I've been around debate since 2000 and have coached LD, PF, and Congress. I judge mainly at nat quals, sections, state, and nationals but attend/coach at roughly 15 tournaments during the season.

In all styles of debate, I want the debaters to move the debate forward. As a general rule, the debater who listens better wins. Too often, debaters are quick to attack taglines or one part of a warrant, but when they only do that, the savvy opponent notices and responds appropriately.

Whether I'm judging LD or PF, what I like to see in round are:

- A clear case advocating a position centered around a criterion (in LD) or framework (in PF). I'm fine with cases that don't have either, but I want to be able to vote for a story.

- Clear speaking- these are public speaking events so you should be clear. While I can handle speed, 95% it is utilized in front of me, it's unnecessary-- better case writing or argument selection would reduce the need.

- Arguments that can actually happen are stronger- so for example, an impact to nuclear war in a case involving college athletes getting paid could work, but I would probably but the argument with the straightest line to the resolution first. I think genocide and human extinction are bad too, but if you're making that argument, you're probably losing the flow.

- Flowing through ink is gross, avoid that OR tell me why it's okay why you're doing it.

- Non-responsive responses are not my favorite. If a warrant says xyz and you respond solely to x and your opponent calls you on it, your response will probably fall. Also, if you only respond to x, but your opponent tells me in their next speech why y and z matter, don't say they dropped your argument because they didn't. See again, the debater who listens the most wins the most.

- Give me reasons why you win. Voting issues or a strong crystallization will help you. Even if you lose 19 of the 20 arguments, convince me that your one argument outweighs.

- I don't like mean people. Be nice. I am a human. I judge as a human. If it is honestly a coin flip of who wins, I will almost exclusively go with the person who treated their opponent as a person rather than the mean person. Is that fair? No. Debate is subjective. But I'm trying to be as objective as possible.

- If you have questions, ask before a round.

I've done 3 years of debate at Hopkins High School. As a judge, I like to see debaters who do well in basic skills and tactics like signposting, extensions, and weighing. I give speaks based on the technique and skill of the debater, so demonstrating skill in something like weighing or framework debate is more important than using confusing language and advanced techniques. Voters and Worlds Comparison/Crystallization are the most critical components I look for in a debate, because they are the summation of the entire round and the section where I am given the reason to vote for or against a debater.

PUBLIC FORUM

To me, one of the key aspects to Public Forum debate is that it should be accessible to the PUBLIC, with a (hopefully) wide scope. As such, here's a few suggestions if you find yourself in one of my rounds:

If you put a blatantly and unabashadly unfair burden on your opponents (my opponents can only win if they do "X"), the odds will not be in your favour.

If you obviously deliberately misinterpret your opponent's contentions in a cheap attempt to turn them to your side, the odds will not be in your favour. Trust me, as judges we see through this.

Off time roadmaps waste my time and yours. We already know you're going to start on your opponent's side of the flow and move to your own if time exists. You don't need to say it. If you're doing something else, THEN please let me know.

HOWEVER: In speech road-mapping is very important during Rebuttal and Summary. Don't tell me "extend my _______ card across the flow" without telling me which contention it is a part of. I don't write quickly or clearly enough to be able to locate it on my flow before you move on to your next thing. Trust me, this is for your benefit. Just tell me which contention it is a part of and the assertion that it makes.

Weighing: It's great if we can weigh tangible impacts on both sides, but that's not always going to be the case. Let's use the example of lives (tangible) vs. quality of life (intangible). The side with "Lives" usually just says "you can't have quality of life without a life" and leave it at that. The groups impacted by the "lives" evidence probably have at least a bit of overlap with the groups impacted by the "Quality of life" evidence, and in that overlap the above statement makes sense, but what about the groups that don't overlap? How do you want me to weigh those? I want to see thought put into your rebuttals, summaries, and final foci about the reasoning behind how and why things are weighed in the round against your opponents, not just standby statements. Because most of what we deal with in Public Forum has to do with real people, if you can link your arguments to effects on said real people, that can only be a good thing on my flow.

If you talk so fast or so unclearly that I cannot understand you *cough* policy *cough*, your contentions will not go on my flow. This is not to say that speed is a bad thing; if you are talking quickly AND clearly to expand and clarify your arguments, FANTASTIC. I love it. If you are talking fast purely to add more cards to your side of the flow, the odds will not be in your favour. Public Forum is not Policy Lite. I will say "Volume" or "Clear" once. If you see me outright stop flowing and drop my pen, then your arguments are not ending up flowed for the above reasons.

Conduct: We all get excited and a bit heated during rounds, but if you are shouty and rude to your opponents, then your chances of winning a speaking award will tank. I am judging the debate on the substance, so if you are shouty and rude but still present the best arguments, you will win, but your speaks will suffer. Terribly. HOWEVER: If your in-round ethos is atrocious and deplorable enough, I will award you the loss, a double 20, AND I will talk to your coach. You are humans first and debaters second. So are your opponents. If you can't treat them like equals then you have failed basic human decency and will not win my round.

ALSO! Cx is for questioning, not making grandstanding statements. I also frown on steamrolling your opponents during crossfire, not allowing them to finish answering your questions or not allowing them questions of their own. Again, not cool man. (See above paragraph for potential consequences)

Fun Stuff: If you end up with 3 or fewer seconds of prep time before your Final Focus, and you use it, I will award you an extra .5 speaker points. I have no reasoning behind this other than that I find it entertaining. Similarly, if both teams call Aff's contentions PROTENTIONS then I will award all speakers an extra .5 speaker points

Lincoln Douglas

Spreading: For the love of all that is sane, DO NOT SPREAD. I have tried many times, but I cannot understand you when you do it, and I guarantee that you will lose the round if I cannot understand you. Spreading is for butter, not high school debate.

