The Dowling Catholic Paradigm
2019 — West Des Moines, IA/US
Public Forum Paradigm List
All Paradigms: Show HideI have been a coach the last 4 years, however, consider me a lay judge. I prefer clear signposting and clear impacts. I appreciate good explanations and sound reasoning throughout. I value most well-structured cases, clear arguments, and explicit weighing.
For a rate of speech, I can keep up with a brisk pace, but if you are too fast, then I can't write down your points. Finally, I expect debaters to treat each other cordially and professionally.
Information about myself:
I competed in debate for four years at Watertown High School in South Dakota. I did a little policy, public forum, but my main focus was LD debate. I was the head coach at Tea Area School District for two years. I am currently an assistant debate coach for Watertown High School. Listed below are my paradigms for LD, Policy, and Public Forum Debate.
Note: If you have any other questions feel free to ask before the round but if you do ask I will wait to make sure everyone who will compete in the round is in there so no one has an unfair advantage.
LD Debate:
I am a very traditional LD judge in that I really enjoy Value/Criteria debate. Contentions should support your Value/Criteria and the resolution for your side. For voting my very first look is Value/Criteria and is either of the sides still standing or has the other side has shown me as the judge that they can uphold not only their own but also their opponents. In a closer round then I will go to the contention debate.
Value/Criteria-If someone completely ignores the Value/Criteria in their case or in the round then they will most likely lose the round as Value/Criteria is the most important part of LD debate for me.
Voting-When walking into each round of debate, no matter what, I go in with a clean slate and each round is a new round even if I have voted for one person over the other previously and they are facing each other again on the same side. I will only evaluate the round based on what I hear not what I know so do not assume I know.
Ballots-Each round I will also give my RFD (Reason for Decision), make sure you read this if you are wondering why I voted the way I did.
Timing-As the judge, I am the one who has an official time in the round. If you want to give me an off-the-clock road map please notify me (right away!) of this or else I will start the clock and it will count as part of your speech. I will give you 30-sec intervals (until it gets down to your last 30 seconds then I will give you 15, 10, 5) of prep time so you don’t need to ask what you have left and I will let you know of your time before I start and when I stop your prep time. With stopping your prep time, remember I have your official prep time so therefore what I have is what you have left of prep time(My pet peeve is when you tell me to stop prep time and/or tell me that you have X:XX left of prep time, so not don’t do this).
Cross-X-Make sure you ask relevant questions and be polite during cross-x but remember if you are asking the questions don’t let them take the time just rambling on about things that don’t matter if they answered your question. If they answered your question don’t be rude about moving on to your next question. I really like it when students say “Thank you but can I ask another one?”
Flowing/Speed-I flow everything in the round, including cross-x so remember what you and your opponent say because it could help or hurt you at the end of the round. I am not a fan of speed at all so make sure you go at a conversational speed so I can write it down.
Electronics-I know electronics are now a very familiar thing in debate but when someone asks for your case or evidence then you better have a way to share it with them either by flash drive (if they have a computer) or have it printed out for them to look at or you might have to give them your device. Also, I am okay with using your phone as a timer in the round.
Public Forum Debate:
Voters-If I get one from both sides then I weigh both frameworks and look at who achieved both frameworks. In the last speech for each team tell me why you won the debate and achieved the framework. If there is not a framework debate going on in the round then tell me what the voters are. If the Aff has 3 voters for the round and the Neg has 3 but only 2 are the same then I will look at those two to decide the round.
Voting-Voting-When walking into each round of debate, no matter what, I go in with a clean slate and each round is a new round even if I have voted for one person over the other previously and they are facing each other again on the same side. I will only evaluate the round based on what I hear not what I know so do not assume I know. If you leave it to me at the end of the round to decide who won round one if not both teams will be disappointed with the RFD. Tell me why I should vote for you and write the ballot for me.
Ballots-Each round I will also give my RFD (Reason for Decision), make sure you read this if you are wondering why I voted the way I did. I will tell you why I voted the way I voted, I will list each voter and framework, if it comes to it, and state why the team won or lost on each point. Again write the ballot for me.
Timing-As the judge, I am the one who has an official time in the round. If you want to give me an off-the-clock road map please notify me (right away!) of this or else I will start the clock and it will count as part of your speech. I will give you 30-sec intervals (until it gets down to your last 30 seconds then I will give you 15, 10, 5) of prep time so you don’t need to ask what you have left and I will let you know of your time before I start and when I stop your prep time. With stopping your prep time, remember I have your official prep time so therefore what I have is what you have left of prep time(My pet peeve is when you tell me to stop prep time and/or tell me that you have X:XX left of prep time, so not don’t do this).
Cross-Fire-Make sure you ask relevant questions and be polite during cross-fire but remember if you are asking the questions don’t let them take the time just rambling on about things that don’t matter if they answered your question. Also, I do not like just one person or team taking over the cross-fire time. If they answered your question don’t be rude about asking a follow-up. I really like it when students say “Thank you but can I ask another one?” Also the first two cross-fires, it is solo cross-fires and I don’t like team cross-fires (that is what Grand Cross-Fire is for). If you want to ask a question and your teammate is up there then give them the question on a piece of paper.
Flowing/Speed-I flow everything in the round, including cross-fire so remember what you and your opponent say because it could help or hurt you at the end of the round. Also since I flow everything, I am not a fan of speed at all so make sure you go at a conversational speed so I can write it down but I do not want you to go too slow.
Electronics-I know electronics are now a very familiar thing in debate but when someone asks for your case or evidence then you better have a way to share it with them either by flash drive (if they have a computer) or have it printed out for them to look at or you might have to give them your device if they ask for it. Also, I am okay with you using your phone as a timer in the round.
I debated all 4 years in highschool. I debated at Millard West High School in Omaha Nebraska. I competed at plenty of tournaments in Nebraska and the national circuit. I've competed at T.O.C, Blake, nationals, and was state champion in Nebraska in PF.
I EXPECT THE SECOND REBUTTAL TO COVER BOTH SIDES! By this I mean that the second rebuttal must attack their opponents case, and defend their own case from their attacks from the first rebuttal. IF THE SECOND TEAM DOES NOT DO THIS, AND THE FIRST TEAM POINTS IT OUT IN SUMMARY THEN THE SECOND TEAM AUTOMATICALLY LOSSES! In my eyes not covering both sides is dropping your case. You have dropped all your opponents attacks and therefore it is too late to cover them in second summary.
Also new evidence in second summary is ify especially if its a new point.
EVIDENCE IS A BIG DEAL TO ME. I WILL CALL FOR CARDS AFTER THE ROUND IF THEY ARE IMPORTANT OR WHERE HOTLY DEBATED IN ROUND. If the card is shady, has poor methodology, or has any problems I will most likely not consider the evidence.
I like real world examples, and cross-applying. Warrants and impacts must be likely and probable. Speaking I dont really care. I debated four years so I can handle speed. Summary is a summary sign post, summarize the points, and dont do a rebuttal part 2.
Most of my high school background is in public forum and congress. At the college level, I still compete in public forum and parliamentary.
I will typically always vote on impacts. So impact calc will be important.
I’ll probably ask you to flash me cases and evidence so I can follow easier.
Speed is cool with me, I just ask you don't go as fast during analysis as you would while reading cards.
Otherwise, I’m pretty easy going. Feel free to ask me questions before round for any other preferences.
Signposting is incredibly important.
I believe in quality of evidence over plethora of evidence.
This isn't a voting factor for me, but I value professionalism and persuasiveness.
Nebraska College of Law '24
University of Nebraska-Lincoln '20 (BA in History and Political Science)
4 year debater on NE circuit, this is my 6th year judging
she/her
Some preferences:
I am not a fan of speed.
Don't be rude. Being assertive is one thing, but being a jerk will hurt your speaker points
I don't write down author names, so don't just refer to your "Johnson" card
Signpost after constructive
Pleeeease have your cards/evidence readily available
***Debate needs be a safe and accessible environment, give trigger warnings. Do not commodify/weaponize sensitive subjects for the sake of winning, I will not weigh those arguments in your favor.
Argumentation/weighing:
I am fine with any type of argumentation you want to use
- but just an FYI, I am not super familiar with progressive PF
2nd speaking teams don't have to rebuild in rebuttal, but it probably would be advantageous to do so
I care the most about your warrants, so explain your links as clearly as possible. I hate seeing huge impacts with poor explanations as to why they happen
- so, please! don't ask me to extend your argument from a tagline
I rarely call for cards at the end of the round, flesh them out for me!
If the round is a total wash, I will presume neg
Most importantly: have fun and be respectful!
Add me on the email chain: nilu6060@gmail.com. Please send constructives at a minimum
Short Version
American Heritage School ‘19
Georgia Tech ‘22
Any offense in final focus needs to be in summary. First summary only needs to extend defense on arguments that were frontlined in second rebuttal. Second rebuttal should answer all offense on the flow.
Tech > truth
Long Version
Presumption:
- If you want me to vote on presumption, please tell me, or else I'll probably try to find some very minimal offense on the flow that you may consider nonexistent.
- I will default neg on presumption, but you can make an argument suggesting otherwise.
Extensions:
- The warrant and impact of an offensive argument must be extended in summary and final focus in order for me to evaluate it.
- Your extensions can be very quick for parts of the debate that are clearly conceded.
Weighing:
- Good weighing will usually win you my ballot and give you a speaker point boost, but please avoid:
1. Weighing that is not comparative
2. Weighing instead of adequately answering the defense on your arguments
3. Strength of link weighing - this is just another word for probability and sometimes probability weighing is just defense that should've been read in rebuttal
4. New weighing in second final focus that isn't responding to new weighing analysis from the first ff.
Evidence:
- I will read any evidence that is contested or key to my decision at the end of the round.
- I won't drop a team on miscut evidence unless theory is read. I will drop speaks and probably drop the argument unless there's a very good reason not to.
Speed:
- Go as fast as you want but I'd prefer it if you didn't spread.
- Don't sacrifice clarity for speed. If I can't understand it, it isn't on the flow.
