rounds stay topical however I am open to theory as well as other types of arguments.

UPDATED: Nov. 2021

I am an assistant coach at Bettendorf High School in Bettendorf, IA. I am now in my 6th year as a coach at BHS. I coach primarily speech.

1. When it comes to judging debate, I am looking for a speed level slightly above conversation speed. I do not care for fast speakers since competitors are supposed to be convincing the judge and not outspeaking the competition.

2. For the delivery of the case, I am looking for competitors to clearly lay out their case by stating what are their contentions and subpoints.

3. While debating, I am looking for clear connections to the impacts of your evidence and case.

4. Also, while debating I am looking for competitors to be civil and allow each other to ask questions and not cut each other off.

FOR Varsity PF:

GENERAL: I debated for Bettendorf HS '12-'16. I consider my experience to be pretty national circuit friendly. I need pens and paper. I would really prefer you not give me spiral notebook paper.

You should shake your opponents hand but not mine.

Always let the coin hit the ground.

Do not try and delay the round to write a preflow.

SPEECHES: First speaking teams should never go over their own case in rebuttal. I have no place to flow it and it will ruin your speaks. Second speaking teams should cover both sides of the flow. If they don't its up to the first speaking teams to extend and point out dropped arguments. Don't feel nervous about kicking the case and going off turns, I'm a fan of this strategy when used correctly. Summary shouldn't be line by line and FF should generally go over the same issues in the same order.

I give speaks based on strategy and arguments rather than the velvetyness of your voice. So in that way i will only give a low point win if you were extremely rude but destroyed on the flow. this hasn't happened yet and I don't want it to.

CROSSFIRE: I don't flow crossfire but it is really important and unless its completely ridiculous i'm going to hold you to what both you and your partner say in crossfire. If your opponent asks about a piece of evidence in CF "Idk you tell me" is almost always a bad answer. Questions must require some nuance or explanation so don't force opponents to quickly answer yes or no to make them look bad. At the same time answer the questions and move on. If you opponent wants more of an explanation don't just try and push past it for your turn. Feel free to capitalize on concessions but everything that happens in CF must be used in the speeches for me to flow it.

Do the correct standing/sitting procedure for crossfire please.

FLOWING: I'm a slow writer but I also like to write down card names. This makes it difficult for me to flow card dumps as well as the info they contain. I go by the flow but I would not call myself a "flow" judge. The solution to speech times should be better word economy not faster speaking. I like advanced nuanced arguments but I just like them to be delivered in a calm manner. "Why waste time say lot word when few word do trick?"

FRAMEWORK/ARGUMENTS: I'm open to tech but it needs to be explained why its necessary for the round as much as it needs to be on my flow. I'm not a fan of Kritiks especially ones that rely on personal narratives. I'm open to ones that have a broader look to why we should reject the resolution or whatever. I'm far more open to theory but would prefer ad-lib rather than a shell. Extremely willing to vote on morality or deontological arguments and don't really buy "countries cant have moral obligations" without a lot of explanation.

I HATE plans. I would rather you go 3 off than give me a specific implementation of the resolution. If you are showing an alternative you MUST show why it is the most likely one.

Bad: "Instead of affirming we should do this"

Good: "If you negate this will happen"

I want you to have a broad look at the resolution and really look on balance rather than giving one example that technically makes the resolution true.

I also hate anything that links into nuke war unless its relevant to the resolution

EVIDENCE: Evidence is extremely important. You need to know your evidence and interact with it. I like it when rounds get into the weeds on the nuances between studies. Don't tell me something is a study when its an article in Forbes.

Bad evidence often has the best wording for debates. If you don't compare and contrast your opponents evidence with your own i'll have to buy the strong language some nut job in the Washington examiner writes rather than the nuanced and cautious analysis from the Brookings Institute.

DO NOT CITE THE CENTER FOR RESEARCH ON GLOBALIZATION (GLOBAL RESEARCH) ITS A CONSPIRACY THEORY SITE.

I may call for any card that sparks my interest even if it doesnt play a roll in the round. Feel free to call for opponents cards or even cases. If your opponents are dishonest about evidence make it a voter or explain to my why that undermines their entire case's credibility. Ill buy it and will give them a much harder time on the flow if you're correct about the violation. I will probably not intervene but don't run sketchy evidence in front of me.

Really, really not a fan of "Miller 16: Blah blah blah" and want evidence to be given with author institution and date. I will weigh "John Mueller in Foreign Affairs 2018" over Mueller 18 any day.

FOR LD/CX:

I'm not trying to impose my old event onto yours. I'm here for the ride and am open to any argument you want to run. That being said I have almost no experience with the event so you will need to explain things clearly if you want me to listen to them.

I do not understand spreading what so ever. You can run what you want just be clear and weigh. If it seems like you're just reading off of paper or don't understand your own arguments I will drop you or something.