Impacts: I'm generally fine with anything you want to impact to, as long as you can show me some very strong links. For example, I've never seen a strong enough link to give anyone access to Thermonuclear Holocaust or global mass extinction. You should also always impact your impacts back to your value/criterion. Something as simple as “... and that isn’t moral” would suffice (assuming your value is morality). Remind us what we’re here for and what lenses we’re looking through

Ts: Probably not a great idea in my rounds, tbh. I don’t think we have time for shell arguments in this category, I’d rather see the actual resolution debated rather than some weird philosophical diatribe that we have to discard literally everything your opponent said because __________

If you start off your NC (or AC for some reason) with reasons why we can’t (or shouldn’t) debate the round at all, I will do everything in my power to find a way to vote you down. Debate the resolution.

If you have evidence that specifically mentions methods in HS debate (usually these are written by former high school debaters who now coach from college), I will call for that card and if it is not in a peer-reviewed journal from an unaffiliated author, I will vote you down.

This activity is about researching, analyzing evidence, and creating arguments. I really don't like it when you're running framework and contentions that it is very apparent you didn't write and maybe don't even understand.

Conduct: Don't tell me your opponent is racist, or sexist, or ableist, or any other -ist because of an argument they're running. You may say that their case advocates against equity in any of those areas, or you may call their specific arguments names; but never the human you are participating in this activity with.

So to conclude.... If you actually debate the resolution you'll probably be fine.

Policy

I don’t/won’t judge policy. Take that statement as you will.

General note for both speech and debate: how you behave in a round matters. I expect you to be cordial and collegial to your opponents. If you are not, your speaker points and/or ranking will reflect it.

Racist, sexist, homophobic, ableist, transphobic, etc. comments and/or arguments and/or behavior are not tolerated. You WILL lose the round and/or receive 0 speaker points. Don't do it. And that includes coded language. If you use stereotypes of identities (particularly race, gender, disabilities, and/or ethnicities) that aren’t yours, especially for comedic effect, you will be ranked last.

A little about me: I was a policy debater in high school (20+ years ago). I currently run Lakeside Debate and Public Speaking School, where I am the head coach. For four years, I was the Congressional debate coach for Lakeville North and Lakeville South High Schools. For two years, I also taught Congress and PF for Potomac Debate Academy. I was the Head Coach at Wayzata High School for two years where I coached policy. I also coach speech (all categories), most recently at Edina High School. I've literally coached and judged it all. I also have a PhD in social ethics.

Here’s the TL;DR version:
Clash is the minimum expectation in debate rounds. Make sure that the speech you give fits where you give it (i.e., extemping a rebuttal on the third cycle vs. reading a prepared speech in the third cycle for Congress). I love Ks and critical argumentation (but know your theory!). Give me the ballot in every speech after the constructive! And don’t conflate ethics and morals! See below for more detailed information for events.


CONGRESS

Each speech should have proper argumentation (claim, warrant, impact(s)). IMPACT OUT YOUR EVIDENCE!!! You should know why the evidence you’re reading or the statistic you’re citing matters and you should communicate that! Road map your speeches. Signpost during them. If you are not the first speaker on either side of a bill, make it clear that you're following what's come before you. Acknowledge your fellow representatives when you're building on their point or when you're refuting it. CLASH IS EVERYTHING!

I expect crystallizations and rebuttals to include weighing/impact calc. I rank POs unless the round is chaotic/incredibly poorly run. Precedency and recency matter. I track the number of questions you ask in addition to scoring your speeches. The person who gets my top rank is the person who performed best in the round, factoring in questions, speeches, and in-round behavior. I'm looking for cordiality and collegiality, strength and uniqueness of arguments, fully impacted out arguments, and excellent in-round engagement with the thoughts and arguments of others. Generally, I care more about the content of your speech than your delivery, unless the delivery makes it impossible for your arguments to land.

LD/POLICY/PF DEBATE
In a round, I'm paying close attention to whether arguments are complete and if they're well supported by the cards used. It's not just about cramming as much as will fit into an X-minute speech; it's about making sure that your evidence says what you're saying it does and using information to make your argument stronger. I'm looking for claims, warrants, and impacts. I will vote on impacts, so make sure you extend them. ***Trigger warnings are not enough; you need to have a non-explicit case that you can run.***

I'm not a strict flow judge, but I am tracking all the arguments. If questions are raised in rounds that are a priori(need to be addressed prior to addressing the resolution), I'm paying special attention to how they're run and responded to; T and K are voters that, for me, always take precedence over case. RFDs will not be tech heavy.

Clash is important! Rounds where the sides talk past each other and don’t engage with the arguments of the other side are not good rounds

Tell me why you should get the ballot in all post-constructive speeches. Make your case for why you win the round. But please do not tell me that I have an ethical obligation to vote a certain way, unless you're giving me the ethical paradigm from which you want me to vote. Otherwise, the phrase "you have an ethical obligation to vote for us" means nothing. Ethics and morals are not the same thing, so please don't conflate them. Morals are an appeal to shared values, while an ethic is simply a way of being in the world. Knowing how to make these arguments successfully will make you better debaters.

While I am an old school policy debater, my doctoral studies were continental philosophy, critical theory, cultural theory, and social ethics. Bring on your critical arguments! I love critical argumentation in both LD and Policy when it's done well. I welcome it in PF, too. I expect students to understand the theory that underlies their critical arguments, as that is the only way to successfully defend arguments of that kind. My decisions in many rounds come down to a priori questions to the resolution, especially Ks.

Speed, in and of itself, is not a problem; speed without clarity is. If I can't understand you, I will say “Clear” once. Slow down and enunciate. If I still cannot understand you, it's an issue that will impact speaker points. Please slow on your tags and citations.