Progressive Argumentation:
- I have a good understanding of theory and have voted on less conventional shells albeit my threshold for a response and your speaks could go down. Please read theory as soon as the violation occurs.
- I wouldn't trust myself to correctly evaluate a K. Most of the time I find myself thinking they don't really do anything. Read at your own risk and I will try my best to properly evaluate.
- If there are multiple layers of prog. (ie theory vs K vs random IVI) do some sort of weighing between them.
- I don't evaluate 30 speaks theory. I tend to believe disclosure is good, but won't intervene.
Other things:
- I think speaks are arbitrary, but humor helps, especially sarcasm.
- Paradigm issues not mentioned here are up for debate within the round
- Reading cards > paraphrasing, but paraphrasing is fine
- Postrounding is fine
- Preflow before the round start time
- I will not vote on explicitly oppressive arguments.
UPDATED for Milpitas 2023: I don't judge frequently anymore nor do I really know what the norms in the circuit are these days, but I'm down for whatever both teams agree on. Overall, please use common sense. I can probably comfortably flow up to around 275 wpm with clarity and signposting.
About Me: Debated PF and Parli for 3 years for Nueva, was ~tech~, I now coach for Potomac.
TLDR: Debate is a game, tech > truth. Debate however you would like as long as you are not being morally reprehensible or exclusionary. Ask before the round if you have specific questions and put me on the email chain even though I probably won't read anything (bncheng@uchicago.edu).
Super Short Version:
1. I am best at judging technical case debate (and probably enjoy it more) but I will adapt to you if you choose to pursue an alternative style. Speed/prog are both fine.
2. I prefer cut cards/direct quotes - you can paraphrase but don't misconstrue evidence. Don't be afraid to call out an opponent for evidence ethics.
3. I prefer that at a minimum you respond to all offensive arguments read in the previous speech. I won't necessarily consider arguments dropped, but I have a much higher threshold for responses if they come later.
Full Prefs:
1. WEIGHING: Probability weighing is not real - the link debate is the probability weighing.
- "cLaRiTY of Link/Impact" weighing is not also real. I will both not evaluate it and also drop your speaks each time you say it. A team does not win because their impact has a number.
- Please don't only drop buzzwords on me. Words like magnitude/scope/timeframe don't mean anything to me without actual comparison done between the arguments. Similarly, if different weighing arguments are unresolved PLEASE METAWEIGH.
2. EVIDENCE: All evidence needs to be cut with citations. Do not send your opponents a link I will give you a 25. I will call for cards if they are relevant and disputed without resolution.
- I will give you an L25 if I notice/your opponent points out misconstruction that is significant. How much I discount a piece of evidence increases linearly with how sketchy it is.
- I'm lazy and I don’t flow authors. So don’t just extend author names, extend warrants too because its good debate.
3. PROGRESSIVE: I have experience with most progressive arguments, but primarily in theory, I haven't really engaged with K debate since graduating so while I can probably still evaluate the debate, you'll want to slow down, simplify things, and do extra warranting (especially if it's anything nuanced i.e. not security or cap).
- I don't have any defaults - you need to read the arguments (yes this means K/Theory = Case if no a priori argument is read). If arguments necessary for the decision are not read I will intervene up to a threshold and then presume if unresolved.
- Please don't read stuff to harvest ballots against novices - use common sense. This also means that my threshold for "we can't engage" responses increases as the "assumed" level of the debate increases (i.e. I'm not going to give you sympathy in quarters at a bid tournament)
- UPDATE FOR THEORY: IMO it's impossible to go for both a shell and case in FF effectively - you just don't have enough time. If you're going to read theory, either collapse on it or extend no RVIs and kick the shell - don't make a half-hearted attempt at going for both.
4. PRESUMPTION (is this still a thing idk): My default ROTB is to vote for the team that did the better debating. I think defaults like “first speaking team has a disadvantage” are intervention, so if no team has offense, neither of you debated better. You can obviously argue that one team should "get" presumption, but absent any such args, I will flip a coin (aff - heads, neg - tails).
5. POSTROUNDING: totally ok as long as you're respectful, I think it's educational and I'm happy to defend my decision. Also happy to discuss after the round through email. I will buy you food or something if you can convince me that I was wrong (unfortunately I can't change the decision sorry).
pronouns: she/her/hers
email: madelyncook23@gmail.com & lakevilledocs@googlegroups.com (please add both to the email chain)
PLEASE title the email chain in a way that includes the round, flight (if applicable), both team codes, sides, and speaking order
Experience:
- PF Coach for Lakeville South & Lakeville North in Minnesota, 2019-Present
- Speech Coach for Lakeville South in Minnesota, 2022-Present
- Instructor for Potomac Debate Academy, 2021-Present
- University of Minnesota NPDA, 2019-2022
- Lakeville South High School (PF with a bit of speech and Congress), 2015-2019
I will generally vote for anything if there is a warrant, an impact, and solid comparative weighing, and as long as your evidence isn't horribly cut/fake. Every argument you want on my ballot needs to be in summary and final focus, and I will walk you through exactly how I made my decision after the round is over. I’ve noticed that while I can/will keep up with speed and evaluate technical debates, my favorite rounds are usually those that slow down a bit and go into detail about a couple of important issues. Well warranted arguments with clear impact scenarios extended using a strategic collapse are a lot better than blippy extensions. The best rounds in my opinion are the ones where summary extends one case argument with comparative weighing and whatever defense/offense on the opponent’s case is necessary.
General:
- I am generally happy to judge the debate you want to have.
- The only time you need a content warning is when the content in your case is objectively triggering and graphic. I think the way PF is moving toward requiring opt-out forms for things like “mentions of the war on drugs” or "feminism" is super unnecessary and trivializes the other issues that actually do require content warnings while silencing voices that are trying to discuss important issues.
- I will drop you with a 20 (or lowest speaks allowed by the tournament) for bigotry or being blatantly rude to your opponents. There’s no excuse for this. This applies to you no matter how “good at technical debate” you are.
- Speed is probably okay as long as you explain your arguments instead of just rattling off claims. For online rounds, slow down more than you would in person. Please do not sacrifice clarity for speed. Sending a doc is not an excuse to go fast beyond comprehension - I do not look at speech docs until after the round and only if absolutely necessary to check
- Silliness and cowardice are voting issues.
Evidence Issues:
- Evidence ethics in PF are atrocious. Cut cards is the only way to present evidence in my opinion. At the very least, read direct quotes.
- Evidence exchanges take way too long. Send full speech docs in the email chain before the speech begins. I want everyone sending everything in this email chain so that everyone can check the quality of evidence, and so that you don’t waste time requesting individual cards.
- Your cases should be sent to the email chain in the form of a Word Doc/PDF/uneditable document with all the evidence you read in the debate.
- The only evidence that counts in the round is evidence you cite in your speech using the author’s last name and date. You cannot read an analytic in a speech then provide evidence for it later.
- Evidence comparison is super underutilized - I'd love to hear more of it.
- My threshold for voting on arguments that rely on paraphrased/power-tagged evidence is very high. I will always prefer to vote for teams with well cut, quality evidence.
- I don't know what this "sending rhetoric without the cards" nonsense is - the only reason you need to exchange evidence is to check the evidence. Your "rhetoric" should be exactly what's in the evidence anyway, but if it's not, I have no idea what the point is of sending the paraphrased "rhetoric" without the cards. Just send full docs with cut cards.
- You have to take prep time to "compile the doc" lol you don't just get to take a bunch of extra prep time to put together the rebuttal doc you're going to send.
Speech Preferences:
- Frontline in second rebuttal. Dropped arguments in second rebuttal are conceded in the round. You should cover everything on the argument(s) you plan on going for, including defense.
- Defense isn't sticky. Anything you want to matter in the round needs to be in summary and final focus.
- Collapse in summary. It is not a strategy to go for tons of blippy arguments hoping something will stick just to blow up one or two of those things in final focus. The purpose of the summary is to pick out the most important issues, and you must collapse to do that well.
- Weigh as soon as possible. Comparative weighing is essential for preventing judge intervention, and meta-weighing is cool too. I want to vote for teams that write my ballot for me in final focus, so try to do that the best you can.
- Speech organization is key. I literally want you to say what argument I should vote on and why.
- The way I give speaker points fluctuates depending on the division and the difficulty of the tournament, but I average about a 28 and rarely go below a 27 or above a 29. If you get a 30, it means you debated probably the best I saw that tournament if not for the past couple tournaments. I give speaker points based on strategic decisions rather than presentation.
- I generally enjoy and will vote on extinction impacts, but I'm not going to vote on an argument that doesn't have an internal link just because the impact is scary - I'm very much not a fan of war scenarios read by teams that are unable to defend a specific scenario/actor/conflict spiral.
Theory:
I’ve judged a lot of terrible theory debates, and I do not want to judge more theory debates. I generally find theory debates very boring. But if you decide to ignore that and do it anyway, please at least read this:
- Frivolous theory is bad. I generally believe that the only theory debates worth having are disclosure and paraphrasing, and even then, I really do not want to listen to a debate about what specific type of disclosure is best.
- I probably should tell you that I believe disclosure is good and paraphrasing is bad, but I will listen to answers to these shells and evaluate the round to the best of my ability. My threshold for paraphrasing good is VERY high.
- Even if you don’t know the "technical" way to answer theory, do your best to respond. I don't really care if you use theory jargon - just do your best.
- "Theory is bad" or "theory doesn't belong in PF" are not arguments I'm very sympathetic to.
- I will say that despite all the above preferences/thoughts on theory, I really dislike when teams read theory as an easy path to ballot to basically "gotcha" teams that have probably never heard of disclosure or had a theory debate before. I honestly think it's the laziest strategy to use in those rounds, and your speaker points will reflect that. I have given and will continue to give low point wins for this if it is obvious to me that this is what you're trying to do.
Kritiks:
I have a high threshold for critical arguments in PF because I just don’t think the speech times are long enough for them to be good, but there are a few things that will make me feel better about voting on these arguments.
- I often find myself feeling a little out of my depth in K rounds, partly because I am not super well versed on most K lit but also because many teams seem to assume judges understand a lot more about their argument than they actually do. The issue I run into with many of these debates is when debaters extend tags rather than warrants which leaves the round feeling messy and difficult to evaluate. If you want to read a kritik in front of me, go ahead, but I'd do it at your own risk. If you do, definitely err on the side of over-explaining your arguments. I like to fully understand what the world of the kritik looks like before I vote for it.
- Any argument is going to be more compelling if you write it yourself. Probably don't just take something from the policy wiki without recutting any of the evidence or actually taking the time to fully understand the arguments.
- I think theory is the most boring way to answer a kritik. I'll always prefer for teams to engage with the kritik on some level.
- I will listen to anything, but I have a much better understanding and ability to evaluate a round that is topical.
Pet Peeves:
- Paraphrasing.
- I hate long evidence exchanges. I already ranted about this at the top of my paradigm because it is by far my biggest pet peeve, but here’s another reminder that it should not take you more than 30 seconds to send a piece of evidence. There’s also no reason to not just send full speech docs to prevent these evidence exchanges, so just do that.
- I don’t flow anything over time, and I’ll be annoyed and potentially drop speaker points if your speeches go more than 5 or so seconds over.
- Pre-flow before you get to the room. The round start time is the time the round starts – if you don’t have your pre-flow done by then, I do not care, and the debate will proceed without it.
- The phrase "small schools" is maybe my least favorite phrase commonly used in debate. I have judged so many debates where teams get stuck arguing about whether they're a small school, and it never has a point.
- The sentence "we'll weigh if time allows" - no you won't. You will weigh if you save yourself time to do it, because if you don't, you will probably lose.
- If you're going to ask clarification questions about the arguments made in speech, you need to either use cross or prep time for that.
Congress:
I competed in Congress a few times in high school, and I've judged/coached it a little since then. I dislike judging it because no one is really using it for its fullest potential, and almost every Congress round I've ever seen is just a bunch of constructive speeches in a row. But here are a few things that will make me happy in a Congress round:
- I'll rank you higher if you add something to the debate. I love rebuttal speeches, crystallization speeches, etc. You will not rank well if you are the fourth/fifth/sixth etc. speaker on a bill and still reading new substantive arguments without contextualizing anything else that has already happened. It's obviously fine to read new evidence/data, but that should only happen if it's for the purpose of refuting something that's been said by another speaker or answering an attack the opposition made against your side.
- I care much more about the content and strategy of your speeches than I do about your delivery.
- If you don't have a way to advance the debate beyond a new constructive speech that doesn't synthesize anything, I'd rather just move on to a new bill. It is much less important to me that you speak on every bill than it is that when you do speak you alter the debate on that bill.
If you have additional questions, ask before or after the round or you can email me at madelyncook23@gmail.com.
Experience: I am a senior at the University of Iowa where I study political science, international affairs, and philosophy. I was a competitor in public forum for 6 years and was the collegiate national champion in 2018. I have experience and working knowledge with all speech and debate events. I have previously coached in Des Moines, Iowa, and for NSDA China. I am currently unaffiliated with any team, school, or individual competitors.
PF: I value accessibility. Public forum ought to be an event that is able to be understood by any member of the public. Clear, concise communication at a reasonable speed is expected ie conversational. I WILL DROP YOU IF YOU TRY TO SPREAD. Each team will be given one warning on speed in the form of a dropped pen or calling out “Speed.” If spreading/speed persists after the warning I will immediately drop the team with the most violations. (If both teams accumulate one violation in their respective constructive, the next team to violate will be dropped.) I will flow cross-examination if you make important points. I value complex arguments and respectful clash. Being rude in my rounds is a great way to lose speaker points and a round.
Important things:
- If at all possible, I would like to start rounds early. I understand that's not always possible or teams need to prep, so I'm just appreciative if we do start early. No problem if you need to take your time though.
- While in evidence exchange, I expect all students to have their hands on screen and mics unmuted to ensure that time is not used for prep.
- Summaries should SUMMARIZE the round.
- FF should Crystalize not line by line, give me impact calculus and weighing. Impact calc within every speech is most persuasive.
- Summaries and FF should have voters not line by line.
TL;DR, Be respectful, conversational, bring solid evidence and analysis to my rounds and you’ll do fine.
LD/CX: Pretty much anything goes. I absolutely prefer arguments that are directly resolutional (ie not a fan of certain Ks, love me some T and theory though) but if the debate goes a certain way, it is not my place to wrangle it. LARP is chill. On the rare occasion, I may ask you to slow down a little bit or clear you, but that will not be weighed against you. I'm almost always good with speed. I prefer competitors disclose to ensure flow clarity. I will flow cross-examination if you make important points.
My girlfriend is a debate coach and told me to write this:
I
AM
A
L
A
Y
JUDGE
I have been a PF coach for 20+ years. To win my ballot you should do the following things.
1. Clearly sign post throughout the round. I do flow but I do not like to spend time looking for the arguments you are addressing.
2. If you have a framework, you need to address it throughout the round. Stating it in the first speech and then not again until final focus will cause me to not weigh it as heavily in the round. I only insert myself into rounds that there is no clear framework or weighing mechanism for the round.
3. I can handle moderate speed as long as you articulate. It is to your benefit that I get all the info I can.
4. I vote on the arguments presented. I will listen to all arguments but you need to make sure they are clearly explained. If I do not understand it I do not vote for it. I will not vote on K in PF
5. Extend arguments not cards. You need to give the argument the card is making just not the author's name when extending.
6. Give me clear voting issues in the final focus. I like to hear why you should win. The focus should be on your case not your opponents.
7. Speaker points are based on how well you present yourself throughout the round. I am a speech and theater teacher and like to see good communication skills. Yelling at me or your opponents is not good communication. Crossfires need to be conducted with civility. You can be civil and still have clash in the round. I rarely give 30’s, those are reserved for truly outstanding persuasive speakers.
I debated for Sioux Falls Lincoln for 4 years. I have competed on the National policy circuit during my last two years of highschool on a regular basis. I am currently the assistant coach at Lincoln Southeast high school where I coach Policy, LD, with some PF and Congress. I am most familiar and comfortable with progressive LD and more Traditional Policy; however I will listen to almost anything if it is explained and argued well.
If there is an email chain, add me: dfolkert@nebrwesleyan.edu
LD:
-I prefer contention level debate over standards debate, so any effort to consolidate the standards debate would be much preferred.
-I default to tech over truth
-I encourage creativity with K's, DA's, and CP's to be run within LD, as long as they are run correctly and give me a reason for why that type of position is justified.
Policy:
K aff vs Policy aff: When I was debating, I stuck to traditional policy debate with topical policy aff's over K affs, therefore I prefer to see that type of debate. I prefer to hear a well-warranted and thought out policy aff's over a jargon heavy K aff that provides no justification outside of "the USFG is bad" or the "structure is flawed". I understand and value the importance of an applicable K aff to the topic, but as a general principle I am more persuaded by a policy aff, especially in Nebraska when unfortunately a Policy Aff is rarer then a non-topical K aff.
DA's/ CP: I love to see a great CP and DA combo to an aff over a 1-off K in the 1NC. I feel like a good CP and DA is undervalued in policy debate currently, and would love to see them make a come back. Therefore, from a neg strategy perspective, I will find a team reading an applicable CP over a generic K (such as cap, imperialism, anti-blackness, identity politics, set col, etc.) more persuasive.
K: Again, I am not the biggest fan of 1-off K's in the 1NC, however I do believe K's have a place in a debate when in conjunction with other off-case positions. If you plan on reading a K, either A. read other off case positions such as T or DA's, or B. if you do read a 1-off K, PLEASE do case work. Show me how the K interacts with the aff by indicting the solvency of the aff with the K in the 1NC or turning it, etc. For the K itself, I prefer more pragmatic alts over vague Utopian ults. I am a fan of kicking the Alt and using the K as a linear DA.
T: I love a great T debate, as do most judges! However, key word 'great'. Reading shells in the 1NC and 2AC are fine, but after those speeches I do not want to hear shell extensions, I want to hear real analysis and comparison between your interp and your opponents. I default to competing interps over reasonability.
FW: Against K aff's, I want rather see a good FW debate over a K vs K debate. Again, I would rather see real analysis over shell extensions after the 1NC and 2AC. For me to pull the trigger on FW, I really need a TVA. As I did traditional policy debate over K debating high school, you need to go a little slower on FW and explain arguments more as I am not as familiar with them as I am with more traditional theory and T arguments.
If you have any specific questions about arguments, please ask me before round.
I am and have been the coach at LHS for the last 9 years. I was also the 2021 NSDA's National Coach of the Year.
General Notes-
* I am in tab much more often than I'm behind a round at this point. As such, I may be rusty on some more specific lingo/ trends(read as: don't just label an argument a RVI and expect me to accept it on face, explain why it's important)
* I have a disability that has varying levels of impact depending on the day; when it's flaring up, I might have trouble flowing spreading, or processing information at that speed. If you don't want to exclude me from the round, it'd be helpful to check in with me before the round starts. I'm also super happy to talk about it if you have more specific questions :)
*I will NOT vote on: racism, homophobia, transphobia, sexism, anything other bigotry. Please just be cool people.
*If your case has any material that could be psychologically damaging or harmful, trigger warnings are a necessity. Graphic material includes, but is not limited to descriptions of: violence based on gender identity, sexuality, or race; police brutality; suicide; sexual assault; domestic abuse. Because debate should be safe and accessible to all debaters, TW's should be articulated in order to include everyone. Refusing to provide TW's for graphic cases creates an exclusive and threatening atmosphere and will effect speaker points, but not the decision.
PF-
Arguments- I'm very open to whatever style of argument you want to make in round, so long as you do it well. Don't just dump cards, actually offer in round analysis and engage with your opponent's arguments. If something is important to the round, I expect you to spend time on it. Regardless of the style, I need to see some sort of weighing mechanism in round- that could come from an observation or impact calc (or whatever else) so long as I have some sort of idea what I should be valuing. Absent of that, I'll default to generic util weighing. I prefer cut cards over paraphrasing, but will listen to either.