This is the single best advice I can give you if I am your judge: do not conflate ethics and morals. An ethic is a way of being in the world; it does not require morals. Morals, conversely, are principles by which one lives one’s life. While many ethics include morals as part of their structure, ethics and morals aren’t the same thing. If you’re making a moral appeal argument, you need to tell me what the morals to which you’re appealing are and why they’re important. If you’re making an ethical argument, you need to tell me what the ethical framework is that I should use. Otherwise, telling me that I have an ethical or moral obligation to vote in a particular way means nothing; you need to give me the framework or the values you want me to use to evaluate the round. When you don’t, it means that I am using my own ethical or moral framework to evaluate rounds and, because no two people have the exact same ethic (way of being in the world), it lowers the persuasiveness of your argument.

PF-Specific Preferences:
Evidence ethics matter!!! DO NOT PARAPHRASE IN FRONT OF ME. Read the actual card. It doesn't take any longer to read the card than it does to paraphrase it. There are no excuses for not reading the actual card. If you take longer than a minute to provide a card that's called, I will strike it from the flow. If the card is called and you were paraphrasing it, I reserve the right to drop you, especially if there are any discrepancies between what you said and what the source says. Critical arguments are always welcome, but make sure you can prove a violation if you’re running T or a norms violation (disclosure, trigger warning, spreading, etc).

SPEECH
I’ve coached every NSDA category and regularly judge them. There are a couple big things that I’m looking for when I judge a speech round.

1) Performance: Can I hear you? Do your movements make sense? Are you comfortable with the material? Do you wait for the judge before beginning? Does entire performance fit with the material? How well do you perform or present your piece? Are you off book? Do you speak with confidence and authority?

2) Category specific things: For interp generally, I pay close attention to transitions, pops, and character work. Are they clean? Are they distinct physically and vocally? Getting those to a point where they’re clean is a huge hurdle, but one that matters.

In humor, do the jokes land? Are they told well? Does the performance include pauses after jokes that elicit a laugh? Do you know what your laugh lines are? Is the piece funny? Are you relying on racial/ethnic, gender, or other stereotypes for comedic effect? (If you do, you'll rank last!)

TRAUMA FOR THE SAKE OF DRAMA IS NOT OKAY! There is no reason for the details of an assault to be included in a piece or portrayed during a performance. Trigger warnings must be delivered properly; if I am your judge and your piece needs a trigger warning, please communicate that to me prior to the start of the round. I will take care of alerting the room and allowing time and space for people to take care of themselves. Do NOT turn the trigger warning into a performative action that does not allow time and space for people to take care of themselves.

In POI, I’m looking for a cohesive piece that has a clear narrative arc throughout it. Do the piece selections fit with each other? Is each piece identifiable? In other words, can I tell when you’re popping between pieces? Does the theme carry through? Have the cuttings been done well?

In Info, OO, and other student-written categories, does the text make sense? How well written is the piece? Does it succeed in being interesting and engaging? In an OO round, is the speech persuasive or is it dramatic? Does the solutions fit the problem? And in an Info round, is it an informative speech or is it persuasive? I want persuasion in OO and informative in Info.

For extemp, I want to see both an understanding of the prompt and an understanding of the arguments advanced. Are arguments complete (claim, warrant, impact) or are they missing a piece? Does the argument have ground? Is the question closely tied to the arguments made by the student? Impact out your evidence!

3) Category requirements: do the piece and its performance adhere to the NSDA rules or the operative rules for a tournament? If you’re not sure what they are, you can find that information on the NSDA website or the tournament website (NSDA rules are used widely, so start there).

4) Respect and collegiality: do you treat everyone with respect? Are you on your phone or engaged in watching your peers? Put simply: don’t be a jerk. No one likes a jerk. If you’re disrespectful in a round, it will impact your ranking.

Make my ranking decisions hard for me! The best rounds are the ones where I have a hard time figuring out how to rank you.

FULL PARADIGM CAN BE FOUND HERE! This page is meant to be something you can read right before round and get a general idea of what's up

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Bullies get dropped

If your argument needs a trigger warning, either ask before the round S T A R T S or don’t read it. Don't say mid speech "trigger warning!" because judges cannot just up and leave a round the same way you can, and you're not actually giving any students time to react. I think like 90% of tw are super performative and framed as “imma read this, deal w it”

www.ImpactInstituteDebate.com

@Impact.Institute_ on Instagram for 100% free, high quality, virtual Congressional Debate resources.

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Any pronouns work, but do not call me mister

Congress 2016-2019 for Eagan High School in MN, traveled a little bit but certainly wasn't a circuit kid

Congress coach 2019-present at Armstrong and Cooper High Schools in MN

Parli (NPDA) for the University of Minnesota 19-20, 20-21 (I read topical affs and cap/ableism on neg)

PNW CARD Debate for 1 semester (closed research packet, but I loved sliding in Marxist lenses)

Congress judge first, but pls don’t assume I'm not a "debate" judge :)

Overall, I prefer chess over checkers. But both are valuable games!

Email chain or questions/critiques/whatever AFTER the round: Davi3736@umn.edu

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LD:

-Ask before you spread. I probs can't understand your spreading, I'll clear/slow you until I can, but 70% is a decent starting point

-Not flowing off a speech doc but pls share it w me

-Tech>everything: I used to say “except for xyz” but instead, just be a good debater. I’ll vote for stupidity idc. However, “get good” is probably an able normative response to “speed bad” so b careful w ur language. Wipeout, war good, dedev, truth>tech, idc just say it w your chest and let it rip.

-Judge instruction is my fav part abt this activity, followed by conceding fwk, followed by turns of any kind

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Congress:

#AbolishPOs (don’t worry I still rank y’all)

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Congress: I like to see that you know the game of Congress so if I can tell that you're strategizing (internally, with others in the room, with teammates) I'm gonna be happy. I like debaters that debate. Sounding pretty is good but giving rebuttals and avoiding giving constructive speeches in the middle of the legislation are even better. You should have enough evidence or common sense to speak on either side of the legislation at any point, wasting recesses to write speeches or chide others for not being ready (while you're not offering to speak either) will be criticized.

Public Forum: Give me voters in summary and final focus or give me death! I am a logic-chain judge; if your arguments require me to suspend disbelief or ignore reality then expect them to be dropped from the flow. Behavior within the round matters just as much as performance so please do not be rude to your partner or competitors and try to maintain professionalism for the sake of an efficient round. Speeches that matter the most to me are rebuttals so an organized rebuttal that responds to as much of the competitors case as possible will positively impact my vote overall.

When I judge Congress, not only am I looking for arguments (claim/warrant/data/impact), I am looking at the quality of your presentation. Speech still applies to Debate. I look for a confident, passionate persuasive speech that asks us to affirm or negate. As a session progresses, I look to see follow up speeches that draw in other supporting Senators/Representatives, as well as refuting the opposition - including being presented more extemporaneously. If the topic makes you angry or frustrated, I want to see and hear that. If it makes you happy or satisfied, I want to see that, too. For Q&A blocks, I expect to see the level of prep that anticipates what others will ask after your speech. I look for confident, crisp answers. Thank you.

Congress:

-Remember this is congressional debate, not a speech event. That means I will mark down speeches that repeat what the last speaker on your side said. If your points are similar to ones mentioned before, however, show why yours goes into more depth!

-Be active in the chamber. Respond to any and all speakers whose arguments conflict with your own. The author/sponsorship in addition to first negative speeches are obviously exempt from this rule because you should be laying down the substance of your side (although I am impressed when you anticipate potential opposing arguments and show why they shouldn't be considered).

-When responding to other speakers, please be respectful and do your best to pronounce names correctly. Write ALL names down phonetically once they pronounce it so you don't have to rack your brain to remember what the name was or how to pronounce it. Also don't say "a previous representative..." that's lame.

-Don't try to be funny, it feels forced. If it's natural, it's natural, but never think you have to be funny to get me to listen to your speech!

-I do love sass and sarcasm so I will laugh in the middle of direct questioning even if nobody else does. HOWEVER, sass and sarcasm should not be used excessively to put someone down, I can tell when you're not being lighthearted with it. On that note, please don't make puns out of someone else's name, that's rude. Actually, don't make puns at all.

-If there is a one sided debate, please, for the love of parliamentary procedure, do not call for a "five minute in-house recess," you all should be adequately prepared. Here's a tip- if you need to flip sides, find a way to flow your impacts to the opposite side. Your opponents do this all the time to your impacts and this way it's not that different of a speech and you are more familiar with the content. And, trust me, I will notice when you stand up for the opposite side. It will be much appreciated.

-Ask a lot of questions, but please don't throw softballs like "do you think this bill is good?", there are questions like these all the time coated in different words but I can tell it's just as surface-level

-QUALITY OVER QUANTITY. Never feel forced to speak. If you think that you need to give an additional speech, make sure it's good. If it's bad, it will be the last thing I remember you by. One time, I once gave a student a "7" even though she only spoke once between two sessions. Quality matters!

-If I'm a parli, I will keep a running rank of your performance round by round and will determine my ranking based on your average. If there is a tie in averages, I will consider the most recent session, whether or not you have presided, and, if all else fails, affirmative action to break the tie (most applicable when there is more than one student that hasn't spoken and I am expected to rank all students).

P.O. Evaluations:

-I understand if they are going over-time that you will "gavel them down" but if your default gavel tap is 1,0000 decibels, it will not be appreciated (especially if I'm your parli)

-Never P.O. to get out of speaking, I can tell. In reality, a good P.O. should be doing more work than when they are speaking because they should always be paying attention

-Study parli pro until it becomes natural please. Look at the NSDA sheet, Quizlet, whatever works

-Know at the beginning of the session (based on the number of students in the room) how many votes will get you 2/3, how many for 1/3, and how many for majority.

-If you choose "whoever stands/ whoever I see first" to determine speaking order, you will be marked down. This may seem like a decent, arbitrary system, until you notice only the students that jump out of their seats get called. Plus, proximity tells me your line of sight will be whoever is closer to you and nearest the center.

-Know your "procedural speech" so we can start as soon as you get elected, and you can give the speech while setting up.

Public Forum:

-I expect copious evidence and argument deduction to make it clear to me who is winning.

-"Off-time roadmaps" are lame. Do it on your time, it takes three seconds. In reality, your signposting should be good enough that you won't need it.

-I will raise my fist when time has elapsed. Finish your sentence and give a concluding statement, such as "thus, we negate"

-I will hold up a hand if you are going too fast

-Speaker points are not just based on presentation. It is based on fluency, structure, signposting, clarity, analysis, and RESPECT! If I couldn't understand what you were saying and you ignore my signals to slow down, you will get a 26 because clarity is a prerequisite to almost everything else. If you ever put down your opponents, yell at them, or anything of the sort, you will get a 25. This doesn't mean you will lose the debate, it just means you are not a respectful debater.

Constructive speech:

-Try not to go ridiculous with the number of contentions nor sub-points.

-Lots of evidence please, and explain why it matters even if it's "implied," either CEWI or CWEI format for each point- your impacts should always be last. Enunciate and give vocal variation to emphasize what is really important (*cough* impacts).

Rebuttals:

-Evidence!!!!

-Cover everything; contentions, sub-points, and framework. I don't expect an article for everything on the opposition because that would be a little suspicious, but at least outweigh or frame the argument.

-You don't need to "go back to your own speech," defensiveness is lame. The best defense is attack. I got it down on my flow already thanks.

Summary:

- This is a summary, not a rebuttal speech at half the time. Narrow it down to the voters please. Only then should you go back to your constructive and show why each voter is supported by your side, not theirs. You respond to rebuttal arguments here.

Final Focus:

-Tell me a story of the debate. Show where the voters started on your side, where your opponents tried to pull them to their side, and conclude why their reasoning is flawed. More framework here than in summary,

Cross-X's:

-Please be nice.

-If you're PRO, just ask the first question, you don't need permission.

-Be prepared with questions so you're not floundering around in awkward silence while there's a cross.

-Clarifications are ok! Use CX to your advantage if you want more material for the next speech.