Speed- I prefer a moderate, not ludicrous, pace. If you want to go absurdly fast, that's fine, but understand I'll miss some details. I think it's really important for speed to be justified by content- so, if you're talking fast enough that you have to reiterate the same underview three times because you're out of content, I'd rather you slow down. At any speed, I really value clarity. It's also good to know that some days I physically won't be able to flow super quickly, so it wouldn't hurt to double check with me about speed before round.
Round Structure- First and foremost, I expect the second rebuttal to address both sides of the flow. So, make sure, in front of me, you're allocating your time in a way such that you're able to address everything important, as dropped arguments are essentially conceded.
I don't expect line by line argumentation in summary and final focus. Instead, the round should be narrowed down to the main points. This is where I expect a lot of weighing and analysis, not just 50 author names back to back.
LD-
Standards/ Framework- I don't have strong feelings any one way about V/Cr vs Single Standard and/or RoB etc. I initially learned LD through a pretty traditional framing, so I tend to track that way myself, but, I'm open to whatever you want to do if you explain in. If you're running some philosophy that's out there or uncommon, it would benefit you to explain it clearly.
Theory- I'm down, but it actually needs to be theory (read as: "Speed is unfair/ exclusionary" isn't an argument I'll evaluate; Interp, violation standard, voter framing is)
Ks- See above, I'll happily hear out a k with structure that actually functions within a round. YOU HAVE TO OFFER A LINK or there's no way for me to evaluate the K
A Priori/ Prima facie/ probably other things- justify why it matters and I'll hear it out.
**As a general interpretation, I view theory/ks/ a priori arguments etc as arguments. They aren't some sort of magical trap card that automatically win you the round. They are arguments that need to be interacted with and extended like anything else. Reading an ableism K in the NC and then leaving it there isn't going to win me over. Your opponent answering an identity K with arguments doesn't make them inherently bad, they're interacting with an argument you put out
Solvency- I don't inherently think solvency is important in LD. This doesn't mean that I won't hear out solvency arguments, but you need to justify why I should care about solvency for it to be a voting issue for me. "The aff doesn't offer any solvency" on its own isn't enough for me to vote on.
CX-
**I really don't judge policy all that often. If I'm behind your round, things were likely pretty desperate from a tab or judge hire perspective. Despite that, I will do my best to adjudicate the round- you'll probably just need to slow down a bit on taglines and important analysis for me.
This is my second year judging,
I don't really like topicality--I'll vote on reasonability.
DA's, CP's, K's are good.
I don't really like theory.
Speed: 6/10
Traditional judge. Many years of experience, but not a fan of speed or kritiks. Approaches rounds as a policymaker unless persuaded otherwise. Speaking skills are important and the flow is important. In Lincoln Douglas and Public Forum rounds, Rhetorical skills and audience communication skills will weight heavily with me. I take old-school, in-depth PAPER notes. Argue “man in the street” to me.
Hello, I am a parent judge.
If I am your judge, remember it is your job to convince me to vote for you.
I will flow your round and I look for contentions to be supported and defended.
I look for how you work as a team. Are contentions dropped?
Speaker points are individual and will be scored that way. It won't matter how much info you put into your allotted time if I can't understand what you are saying. Please fill your speech times. I will let you finish your thought before I call time if you go over.
Please speak loudly and clearly as I sometimes have a hard time hearing.
Debate is a fun activity, keep it that way. Be respectful to your opponent and to me!
If you have any specific questions on preferences, feel free to ask me before the round is started.
Email chain/ questions: char.char.jackson21@gmail.com
they/them
As a topshelf thing, I will probably vote for arguments I don't understand
LD Paradigm:
arguments in order that i am comfy with them are
theory>larp>K's>tricks> phil
i can flow p much any spreading as long as its clear if i have a problem i will say something
I will vote on any argument as long as its not problematic, only if you sufficiently extend warrant, and implicate said argument.
PF Paradigm:
Send docs even in person i expect docs from all of you
If you want the easy path to my ballot; weigh, implicate your defense/turns, tell me why you should win.
Smart analytics > bad evidence or paraphrased blips.
Debate is a game, as such I will normally be a tech>truth judge except in circumstances where I deem an argument to be offensive/inappropriate for the debate space.
Rebuttal:
I prefer a line by line. Second rebuttal should respond to turns/disads.
Extensions:
I wont do ghost extensions for you even if the argument is conceded, extend your arguments.
Arguments that I am comfortable with:
Theory, T, Plans, Counter Plans, Disads, Kritiks, most framework args that PFers can come up with.
Presumption
I presume too much, tell me why I should presume for you if you think you aren't going to win your case, if you don't make any arguments as to why I should presume I will presume based on a coin flip, aff will be heads and neg will be tails.
I also think I will be starting to vote more on risk of offense, in this scenario.
i get bored so easy please make the round interesting.
debate is problematic in many ways. if there is anything I can do to make the round more accessible, please let me know beforehand
I was a three year policy debater from South Dakota. I tend to be a policy maker judge, but I will try and vote however I am told to during the round. Some speed is fine, but make sure that you are clear with tags and you may have to slow down if you are explaining complex arguments or theories to me. Please don't be rude towards the other debaters or your partner - debate should be a place where everyone feels welcome.
Policy
I'm cool with any type of arguments being ran, but I prefer DA/CP/case debate versus critical or topicality (unless if they are actually untopical). Open CX is fine, but don't use up all of your partner's time. Make sure to have warranted extensions of your arguments and I appreciate if the debate can be boiled down to why you should win. If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask me before the round starts.
LD
I am pretty new to LD, but I will do my best to judge any round. To be honest, you will need to spend a little time explaining what some of the arguments are, as I'm not up to date with a lot of the buzzwords used. If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask me before the round starts.
PF
While I never competed in PF, I have been primarily judging it for the past two years. As for argumentation, y'all can run whatever you'd like, I do not mind. Don't steal prep or go over time with your speech - once you run out of time I stop flowing. Do your best to be fast with your evidence, it can get pretty obnoxious waiting. It's your opponent's right to ask for evidence, and it's on you to provide it without holding up the debate.
My preferences for judging a debate are: 1) That debaters not speed spread, if I can't follow your arguments it's hard to persuade me. It also makes for a better Public Forum debate if everyone can follow the main arguments. 2) That crossfire be cordial, being rude and/or cutting a speaker off will lose you points. 3) I prefer that your evidence support your argument, not that it tangentially might apply. I also an extensive background in speech and debate as a high school student and as a high school Speech & Debate Coach and a speech Judge.
Director of Forensics at Theodore Roosevelt High School (Des Moines, IA) -- I coach national circuit PF and hopefully LD soon.
"I believe judging debates is a privilege, not a paycheck." My promise to you as a judge is always giving you 100% of my attention and rendering decisions that I honestly believe in and can defend/justify. Additionally, I am always happy to provide additional feedback if desired (feel free to email me). Speech and debate is awesome, please stick with it if you’re reading this especially if you’re in Iowa. I'm committed to making speech and debate a safe and welcome space for everyone.
Also, I'm on the 2024-2025 NSDA Public Forum Topic Selection and Wording Committee. Send me ideas!
Public Forum paradigm
[NATIONAL CIRCUIT ONLY — local competitors just do your best, your coach should’ve taught you how to win PF at a fundamental level, I give really extensive and constructive feedback]
Add me to the email chain (klynpar@gmail.com). In national circuit varsity/bid PF rounds, send speech docs with cut cards ahead of (1) case & (2) all speeches where you read new evidence. (i.e. not a link to a google doc, not just the rhetoric, etc.) This is non-negotiable. (1) It makes the debate and by extension the tournament run on time and (2) it allows me to be as non-interventionist as possible.
I used to have a really long paradigm (it's still too long probably) with a diatribe about how I generally don't like theory or Ks in PF. At this point I'll vote on any and everything -- BUT I would still much, much prefer a topical substance debate (even if it gets really techy or framework-y or evidence comparison-y) over anything that attempts to modify the role of my ballot. Again, I'll still vote on those things, I think judge interference is really bad and I won't intervene if you win the round with whatever strategy you use -- I just won't have as much fun as a judge. If you think there's been a violation (disclosure, paraphrasing, misgendering, etc.) run a shell. I'm probably familiar with your K if it's "stock" (cap, setcol, security, pess, etc.) -- if not, just be clear about what exactly you're trying to accomplish and why it's better than the resolution. If you have questions, please ask (preferably with both teams present), I want debate to be fun and educational.
I’m a tech/blank-slate judge, I flow on my computer using Flower. Best way to win the round is to do the work for me, judge instruction in final focus is key
Be kind and respectful, I will never change a ballot on this but I will lower speaks especially when it comes to experience/age/resource imbalances.
Extend everything you’re going for through every speech except 1st rebuttal
I vote on offense/defense, that includes framework and specific weighing mechanisms
Speed is fine
I always disclose my decision alongside some feedback. Feel free to ask questions afterwards
Personal things that I care about but probably don't explicitly apply to the round where I'm judging you (this is a pretty self-indulgent section so only read if you think I provide useful insight into the activity):
You should always presume the other team, the judges, and the audience are acting in good faith. Any accusations or even implications towards someone cheating or otherwise breaking the rules should be "stake-the-round" moments -- that is, you better be willing to take a min speaks L if it's unfounded.
One of the single dumbest things I see in competitive debate is this trend of "I'll give u 0.5 speaks if u reference The Office" or "+1 speaks for bringing me a coffee!" It's pathetically and brazenly anti-educational and borderline exploitative (of children!), not to mention it'd be so stupid for someone to get like a 4-2 screw because another team mentioned a dumb meme in their speech. I presume good intentions from people in this community but I am quite skeptical of those who do this.
Speaking of judges, I have zero patience for people who use their ballot/RFD to bully and demean. Congratulations, you're a college-educated adult and you found flaws in a 14-year-old's argumentation. If I'm on a panel or spectating a round where a judge's RFD is moving into bullying territory, I have no qualms cutting them off and reporting them to tab.