LD:

-I have never judged an LD round, but that doesn't mean I can't declare a winner. I am qualified to judge any debate so if you expect your side only to win with those that "get LD," that's a problem and you should make it very easy to follow so that even a speech coach could tell you're wining.

I come from a circuit LD background, BUT I have not judged on the circuit in several years.

Debated LD for Apple Valley High School for four years, class of '09.
Worked at various summer institutes from 2009-2014.

I have not flowed speed in awhile, and wasn't that great with it to begin with, so proceed with caution. I will yell clear once. Slow down for tags and author names.

I strongly prefer debates centered around the topic as a question of comparative worlds/ policymaking, ideally rooted in good evidence from the topic literature. If you are choosing to approach the topic differently, the burden of responsibility is on you to explain and clearly develop your ballot story. I won't vote for anything that I don't understand, or if I don't understand the function of the argument within the round.

Don't be tricky or shady.

I have a fairly high threshold for what constitutes a complete extension-- make sure that you're re-explaining a developed and warranted link story in your rebuttals.

I am willing to listen to theory debates, but I am not excited about it and prefer to see theory used as a check on actual abuse. Be very explicit in terms of the function of your theory arguments. I am frankly not particularly interested in spending my free time thinking about all of the nuances of various theory debate norms and practices, so make arguments about how I should evaluate things rather than making assumptions about how I ought to be doing it.

The things we say in debate rounds matter. I can't stand rudeness, and I will drop you if you run offensive arguments. I will not accept advocacies or frameworks (that the debater admits) say that suffering, genocide, etc. are good.

Be nice to one another. Be smart. If you have any specific questions feel free to ask before the round. Good luck!

Hi! I was a public forum debater from Eagan, MN and debated PF for four years.

TLDR; To win my ballot win on the warrants, narrative, and flow. To get good speaker points, be respectful. *Please* don’t run any theory in round, this is public forum.

Here are my preferences in round:

1. Be nice. I absolutely hate when debaters are super aggressive, it's unnecessary in my opinion.

2. Reference your flow! This is extremely important, in every speech after constructive. In your speech, make sure you tell me exactly which contention, argument, or card you are referencing. Remember, my flow will contain only what you tell me.

3. I am okay with a little speed, but make sure that it isn’t as fast as a policy round.

4. Don’t paraphrase evidence. Always cite each piece of evidence you read (author, qualifications, and date), and make sure you have access to the full article. If evidence isn’t provided when asked, I will not weigh it.

5. I weigh evidence over logic, but you can use logic to de-link evidence.

6. You should extend terminal defense in the first summary, and should collapse to voters in both summaries. These voters should be repeated in final focus. Create a narrative and extend it. Tell me exactly why I should vote for you.

7. WEIGH. “Prefer this because…”. Make sure to respond to clash. Debates without clash aren’t fun for anybody, especially the judge.

8. If you're racist, sexist, or bigoted in any way... your speaking points? They'll reflect your low behavior.

9. Feel free to ask me questions before round!

Speaker point breakdown:

30-29 - pretty good

28-27 - could be better but good

26 - there's some improvement to be had

Hello! My name is Calvin McMahon. I am one of the LD debate coaches at Wayzata High School. Before coaching at Wayzata, I debated LD at Champlin Park High School for five years and served as a volunteer instructor at the Minnesota Debate Institute for four years. Just writing this paradigm to lay out a few preferences:

• First and foremost, The style of debate and argumentation that is most comfortable to you is probably the style you should use in a round. Twisting yourself into knots to appease a judge is generally a bad idea.

• No need to include me on any email chains!

• Yes I can handle speed/spreading, but in general, the faster you read, the less persuasive I find you. Slower speaking gives me more space to process your arguments emotionally.

• No, I will not tell you to slow down in a round.

• I will not inherently vote against theory, but my burden of proof on those arguments is high, Especially on disclosure theory, which I think should only apply where undeniable issues of equity exist.

• I will not inherently vote against a K but I ask that you as a debater engage in these issues of social justice in good faith as opposed to using them as a cudgel to surprise opponents.

• I will not inherently vote against plans/counter-plans, but I believe that 90% of them could just be normal cases and are needlessly confusing as they are.

• I don't care if you sit or stand.

• If you think you can use your opponent's framework, you probably should.

• Most importantly, always be as kind and courteous to your opponent as possible. Do not laugh at them. Use the correct pronouns. Err on the side of caution when cutting them off in cx.

Hey! My name is Sam Padmanabhan (he/him/his) and I've been in and out of the speech and debate scene in the Upper Midwest for the better part of the last decade. I've competed in and coached most PA and debate events (my main events were Oratory, Congress, IX/USX, and PF).

Email: samuelpadmanabhan@gmail.com

General Debate Things

- Evidence ethics is super important. Don't fabricate or misrepresent evidence

- Be respectful at all times. Any language or arguments that is/are hurtful or hateful (ableist, racist, transphobic, homophobic, etc.) will get you the 20 L or bottom rank. On this note, I don’t mind a little bit of snark but being disrespectful/rude is never okay.

- Be smart → don’t just repeat meaningless cards. I want to see smart analytics that show you understand what you’re saying (this goes for all debate formats)

- Have fun! Debate should be fun :)

Congress

- Top ranks will always go to the students who move the debate forward

- Speeches: quality over quantity

- Presentation is important but argumentation is more important

- Cite complete sources → Author, Publication, Month, Year. Also be cognizant of source quality. I want to see expert analysis, empirical data, etc.

- POs should make the round feel seamless. The ideal PO runs the chamber so well that I don't even know they're there. I will rank good POs very well.

- I need to see clash. People often mischaracterize Congress as a speech event; this is not true. Congress is debate so I need to see clash, refutation, clear interaction between arguments. Especially if you give a later cycle speech, make sure you’re engaging with what’s been said in the round (either by refuting it or crystallizing the issues). New arguments in the 4th or 5th cycle won’t help you. When doing refutation, the preferred style is line by line OR picking the major arguments and arguing at the warrant level.

*Simply offering competing evidence or analytics is not a refutation. Show me why I buy your argument MORE THAN the opposing side*

- Play the game. As a judge and former competitor, I’m observing how you conduct yourself at all times. Getting my top ranks can only happen if you engage in the chamber the entire session. Ask questions, give speeches, make motions. Show me you want to be there.

- Never ever break cycle in front of me. If you give the speech that breaks the cycle, it’s pretty much an automatic 9. I’m expecting preparedness and breaking cycle is a sign you aren’t prepared. Showing up to debate PF with only an Aff case prepared wouldn’t be acceptable so why should it be acceptable in Congress?

- ^That being said, if you save the chamber from breaking cycle, this will give you a major boost. My bar will lower (slightly but still lower) for impromptu speeches that keep the cycle intact

- Don’t waste questioning time by: asking softballs (especially in Varsity), asking only one question, yelling, making statements and not questions, etc.

- The easiest path to my ballot: speak often, play the game, be smart.

Since my program only competes in Congress at the moment, I likely won't be judging PF or LD. If I am judging you in one of these formats, read the below headings. That being said, I'm pretty tabula rasa so just debate how you debate and I will do my best to judge accordingly.

LD (never competed but I have a working knowledge of LD and I've judged it a bit so here are some of my preferences)

- I'm good with speed

- I enjoy a good theory debate but make sure to prove the violation and the interpretation (just spamming buzzwords is not enough here)

- I'm good with Ks as well but make sure the K links in with the argument being made (see above parentheses)

PF (familiar enough with MN and circuit style PF)

- Tech over truth. I'm more flow than lay but persuasiveness is still important

- Don't extend through the ink --> tell me why I prefer your analysis more than your opponent's

- I won't call for cards unless explicitly asked to in round or if there is a major controversy over evidence (avoid these problems by maintaining high evidence ethics)

- Speed is fine but if I can't understand you, it's not ending up on my flow

- Clear signposting is a must

- Give me clear voters and make sure you weigh

- Smart analytics + good evidence >>> just evidence

- Source citations: author + qualifications + publication + month + year (i.e. Dr. Daniel Byman of Georgetown University writing for the Brookings Institution in December 2017)

- The warrant level debate is key

- Notes on Progressive Argumentation: My thoughts on progressive argumentation have really changed over the years. I do see the importance for it in the debate space and thus, if progressive arguments (K's, Theory, CPs, etc.) are run, I will evaluate them. In PF, I don't enjoy seeing progressive args as much but I will still evaluate. That being said, please don't use progressive args purely as a tactical move. If I catch you doing this, it will result in the 20 L. In order to get me to properly evaluate progressive args, you need to prove the connection to the arguments being made (i.e. prove the link to the arg with Ks, the violation and the interps with theory, etc.) --> as long as they are clear/substantiated, I'm willing to listen and evaluate.

Hello, I'm Mark. I debated in PF and Congress for East Ridge, and have been judging since 2017.

If you read nothing else: be respectful to one another. You will not win if you are not kind.

I judge based on the evidence and arguments presented in the round. That means if your opponents argue that the sky is green, and you don't question them or their evidence, then the sky is green.

It is the job of every competitor in the room to keep the debate evidence-focused. If a team introduces evidence that is found to be outright falsified, the round ends in a loss for that team and a discussion between myself and their coach. It is every competitor's responsibility to ensure your teammates and your opponents are properly using evidence.

Things I like in debate:

- Clear frameworks. This is how I will vote, and usually means defining key parts of the resolution and presenting a weighing mechanism.
- Weighed impacts. How do your impacts stack up against your opponents'? Tell me explicitly, especially in summary and final focus.
- Organized arguments. Signpost. I can better keep track of organized arguments, helping you win.
- Critical thinking. Point out logical inconsistencies, make sure your opponents aren't misrepresenting evidence, etc.
- Unique arguments. As long as your evidence and logic are solid, these can be fun. Make sure they're in the scope of the resolution.

Things I don't like in debate:

- Non-topical arguments. Sometimes called "Kritics," these do not fly with me. You have a resolution, debate it.
- Shot-gunning evidence. One good source is always worth more than a dozen poor sources.
- Argument spreading. As above, one solid argument is always better than many shaky ones.
- Talking too fast. Slow down. There is no need to yell. If I can write down everything you say you'll be better off.
- New arguments after rebuttals. I may consider new evidence if you are asked for it, but brand-new arguments won't be considered.
- Falsifying evidence.

Feel free to ask me any questions you have before or after the round. We are here to grow and learn new skills.

Lastly, good luck and have fun :)

In Congressional Debate, I am a big proponent of a well structured speech that includes a thesis and preview of your points. It goes along way to help me score your speech when I have a roadmap. I will be looking for CLAIM, WARRANT, and IMPACT each time. Please have cited evidence to support your claim but also provide real-world impact for your argument so it shows that it matters. Anything else will sound just like an opinion speech.

I believe that being a clear, concise speaker is integral part of Congressional Debate. I prefer quality speeches over the number of speeches given.

I value clash and non-repetition. Avoid rehashing the same arguments and please refute the points of specific representatives and show how you differ by pointing out specific arguments. I want to hear the debate advance and not get stuck on the same point. I will lose interest no matter how well-spoken of a speaker you are.

Be clear and concise during the question and answer period. Above all, be respectful and kind to each other during this process.

I expect the P.O. to be fair administering the parliamentary procedures. Make sure you call on people fairly. I will be understanding when it comes to other procedures that arise and it can be a tough task.

I expect professionalism and proper decorum throughout the session. No bigotry or disrespect of your fellow representatives will be tolerated.

Have fun and make it an enjoyable round! Stand out and give unique arguments. Be passionate and confident because that will come through and make me more engaged.