And finally with regards to judging -- I allude to this above, but I see far too many debates, especially here in Iowa, where the extent of judges' RFDs is "I didn't like your case" regardless of the actual content of the round. That makes me sad, as it invalidates dozens of hours of preparation and strategy-building between competitors and their coaches. It breaks my heart when I see a well-prepared team lose because the judge just "didn't buy it." I only vote on what is communicated to me within the debate. I do not care how unlikely it seems or how incoherent the link is.... if it's that obvious, the opposition should point it out, not rely on me to intervene and make that evaluation on my own.
Debate as an activity is incredible. Obviously I'm biased but I genuinely think it's the single best thing high schoolers can do with their time. If you're reading this you're probably a nerd or a competition freak (or both) but you also should be proud that you are involved in this thing we do. It makes kids smarter, more confident, better at speaking, better citizens, more critical of the world and its power structures while also more open to alternative ways of thinking.... and it's exhilarating and fun! If I could just coach debate all day I'd take that job in a heartbeat. I often find myself getting emotional when judging high-level debate rounds because of the talent, passion, prep, and dedication in front of me, and I swell with pride when my debaters develop new skills and deploy them.
Feel like quitting debate because you don't think you're any good? DON'T! My first ever tournament I went 1-4 at the Des Moines Lincoln Railsplitter. Even worse, we started 0-4 and were power-matched against the only other 0-4 team at that point -- we only won because our opponents forgot what side of the topic they had chosen. I promise, it gets better. I have a team that went 1-5 and 0-5 at their first two bid tournaments in '22-23 who just picked up a PF Gold bid at Blake '23. Keep at it and you will blossom.
If you want a deeper explanation on why I think substance/topical debate > critical or progressive debate, it comes down to two reasons: the structure of the activity, and the value of the resolution. While there are of course teams who have run Ks, for example, to great success in PF, even at their best, they come across as "policy for dummies." The reason they're so effective in policy/LD is because they are legitimately critical of established ways of thinking/avenues of argumentation and as such they require that extra time AND speed to fully elaborate. Afro-futurism, for example, is unbelievably complex, with dozens of scholars each reaching their own interpretation of what that could possibly mean. Four minutes is simply not enough time at normal PF natcirc speed to upend thought paradigms, and it's definitely not enough time to refute those attempts while also extending your own argumentation. On theory, I think open source disclosure with full round reports and no paraphrasing are excellent norms, but I'm also like "well, it'll sort itself out over time and they will become the norm" -- rather than the in-round norm-setting model of theoretical debate. And finally, I simply think that it's good that there's an event where 95%+ of rounds are about a resolution plan text that was negotiated in advance and requires no burden of rejoinder or anything like that. That allows students to focus their prep and fosters a fair game (although fairness is a link, not an impact, haha). But I have to reiterate: run what you want, I will not intervene, even if after the round I end up telling you "this wasn't fleshed out well." I refuse to be that judge who stresses kids out because they don't know what to do in front of him.
Long story short, Just win baby~!
Lincoln-Douglas / Policy
I have begun to coach LD. I will wear my debater's Hoover Husky Howler Novice LD tournament champion ribbon with pride for all eternity.
Overriding judge philosophy is blank slate/no judge intervention. Debate's a game, do what you have to do to win.
I have a strange relationship to these events as up until this year my exposure to them has pretty much exclusively been through LD circuit rounds on YouTube / college CEDA policy / scraping the wiki for your best topicality shells. Long story short, in all events, I want to judge the highest-level debates possible, so whatever your national circuit meta is, debate like that. Even after judging NLD for a few tournaments I still don't really know what a value premise or criterion is (it mostly just seems like unjustified assertions about how to frame rounds? Like in PF people usually card their FWs but whatever, maybe it's just who I'm judging) but I do know LARP/plans/K/K affs/theory/T/FW debate etc. Not confident in evaluating performance or academic philosophy, this would probably require lots of warranting, but if that's your lane, don't feel the need to adjust to me. Fine with speed (send docs obviously). I will default to voting on offense extended through the round, but judge instruction can convince me to vote on (almost) anything. Ask me questions ahead of time if you're unsure about anything.
Novices: Do your best! Debate like your coaches taught you to, and use your instincts. (:
Congress
If you're in Iowa and you do the literal bare minimum (speak as much as you can, provide sources for your arguments, REFUTE OTHER SPEECHES, ask questions), you're practically guaranteed to finish in the top half of my ballot. Seriously, why are so many of y'all just seemingly along for the ride!
Smaller things: Crystallization speeches are lazy unless it's like the 7th speech of a bill and there has been actual clash the entire way down (make actual arguments instead!), being charismatic/entertaining is a good tiebreaker but doesn't replace a well-argued speech, good POs are hard to beat and bad POs make debate no fun (unless literally nobody else was willing to do it -- then I'll reward you on the ballot), treating bills as having real-life implications around the world >>> LARPing as US legislators
About me:
Director of Forensics of Theodore Roosevelt High School in Des Moines, IA, former coach for Ames (IA)
I debated PF in high school in rural Iowa and had no exposure to national circuit BUT since then have coached multiple partnerships to TOC and state champions. I also coach Lincoln-Douglas, Congress and Speech and have national qualifiers in each
Favorite debate event is Public Forum and my favorite speech events are Extemp and Oratory
Coaching forensics and attending tournaments are among my favorite things in life~ I feel so lucky to be able to do this a couple dozen weekends every year.
September/October in LD: If you refer to Africa as a country or participate in creating an ideology that the entire African continent is homogenous, I will decrease your speaker points. Please avoid preaching false stereotypes about other nations/groups of nations or making assertations about a country's access to resources or economic status without knowledge or evidence.
Hi, I am Triniti.
Simpson College (Studying Global Management & Political Science)
Public Forum Coach at Valley High School
Contact: TrinitiKrauss@gmail.com
I am on the Simpson College Debate team and have competed at the collegiate level in Parli, PF, and LD. I graduated high school in 2018 and since then, I've judged many debate tournaments, primarily LD and PF. In high school, I competed in WSD, PF, and LD, and Congressional Debate.
The Short Version: Run anything you want. Know what you are running. Explain and develop your arguments well. Interact with your opponent (pretty please). Don't be a jerk. Favorite debate to watch for LD: LARP. Favorite PF judge to watch: One where people know what they are talking about.
What I LOVE to see:
- Clash. Clash. Clash. Did I forget to mention clash?
- Impacts. Love ‘em.
-Tell me why I should prefer your warrants, impacts, and sources over your opponents.
- Tell me how I should weigh the round.
- Links - crazy right? I want to see the 'how' we get from the resolution to your case to your impacts.
LD Specific Paradigm:
If I have a trad Debater against a non-trad debater: Debate jargon is less important than responding to every component of your opponent's case. Example: If your opponent says "do both" instead of "perm," respond to the argument because I will still evaluate "do both."
Case Style: Run anything as long as you can run it well.
T: Go for it. I want to see a developed T-shell and I will vote on T. However, using T as a strat to time-suck is annoying. Because I think that it is annoying, I am happy to vote on an RVI. I would prefer that T be used when there is a very clear violation.
Theory: I’ll buy a well-developed theory shell.
Tricks: Not my favorite.
Kritikal Debate: Have fun. Show relevance/link to resolution.
LARP/CPs/DAs: Love it. Probs my favorite. Just make sure your links/impacts are there.
Speaking: Just speak clearly. Slow down when you read tags/authors of cards, please.
FOR THE LOVE - know what you are talking about - as in, understand the arguments that you are making.
Just don't be a jerk.
I did Public Forum debate at Harrisburg High School and I participated in all 4 years of high school. I didn't really participate in any other event, so if I'm judging you in speech or a different debate event I won't be as great a judge. I have limited experience with LD and Extemp, but not much else. Feel free to ask me any questions before the round. In short, speak clearly, be nice, and follow the rules.
--PF--
Speaking:Being concise and well-spoken is important, but being respectful is equally important. I won't hesitate to drop speaker points if you are blatantly condescending or use insulting language.
Flowing: I flow pretty well and will vote off the flow most of the time. Other factors like speaking matter somewhat but the flow and pulling your arguments through are super important to me. Often times when cards are brought up in quick succession I don't write the card's names down as I am more focused on flowing the content of the card, so telling me what the card says in later speeches is key to keeping it on my flow. Cards are important, but big ideas and refuting the actual arguments your opponents make matters to me.
Evidence: I expect both teams to come to the round prepared with all possible evidence. If you use a card in the case please have the uncut article available, preferably with the used section highlighted. If you cannot produce the evidence promptly (within a minute or two) I will assume you don't have the evidence and evaluate the round as such. I will adhere to the rules, meaning if you do your own math, misconstrue an author's intention, or do anything else in violation of evidence rules I will not weigh the evidence in my decision.
Prep time: When you call for cards, I will start YOUR prep once you have received the article/card you requested. I will end prep time when you return it. I will start prep before you are given the requested card if you are prepping while you wait.
Framework: If a framework is given I will vote on it as long as it's not refuted effectively enough and is carried through. If you drop your framework in the summary and then bring it up in FF I won't be voting on it. If you can't adhere to their framework then give me another weighing mechanism or another framework. If a framework is abusive, tell me it's abusive and why. Don't get too deep into the framework debate.
Summaries: I prefer line-by-line when it comes to summaries as it's easier to follow in the flow, but using voters or another mechanism won't kill you by any means. Whatever you do, always signpost as much as you can, and don't go too fast. If an argument is important in the round, be sure to talk about it in summary, because if it's dropped in summary I won't be voting on it.
Final Focuses: Don't lie about what people said in the second FF to try to win the round.
--LD--
I have judged two rounds of LD debate in my life, one novice and one varsity. Do with that information as you will.