I am a head debate coach at East Ridge High School in Minnesota with 10 years of debate under my belt and 15+ years of speech coaching / judging experience as well. I love both activities, and I love seeing creative / unique approaches to them. I've sent several students to Nationals in both speech and debate categories for the past several years.

In 'real life' I'm an intellectual property attorney. I love good arguments in all types of debate. But I will NOT make logic jumps for you. You need to do the legwork and lay out the argument for me, step by step. I LOVE legal arguments, but most of all I love a good Story. Frame your arguments for me. Make the impacts CLEAR. (e.g. in PF / LD - WEIGH them.) Tell me how and why to write my ballot for you and I probably will!

Voting Values
I vote on topicality in any type of debate that I judge. If your arguments are non-topical, and you get called on it, they will be struck from my flow. Everyone got the same resolution / bills, that's what I want to hear arguments about.

I am NOT a fan of Kritiks - you got the resolution ahead of time. Debate it.

SPEED

THIS IS A COMMUNICATION ACTIVITY. Your goal is to effectively communicate your arguments to me. If you are talking too fast to be intelligible, you are not effectively communicating.

If you make my hand cramp taking notes, I'll be crabby. I am a visual person and my notes are how I will judge the round. If I miss an argument because you were talking at light speed, that's your fault, not mine! :)

Attitude / Aggressiveness

100%, above all, you are human beings and citizens of the world. I expect you to act like it. I HATE rudeness or offensive behavior in any debate format. Be kind, be inclusive. By all means, be aggressive, but don't be rude.

Public Forum: I am a huge framework fan. You have the evidence, frame the story for me. If you give me a framework and explain why, under that framework, your evidence means I vote for you, I will. Don't make me do summersaults to get to a decision. If only one team gives me a framework, that's what I'll use.

Re: Summary / FF - I expect the debate to condense in the summary / final focus - and I expect you to condense the story accordingly. Look for places to cross-apply. I do need arguments to extend through every speech to vote for them - but I do not expect you to reiterate all evidence / analysis. Summarizing and weighing is fine for me.
WEIGH arguments for me. Especially if we're talking apples and oranges - are we comparing money to lives? Is there a Risk-Magnitude question I should be considering?

Re: new arguments in GC/FF - I won't weigh new ARGUMENTS, but I will consider new EVIDENCE / extensions.

Re: Argument / Style - I'm here to weigh your arguments. Style is only important to the extent you are understandable.

I generally don't buy nuclear war arguments. I don't believe any rational actor gets to nuclear war. I'll give you nuclear miscalc or accident, but it's a HIGH burden to convince me two heads of state will launch multiple warheads on purpose.

Lincoln-Douglas: If you give me a V/C pairing, I expect you to tie your arguments back to them. If your arguments don't tie back to your own V/C, I won't understand their purpose. This is a values debate. Justify the value that you choose, and then explain why your points best support your value.

Congress: This is debate. Beautiful speeches, alone, belong in Speech categories. I expect to see that you can speak well, but I am not thrilled to listen to the same argument presented three times. I expect to see clash, I expect to see good Q&A. I love good rebuttal / crystallization speeches.

I DO rank successful POs - without good POs, there is no good Congressional Debate. If you PO well in front of me, you will be ranked well.

World Schools: This actually is my favorite form of debate. I want to see respectful debate, good use of POIs, and organized content. I've judge WSD at Nationals for the last several years and I do adhere to the WSD norms. Please do not give me "regular debate" speed - I want understandable, clear speeches.

Amanda Soczynski’s Judge Philosophy

A little about myself; I have been involved with forensics for 19 years as a student, judge, and coach. I am currently in my 8th year as the congressional debate coach at Edina High School. My background was originally in speech where I competed and coached. In High School, I learned policy debate as a class rather than competition on a local level, so I competed but not in a typical local circuit. I have been judging debate for the last 13 years, in all categories. I judged CX for the first 5 years and the last 7 years in LD, PF and mostly Congress. I graduated with a Mass Communications degree from University of Minnesota School of Journalism and a J.D. graduate from William Mitchell College of law in 2014. I work at Thomson Reuters on legal software & research, as a content expert. I really love congress, watching, coaching. I always try to strive to do my best! If you have questions, don't hesitate to ask. My goal is always to be an educator and help you succeed!

If for some reason my parli notes don't end up in your results packet, email me at amandasoc@gmail.com or amanda.soczynski@edinaschools.org. I will send you my google doc. I parli a lot and I always take lots and lots of notes and try to give RFD's when I can. If you don't get the link. Please ask, I put a lot of work into them. ????

I have a congress paradigm and CX,LD,PF one included in here.

Evidence / Citations / Warrants for all categories: *note - Statista is not a source, it's like Wikipedia, it's a congregation website not actually doing any of the studies that are on there. If you copy and paste the title of the stat you're looking at it will likely take you to the original source. Also the little (i) icon often will tell you where it can from. DON'T USE STATISTA as a source with me. I am a professional researcher by trade, so I care about citations! They matter and if they are from a source I don't know or if they're suspicious to me, I will google them.

Congress Paradigm:

General:

One thing to remember - judging congress is hard! It's just as exhausting for us as it is for you. We're trying really hard to compare a lot of people who have vastly different styles! I try to write as much as I can, but I spend a lot of time listening, so sometimes my comments can be lite at times. I'm working on that, the three mins go so fast. I'm hoping this will help shed some light on how I evaluate debaters.

When it comes to national level tournaments, at this point, almost everyone is a proficient speaker, so I really focus on the quality of arguments and ability to be flexible in round. Being a well rounded debater is important for me, especially as a Parli. I want to see a variety of type of speeches, and ability to switch sides, and flex to what the round demands. Make sure you are listening and not rehashing, if you're doing a rebuttal make sure you are extending or further attacking an argument.

I REALLY APPRECIATE A GOOD AUTHORSHIP OR SPONSORSHIP. Nothing is worse than judging or watching a semi-final round where there is no first aff, and having to take an in house recess immediately. Come prepared, have one. Spend the rest of your time doing great questions and defending your position there. I feel like people don't like to do this because they feel like they will be dropped. Rebuttals and Crystals are great, but there's a lot of them. If you can do this well, we'll know. It comes with the most amount of questioning time that if you know a lot about the topic you can show boat.

Linking: This is a debate skill you should have, you should able to link your impacts with others, link arguments together for rebuttal. Most national level congress debaters are great at linking within their own argument, but make sure you link and contextualize to the round. I want to see that they go together rather be a stand alone. That being said, contextualizing by: "I want to separate myself from the other AFF or NEG arguments", that's okay because you are still contextualizing within the round. Do not operate as an island in the debate, it's a good way to be dropped by me. Also remember, you can have great speeches, but if you don't ask questions, you're going to find your way to the middle of my ballot. It's a crucial part of debate.

Impacting:

THIS IS SO IMPORTANT. Again, at the national level, most people can impact to lives or economy etc. But what I find people aren't as good, is contextualizing the impact. Example: You tell me that thousands of lives are being lost in Yemen, take it one step further tell me what percentage of that population is being killed, or how that compares to another genocide for context. Make it hit home for all of us. Just giving generic #'s, sure it's the impact, but it doesn't show me the impact. Make sense? Remember I come from a policy background where pretty much everything leads to nuclear war.

Questioning:

Direct questioning is great, but make sure you're not too long winded or too brief, there's a nice sweet spot, where you have maybe a sentence or two question and answer. I've seen people basically run out the time by doing a really long answer, and I've also seen debaters ask such long questions that there's no way the opponent can answer. You only have 30 seconds, make it count.

Participation in Round:

Leadership is important. Remember, I'm comparing a lot of kids, participation with motioning and making sure that all students get to talk is important. This can help make up for bad presidency etc.

PO:

I almost always rank P.O.s in the top 5. It's a hard job, and as a parli, we appreciate good POs. A good way to get to the top 1/2 of my ballot as a PO. The round runs so smoothly I barely know you're there. You are able to solve issues of people not being prepared / docket issues. (This happens so often, time restrictions make things complicated. Especially since lots of tournaments have their own rules).

Mistakes happen, one mistake is not going to tank you. Continuous mistakes, or failing to help chamber resolve issues. This makes it harder. Fairness is also important, I notice when you pick your teammates repeatedly or if you always start in the middle of the room.

Inclusiveness - especially on the local circuit. I don't like parliamentary procedure used to limit people talking. It is also important to encourage those who haven't talked to go. Do your best to make sure the chamber is inclusive.

DON'T ALWAYS PICK YOUR FRIENDS FIRST. I know this happens. And it's easier to pick up than you think it is. Presidency means a lot in congress. Make it fair.

There's a reason I love coaching congress, it's a fun event!

CX/LD/PF Paradigm

General: As I’ve previously mentioned I come from a legal background. I am a “big picture” judge. I do appreciate the attention to detail, however, I don't like when it devolves into a debate that’s myopically focused on one thing. Make sure you take the time, especially in rebuttals to do a “birds eye view” of the debate. Remember, the rebuttal is the last time I hear from you before I make a decision, make it count. I appreciate good crossfire, and cross ex, specifically using information obtained in these for an argument.

Topicality: I like topicality, especially in varsity level debate. I think it makes a for a boring debate to have a non-topical aff. So it’s a pretty garden variety argument for the neg to make.

Critical Arguments: As I wasn’t a debater in high school, I don’t have the technical experience dealing with these arguments, however, I don’t mind critical affs on-face. Since I don’t have the technical experience, I appreciate all critical arguments to be understandable and explained properly. I catch on to arguments quickly, however I loathe having to have to fill in the gaps of an argument because its poorly argued. Make it logical, make it understandable. I generally dislike affs that are anti-topical or affs that critique the topic. I’m not saying I’ll never vote for a critical aff, whiteness aff, performance aff’s, etc, but its the one area where an affirmative is asking the most out of me as a judge. Again, I have less experience with these types of aff’s so extra explanation of sources and philosophies. For kritiks from the negative, I prefer ones that are topic-specific rather than K’s that are broad or philosophical. I’m pretty familiar at this point with cap k, neolib, fem, eco-k, anything outside of these again you’ll have to communicate more effectively as it is a bigger burden for me to decipher.

Theory: I don’t have the background in this, so this won’t be very successful with me as a judge. I overall prefer substantive arguments over theoretical or procedural arguments. My training in law, and my work, deals almost exclusively with substantive arguments, so I tend to prefer and understand those better. If you do decide to go this route, it must be very well done. My flow can’t be muddy, and the explanation must be very logical and understandable.

Speed: I have no problem with speed. I do ask two things. 1. Slow down enough on the tags so that I can understand them 2. Make your tags count. I dislike deciphering poor tags that do not tell me anything about the evidence. Keep tags like 5-8 words, long tags suck.

Post Round Discussion: Please be respectful, I don’t appreciate a “shake down” when I’m explaining my decision. I don’t do speaker points till after the round is over and all the debaters have left the room and I take decorum into account. I am a bit of a non-traditional judge and I do make a concerted effort to bring up constructive criticism and positive comments. Please take these comments as an opportunity to learn!

I look for about 50% content, 50% presentation. Show me passion and confidence and have facts to back up your argument and you'll do well :)

LD:

I competed in LD for four years in high school, and coached/judged LD in Minnesota from 2010 - 2021.

In a round, I prefer to vote based on offense that links to the winning criterion and outweighs the other side.

Speed is fine with me, but I will only say clear once then I will stop flowing.

I am fine with any position as long as it is well warranted and explained.

Treat one another with respect. I will call out and not vote on harmful arguments.

PF:

I coached/judged PF regularly from 2010-2021.

Only read a standard if it serves a purpose. I come from LD and don't think standards are ever run well in PF.

I prefer to vote on weighed offense.

Treat one another with respect. I will call out and not vote on harmful arguments.