-run theory on me and see what happens. actually idk what would happen
-Medical Student at University of Nebraska Medical Center, University of Nebraska Lincoln 2020 graduate with bachelor's in Biochemistry
-Debated 4 years in Nebraska circuit PF, competed at NSDA nationals, 7th year judging PF
-Speak as fast as you want to but I can only type so fast
-Run whatever i don't care but I am not knowledgable on progressive debate
-I usually browse the internet/shut my brain off during crossfires
-Second rebuttal does not have to rebuild if they don't want to but obviously respond to arguments at some point
-I don't write down card names
-Any evidence/analysis that wants to be extended must be mentioned in all speeches post rebuttal. So extend defense from rebuttal to summary
-I don't want to see your cards after the round
-Asking for evidence in round is fine but the bane of my existence is when teams take 5 minutes to find one card
-Links, impacts, and weighing please and not just card dumps
-I reserve 30s for genuinely amazing performances, but I will probably give most solid debaters 29.5
-You can ask me before round if there's anything else you should know about my judging style that was not written in my paradigm - the answer is no. You can ask me specific questions about my judging style but I have no substantive answers for broad questions
tonyleaiy1997@gmail.com for any questions
I did debate in high school so I am familiar with speed and debate jargon.
Summary is the most important speech.
In summary give me voting issues please.
Be civil. I won't vote you down or even knock your speaks necessarily but I would appreciate civility.
Have Fun.
I've done public forum debate and I'm an assistant coach so i can follow just about any argument as long as it makes sense and has a good link chain. I vote on impacts and weighing, I only vote on flow if the impact level is equal.
I don't like Ks or Theory, please don't do that to PF please
I can make no promises that I'll follow your args if you spread, do so at your own risk
I'm pretty reasonable with speaks, just speak clearly with inflection, and don't be rude
I'm fine with framework and framework/definition debates just make it interesting and have good reasoning as to why I should prefer your interp.
Will come to round with extensive topic background knowledge & I prefer to judge rounds solely on the info given to me in round but if your points hinge on information/assumptions that are 100% false I will drop them.
Pronouns: She/her/hers
Pre-req: I will not vote on any case arguments addressing sexual violence, rape, or suicide/suicidal ideations that were not preceded by a pre-round trigger warning. If, upon hearing this trigger warning, the opponent requests the argument not be made and that request is denied, I'll be very receptive to theory arguments about why I ought to vote against you based on the introduction of that issue.
I believe that problematic arguments are problematic whether the opposing team points them out or not. I believe that this is not a space where any argument can be made. Problematic arguments at minimum impact the people in the round and can impact discourse outside of the round. I want the opposing team to point out problematic arguments and abuse. However, arguments that promote sexism, racism, or other forms of hate will not be persuasive for me and are likely to result in a down ballot.
Style: I am one of those judges who responds very negatively to rudeness, disrespect, and offensive language
Speed: I don't like speed. Learning how to talk fast has no post-debate benefit, so I do not support it as a strategy in an educational debate round. I can follow fast talking, but if you are spreading, then I will put down my pen and stop flowing. If I stop flowing, it probably means I am confused; either because you are going too fast, or I don't understand what you are saying.
Style: I need to have a weighing mechanism in PF debate. I need to know how to decide who won the round, otherwise I will get very frustrated. I do not want to decide using my own metrics, I want YOU to tell me how to judge the round. I will be using this weighing mechanism as I look at my flow to decide who won the round.
I tend to be a flow a judge. By that I mean that I flow and will be following the flow to see who has the strongest arguments at the end of the round.
Evidence This is also very important to me. By that I mean that I need evidence that is clearly cited and explained. Actually READ me your evidence, don't just give me your summary of the evidence. Analytical arguments are great, and I will vote there, but when disagreement is happening about what may or may not be true about the topic, I would like to hear evidence. This should also connect back to your weighing mechanism.
I also like to hear evidence in the rebuttal. If you are responding with an analytical argument to an argument that has evidence, I need you to do the work of explaining to me why your analytical argument is sufficient to off-set the argument with evidence. You can do this by telling me that sense the argument doesn't make sense/has a fallacy, then it doesn't stand even with evidence. Or you can make an analytical argument about the evidence itself. Otherwise, I am likely going to still prefer the argument with evidence.
Please call for evidence in a timely manner. Please use an email chain or the evidence sharing that Tabroom provides. I want to be included on the email chain.
If there is conflict about evidence, I need you to do the work of telling me why I prefer your evidence over your opponent's evidence. Just telling me, "It post dates," is not sufficient. What has changed since that date? Why is your source more reliable? Otherwise, I will just get frustrated.
If your opponent asks for evidence, per the NSDA rules, you need to provide them with the cut card and the full article in a way that allows everyone to see and read the evidence. I expect to be included in any email chain, so I can also see the card that was called for. I also expect this exchange of evidence to happen promptly (less than 30 seconds) when asked.
If there are questions about the validity of the evidence or the way evidence is being used, you are likely to lose my ballot.
On a related note, I do not believe that everything needs to be quantified. Just because numbers cannot or are not put to an impact, does not mean that it cannot be weighed. This is ESPECIALLY true when it comes to impacts to human beings. I do not find the argument, "we don't know how many people will be impacted," persuasive.
Prep Time: I expect competitors to keep track of their own time. I will also be keeping track of prep time. This will be official time used. If you use all of your prep time before the end of the round, I expect you to start speaking promptly. That means you should take no more than 10 seconds to begin your next speech.
Background: I am a math teacher, so if you are going to throw around math terms and mathematics, you need to be certain that you know what you are talking about and are correct. As an example, there is a difference between exponential, linear, and geometric growth, so make sure you say the right one.
I have debated PF 4 years in high school, 4 years of college PF, 4 years of NPDA/parli in college.
I am not a LD debater, so I have minimal understanding of the theory and technical arguments that exist within LD. You can absolutely still make those arguments, but you need to make sure that you are explaining those terms, otherwise I will be lost and frustrated.
I am happy to give you feedback after the round, if you find me. :)
Chad Meadows (he/him)
If you have interest in college debate, and would be interested in hearing about very expansive scholarship opportunities please contact me. Our program competes in two policy formats and travels to at least 4 tournaments a semester. Most of our nationally competitive students have close to zero cost of attendance because of debate specific financial support.
Debate Experience
College: I’ve been the head argument coach and/or Director of Debate for Western Kentucky University for a little over a decade. WKU primarily competes in NFA-LD, a shorter policy format. This season (2023) we are adding CEDA/NDT tournaments to our schedule.
High School: I’ve been an Assistant Coach, and primarily judge, for the Marist School in Atlanta, Georgia for several years. In this capacity I’ve judged at high school tournaments in both Policy Debate and Public Forum.
Argument Experience/Preferences
I feel comfortable evaluating the range of debates in modern policy debate (no plan affirmatives, policy, and kritik) though I am the most confident in policy rounds. My research interests tend toward more political science/international affairs/economics, though I’ve become well read in some critical areas in tandem with my students’ interests (anti-blackness/afropessimism in particular) in addition I have some cursory knowledge of the standard kritik arguments in debate, but no one would mistake me for a philosophy enthusiast. On the nuclear weapons topic, almost all of my research has been on the policy side.
I have few preferences with regard to content, but view some argumentative trends with skepticism: Counterplans that result in the plan (consult and many process counterplans), Agent counterplans, voting negative any procedural concern that isn’t topicality, reject the team counterplan theory that isn’t conditionality, some versions of politics DAs that rely on defining the process of fiat, arguments that rely on voting against the representations of the affirmative without voting against the result of the plan.
I feel very uncomfortable evaluating events that have happened outside of the debate round, especially in the CEDA/NDT community where I have limited knowledge of the context regarding community trends.
I have little experience evaluating debates with some strategies that would only be acceptable in a 2-person policy debate context - 2ac add-ons, 2nc counterplanning, 2ac intrinsicness tests on DA, etc. I’m not opposed to these strategies, and understand their strategic purpose, but I have limited exposure.
Decision Process
I tend to read more cards following the debate than most. That’s both because I’m curious, and I tend to find that debaters are informing their discussion given the evidence cited in the round, and I understand their arguments better having read the cards myself.
I give less credibility to arguments that appear unsupported by academic literature, even if the in round execution on those arguments is solid. I certainly support creativity and am open to a wide variety of arguments, but my natural disposition sides with excellent debate on arguments that are well represented in the topic literature.
To decide challenging debates I generally use two strategies: 1) write a decision for both sides and determine which reflects the in-round debating as opposed to my own intuition, and 2) list the relevant meta-issues in the round (realism vs liberal internationalism, debate is a game vs. debate should spill out, etc.) and list the supporting arguments each side highlighted for each argument and attempt to make sense of who debated the best on the issues that appear to matter most for resolving the decision.
I try to explain why I sided with the winner on each important issue, and go through each argument extended in the final rebuttal for the losing team and explain why I wasn’t persuaded by that argument.
Public Forum
Baseline expectations: introduce evidence using directly quoted sections of articles not paraphrasing, disclose arguments you plan to read in debates.
Argument preferences: no hard and fast rules, but I prefer debates that most closely resemble the academic and professional controversy posed by the topic. Debate about debate, while important in many contexts, is not the argument I'm most interested in adjudicating.
Style preferences: Argumentation not speaking style will make up the bulk of my decision making and feedback, my reflections on debate are informed by detailed note taking of the speeches, speeches should focus their time on clashing with their opponents' arguments.
I competed for 4 years in speech and debate in Nebraska (I participated in Policy and PF primarily, with some Extemp). I am now the head debate coach at Washington High School in Sioux Falls, SD. I was primarily a K debater and have experience with performance affs, however, I adapted to traditional debate circuits in SD, so if you have a K you have been waiting to pull out, now is your time. Using K's as timesucks, however, is a huge pet peeve of mine. If you are running a K, I assume you care about the issue at hand and not just trying to be performative.
-I'm more than willing to listen to any argument you are willing to make, as long as it's done fairly. I love to see creativity in argument and believe that such types of thinking are fundamental to society, so if you want to run something a bit out there, I will hear you out. However, if it's clear that you are primarily using these types of arguments to confuse your opponent, I will automatically drop speaker points.
-I am okay with speed as long as you enunciate! I cannot stress this enough.
-I will be paying attention to what is said, but if there's something you think was said that is important to winning the round, I would mention it in a subsequent speech.
-If your opponents don't attack a point of yours, make sure you extend that in either summary or final focus (if not both) if you want me to consider it. In LD, it has to make it into your rebuttals.
- Weigh!!! As a former debater, I know how hard this can be to do well. Always remember that what makes sense to you and what you see as obvious may not be how others (including your judge) see things! Use your rebuttals and especially your final focus to really paint me a clear picture of why you won the round. I love voters. I'm typically a big picture thinker, so meta level questions and framing args are critical to instructing my ballot.
-Be polite to each other and have fun! Also, I have found I am very expressive in round, so if something does not make sense or I am confused, you will be able to tell. This usually means I need you to really sell me on the link story.
-IF YOU ARE GOING TO CALL FOR CARDS, KEEP SPEECHES GOING UNLESS YOU ARE USING PREP TIME. There is no reason we should be stopping rounds after just 1 constructive speech to wait for 5 cards. If you are waiting on evidence sharing, your partner can still read case while you wait. I don't mind short stops to glance at a card, however, I will dock speaks if I have to wait too long because you abuse time. Too many people are doing this, essentially creating a second untimed prep time for their team.
If you all have any specific questions this didn't cover or want any other additional information about my judging I encourage you to ask me before the round! :)
Email: mercado.angelicaarely@gmail.com
Currently Head Coach at Campbell Hall (CA)
Formerly Head Coach of Fairmont Prep (CA), Ransom Everglades (FL) & Pembroke Hill (MO), and Assistant Coach for Washburn Rural (KS), and Lake Highland (FL).
Coached for 20 years – Have coached all events. Have coached both national circuit policy & PF. Also I have a J.D., so if you are going to try to play junior Supreme Court Justice, please be reasonably accurate in your legal interpretations.
Address for the email chain: millerdo@campbellhall.org
Scroll down for Policy or Parli Paradigm
Public Forum Paradigm
Short Version
- If you want me to evaluate anything in the final focus you MUST extend it in every speech, beginning with the 2nd Rebuttal. That includes defensive case attacks, as well as unanswered link chains and impacts that you want to extend from your own case. Just frontlining without extending the link and impact stories from constructives means you have dropped those links and impacts.
- Absent any other framing arguments, I will default to a utilitarian offense/defense paradigm.
- Send speech docs in a timely fashion BEFORE you give any speech in which you introduce new evidence. If you don't, I will be sad, any time you take finding ev will be free prep for your opponents, and the max speaks you will be able to earn from me will be 28. If you do send docs I will be happy and the lowest speaks you will earn will be 28. This only applies to varsity teams.
- Narrow the 2nd half of the round down to one key contention-level impact story and 1-2 key answers on your opponents’ case. This should start in the 2nd Rebuttal.
- No new cards in 2nd Summary. No new cards in 1st Summary unless directly in response to new 2nd Rebuttal arguments.
- I'm OK w/ theory - IF IT IS DONE WELL. Read below for specific types of arguments.
Long Version
1. Summary extension
If you want me to evaluate anything in the final focus you MUST extend it in the summary. Yes, that includes defense & turns from the rebuttal. Yes, that includes unanswered link chains and impacts. And that doesn't just mean "extend my links and impacts." That doesn't do it. You need to explicitly extend each of the cards/args you will need to make a cohesive narrative at the end of the round. If you want to go for it in the FF, make sure your partner knows to extend it. Even if it is the best argument I’ve ever heard, failure to at least mention it in the summary will result in me giving the argument zero weight in my decision. Basically, too many 2nd speakers just ignore their partner’s summary speech. Attempting to extend things that were clearly dropped in the Summary will result in a lowering of speaker points for the 2nd speaker. This is # 1 on my list for a reason. It plays a major factor in more than half of my decisions. Ignore this advice at your own peril.
1A. 2nd Rebuttal Rebuild
Everything I just said about Summary also goes for 2nd Rebuttal. Anything you want me to evaluate at any later point in the round needs to be mentioned/extended in 2nd Rebuttal. That includes extending / rebuilding the portions of your case you want me to weigh at the end, even those that were not addressed by your opponents in the first Rebuttal. For example: 1st Rebuttal just answers your links on C1. You not only need to rebuild whatever C1 links you want me to evaluate at the end of the round, but you also need to explicitly extend your impacts you are claiming those links link to in at least a minimum of detail. Just saying" extend my impacts" will be unlikely to cut it. At least try to reference both the argument and the card you want me to extend. And, yes, I know this means you won't be able to cover as much in 2nd Rebuttal. Make choices. That's what this event is all about.
2. Offense defense
Absent any other framing arguments, I will default to a utilitarian offense/defense paradigm. Just going for defensive response to the the opposing case in FF won’t be persuasive in front of me. Additionally, I am open to non-traditional framing arguments (e.g. rights, ontology, etc), but you will need to have some pretty clear warrants as to why I should disregard a traditional net offensive advantage for the other team when making my decision.
3. Send Speech Docs with the cut cards your are about to read before your speech
This is the expected norm in both Policy and LD, and it is time for PF to grow up as well. I am tired of wasting 15+ min per round while kids look for cards that they should have ready as part of their blocks and/or cases to share, and just paraphrasing stuff without the cut card readily available. To combat these bad practices, I choose to adopt two incentives in varsity rounds to have debaters use speech docs like every other legitimate form of debate.
First, if you do not send a speech doc w/ all the cards you are about to read in that next speech to the email chain in a timely fashion (less than a minute or two) before you begin any speech in which you read cards, I will cap your speaker points at 28, with a starting point for average speaks at 27. If you do send a speech doc with the cut cards you are about to read in order, I will guarantee that the lowest speaks you receive will be a 28, with a starting point for average speaks at 29. If you don't have this ready before the round, or can't get it ready in a minute or so before each speech, don't waste time trying. It defeats the part of the purpose aimed to speed up rounds and prevent tournaments from running behind because kids can't find their evidence. Just accept that your speaks will be capped, learn from it, and put together your cases and blocks more ethically for next time. Two caveats to this general rule: 1) the obvious allowance for accidentally missing the occasional card due to honest error, 2) if you engage in offensive behavior/language/etc that would otherwise justify something lower than a 25, providing a speech doc will not exempt you from such a score.
Second, I will utilize the approach that has been used in the past at the TOC, where teams are free to prep while the other team is searching for the evidence that they have been requested to share and should already have available, and that time will NOT count against the requesting team's 3:00 of prep. If you read this and can figure out how to use it to your advantage, more power to you.
Basically, I won't require you to provide speech docs, but I will use these two measures to incentivize their use in the strongest possible way I feel I reasonably can. This hopefully will both speed up rounds and simultaneously encourage more transparency and better overall evidence quality. If you don't like this, strike me.
4. Narrow the round
It would be in your best interest to narrow the 2nd half of the round down to one key contention-level impact story and 1-2 key turns on your opponents’ case, and then spend most of your time doing impact comparisons on those issues. Going for all 3 contentions and every turn you read in rebuttal is a great way to lose my ballot. If you just extend everything, you leave it up to me to evaluate the relative important of each of your arguments. This opens the door for judge intervention, and you may not like how I evaluate those impacts. I would much rather you do that thought process for me. I routinely find myself voting for the team that goes all in on EFFECTIVE impact framing on the issue or two they are winning over the team that tries to extend all of their offensive arguments (even if they are winning most of them) at the expense of doing effective impact framing. Strategic choices matter. Not making any choices is a choice in itself, and is usually a bad one.
5. No new cards in Summary, unless they are in direct response to a new argument brought up in the immediately prior speech.
1st Summary: If you need to read cards to answer arguments first introduced in opponents case, those needed to be read in 1st Rebuttal, not 1st Summary. Only if 2nd Rebuttal introduces new arguments—for example a new impact turn on your case—will I evaluate new cards in the 1st Sum, and only to specifically answer that new 2nd Rebuttal turn. Just please flag that your are reading a new card, and ID exactly what new 2nd Rebuttal argument you are using it to answer.
2nd Summary: Very rarely, 2nd summary will need to address something that was brought up new in 1st summary. For example, as mentioned above, 2nd Rebuttal puts offense on case. 1st Summary might choose to address that 2nd Rebuttal offense with a new carded link turn. Only in a case like that will I evaluate new evidence introduced into 2nd Summary. If you need to take this route, as above in 1st Summary, please flag exactly what argument you say was new in the 1st Summary you are attempting to answer before reading the new card.
In either case, unless the prior speech opened the door for you, I will treat any new cards in Summary just like extending things straight into FF & ignoring the summary—I won’t evaluate them and your speaker points will take a hit. However, new cross-applications of cards previously introduced into the round ARE still OK at this point.
5A. No new cross-applications or big-picture weighing in Final Focus.
Put the pieces together before GCF - at least a little bit. This includes weighing analysis. The additional time allotted to teams in Summary makes it easier to make these connections and big-picture comparisons earlier in the round. Basically, the other team should at least have the opportunity to ask you about it in a CF of some type. You don't have to do the most complete job of cross-applying or weighing before FF, but I should at least be able to trace its seed back to some earlier point in the round.
6. Theory
I will, and am often eager to, vote on debate theory arguments. But proceed with caution. Debaters in PF rarely, if ever, know how to debate theory well enough to justify voting on it. But I have seen one or two rounds recently that give me some hope for the future.
Regarding practices, there is a strategic utility for reading theory even if you are not going for it. I get that part of the game of debate, and am here for it. But if you think you want me to actually vote on it, and it isn't just a time suck, I would strongly encourage that you collapse down to just theory in the 2nd Rebuttal/1st Summary in a similar fashion that I would think advisable in choosing which of your substance-based impact scenarios to go for. Theory isn't the most intuitive argument, and is done poorly when it is blippy. If it is a bad practice that truly justifies my disregarding substantive arguments, then treat it like one. Pick a standard and an impact story and really develop it in both speeches AND IN GCF in the similar way you should develop a link story and impact from your substantive contention. Failing to collapse down will more than likely leave you without sufficient time to explain your abuse story and voter analysis in such a way that it is compelling enough for me to pull the trigger. If you are going to do it (and I'm good with it if you do), do it well. Otherwise, just stick to the substance.
My leanings on specific types of theory arguments:
Fiat – For policy resolutions, until the “no plans” rule is changed, PF is essentially a whole-resolution debate, no matter how much teams would like for it to be policy. That means the resolution is is the plan text. Thus, if teams want to exclusively advocate a specific subset(s) of the resolution, they need to provide some warrants as to why their specific subset(s) of the resolution is the MOST LIKELY form the resolution would take if it were adopted. Trying to specify and only defend a hyper-specific example(s) of the resolution that is unlikely to occur without your fiat is ridiculously abusive without reading a plan text, and makes you a moving target – especially when you clarify your position later in the round to spike out of answers. Plan texts are necessary to fiat something that is unlikely to happen in the status quo in order to create a stable advocacy. Basically, in my mind, “no plans” = “no fiat of subsets of the resolution.” Also, please don't try to fiat things in a fact-based resolution (hint, it's probably not a policy resolution if it doesn't look like "Actor X should do Thing Y").
Multiple conditional advocacies – Improbable fiated advocacies are bad enough, but when teams read multiple such advocacies and then decide “we’re not going for that one” when the opposing team puts offense on it is the zenith of in-round abuse. Teams debating in front of me should continue to go for their unanswered offensive turns against these “kicked” arguments – I will weigh them in the round, and am somewhat inclined to view such practices as a voter if substantial abuse is demonstrated by the offended team. If you start out with a 3-prong fiated advocacy, then you darn well better end with it. Severance is bad. If teams are going to choose to kick out of part of their advocacy mid-round, they need to effectively answer any offense on the "to-be-kicked" parts first.
Paraphrasing - I tend to come down strongly on the side of having cut cards available. This doesn't mean I will automatically vote for paraphrasing theory, as I think there is room for a conceivably viable counter-interp of having the cards attached to blocks/cases or something similar. But blatant, unethical, and lazy paraphrasing has, at times, really threatened the integrity of this activity, and it needs to stop. This is the way to do that.
Trigger Warning - I am not your guy for this. I'm not saying I won't vote on it, but it would be an uphill battle.
Disclosure - Disclosure is good. My teams do it, and I think you should too. It makes for better debates, and the Wiki is an invaluable tool for small squads with limited resources and coaching. I speak from experience, having coached those types of small squads in policy against many of the juggernaut programs with armies of assistants cutting cards. Arguments about how it is somehow unfair to small teams make little sense to me. That being said, I don't think the lack of disclosure is as serious of a threat to the integrity of PF as the bad paraphrasing that at one point was rampant in the activity. Disclosure is more of a strongly suggested improvement, as opposed to an ethical necessity. But if the theory arg is run WELL, I will certainly vote on it.
7. Crossfire
If you want me to evaluate an argument or card, it needs to be in a speech. Just mentioning it in CF is not sufficient. You can refer to what was said in CF in the next speech, and that will be far more efficient, but it doesn’t exist in my mind until I hear it in a speech. Honestly, I'm probably writing comments during CF anyway, and am only halfway listening. That being said, I am NOT here for just not doing cross (usually GCF) and instead taking prep. Until the powers that be get rid of it, we are still doing GCF. Instead of just not wanting to do it, get better at it. Make it something that I should listen to.
8. Evidence citations
You should probably read the citations according to whatever the NSDA says, but I’m not likely to vote on any irregularities (e.g. no date of access) unless the abuses are proven to be especially egregious and substantive in the round.
9. Speaker points
See my policy on Speech Docs. If I were not making the choice to institute that policy, the following reflects my normal approach to speaks, and will still apply to how I evaluate within the 25-28 non-speech doc range, and within the 28-30 speech doc range. My normal reference point for “average” is 27.5. That’s where most everyone starts. My default is to evaluate on a scale with steps of 0.1, as opposed to steps of 0.5. Below a 25 means you did something offensive. A true 30.0 in HS debate (on a 0.1 scale) doesn’t exist. It is literally perfect. I can only think of 3 times I have ever given out a 29.6 or higher, and each of them were because of this next thing. My points are almost exclusively based on what you say, not how you say it. I strongly value making good, strategic choices, and those few exceptional scores I’ve given were all because of knowing what was important and going for it / impact framing it, and dumping the unnecessary stuff in the last half of the round.
10. Ask for additional thoughts on the topic
Even if you’ve read this whole thing, still ask me beforehand. I may have some specific thoughts relating to the topic at hand that could be useful.
11. Speed
Notice how I didn't say anything about that above, even though it's the first questions like half of kids ask? Basically, yes, I can handle your blazing speed. But it would still probably be a good idea to slow it down a little, Speed Racer. Quality > quantity. However, if you try to go fast and don't give a speech doc with cut cards before you start speaking, I will be very, VERY unhappy. The reason why policy teams can go as fast as they do is that they read a tag, which we as the audience can mentally process and flow, and then while they are reading the cite/text of the card, we have time to finish flowing the tag and listen for key warrants. The body of the card gives us a beat or two to collect ourself before we have to figure out what to write next. Just blitzing through blippily paraphrased cards without a tag (e.g. "Smith '22 warrants...") doesn't give us that tag to process first, and thus we have to actively search for what to flow. By the time we get it down, we have likely already missed your next "card." So, if you are going to try to go faster than a broadly acceptable PF pace, please have tags, non-paraphrased cards, and speech docs. And if you try to speed through a bunch of blippy paraphrased "cards" without a doc, don't be surprised when we miss several of your turns. Basically, there is a way to do it right. Please do it that way, if you are going to try to go fast.
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Policy Paradigm
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I debated for 4 years in high school (super old-school, talk-pretty policy), didn't debate in college, and have coached at the HS level for 20 years. I am currently the Head Coach at Campbell Hall in Los Angeles, and previously was an Assistant Coach at Washburn Rural in KS, and head coach at Fairmont Prep in Anaheim, CA, Ransom Everglades School, in Miami, and The Pembroke Hill School in KCMO. However, I don't judge too many policy rounds these days, so take that into account.
Overview:
Generally, do what you do, as long as you do it well, and I'll be happy. I prefer big-picture impact framing where you do the comparative work for me. In general, I will tend to default to such analysis, because I want you to do the thinking in the round, not me. My better policy teams in the past where I was Head Coach read a great deal of ontology-based Ks (cap, Heidegger, etc), and they often make some level of sense to me, but I'm far from steeped in the literature. I'm happy to evaluate most of the normal disads & cps, but the three general classes of arguments that I usually find less persuasive are identity-based strategies that eschew the topic, politics disads, and to a lesser degree, performance-based arguments. But if any of those are your thing, I would in general prefer you do your thing well than try and do something else that you just aren't comfortable with. I'll go with the quality argument, even if it isn't my personal favorite. I'm not a fan of over-reliance on embedded clash, especially in overviews. I'd rather you put it on the line-by-line. I'm more likely to get it down on my flow and know how to apply it that way, and that's the type of debating I'll reward with higher speaks. Please be sure to be clear on your tags, cites, and theory/analytic blocks. Hard numbering/”And’s” are appreciated, and if you need to, go a little slower on those tags, cites, and theory/analytic blocks to be sure they are clear, distinct, and I get them. Again, effort to do so will be rewarded with higher speaks.
Topicality:
I generally think affs should have to defend the topic, and actually have some sort of plan text / identifiable statement of advocacy. There are very few "rules" of debate, thus allowing tons of leeway for debaters to choose arguments. But debating the topic is usually a pretty good idea in my mind, as most issues, even those relating to the practices and nature of our activity and inclusion therein, can usually still be discussed in the context of the topic. I rather strongly default to competing interpretations. I like to see T debates come down to specific abuse stories, how expanding or contracting limits functionally impacts competitive equity, and exactly what types of ground/args are lost/gained by competing interps (case lists are good for this in front of me). I usually buy the most important impact to T as fairness. T is an a priori issue for me, and K-ing T is a less than ideal strategy with me as your judge.
Theory:
If you are going to go for it, go for it. I am unlikely to vote either way on theory via a blippy cheap-shot, unless the entire argument was conceded. But sometimes, for example, condo bad is the right strategic move for the 2AR. If it's done well, I won't hesitate to decide a round on it. Not a fan of multiple conditional worlds. With the notable exception of usually giving epistemology / ontology-based affs some flexibility on framework needing to come before particulars of implementation, I will vote Neg on reasonable SPEC arguments against policy affs. Affs should be able to articulate what their plan does, and how it works. (Read that you probably ought to have a plan into that prior statement, even if you are a K team.) For that reason, I also give Neg a fair amount of theoretical ground when it comes to process CPs against those affs. Severance is generally bad in my mind. Intrinsicness, less so.
CPs:
Personally, I think a lot of the standard CPs are, in any type of real world sense, ridiculous. The 50 states have never worked together in the way envisioned by the CP. A constitutional convention to increase funding for whatever is laughable. An XO to create a major policy change is just silly (although over the last two administrations, that has become less so). All that being said, these are all legit arguments in the debate world, and I evaluate and vote on them all the time. I guess I just wish Affs were smart enough to realize how dumb and unlikely these args actually are, and would make more legit arguments based on pointing that out. However, I do like PICs, and enjoy a well thought out and deployed advantage CP.
Disads:
Most topic-related disads are fine with me. Pretty standard on that. Just be sure to not leave gaping holes / assumptions in your link chains, and I'm OK. However, I generally don't like the politics disad. I would much rather hear a good senator specific politics scenario instead of the standard “President needs pol cap, plan’s unpopular” stuff, but even then, I'm not a fan. I'll still vote for it if that's what is winning the round, but I may not enjoy doing so. Just as a hint, it would be very easy to convince me that fiat solves for most politics link stories (and, yes, I understand this places me in the very small minority of judges), and I don't see nearly as much quality ground lost from the intrinsic perm against politics as most. Elections disads, though, don't have those same fiat-related issues, and are totally OK by me.
Criticisms:
I don’t read the lit much, but in spite of that, I really kind of like most of the more "traditional" ontological Ks (cap, security, Heidegger, etc). To me, Ks are about the idea behind the argument, as opposed to pure technical proficiency & card dumping. Thus, the big picture explanation of why the K is "true," even if that is at the expense of reading a few more cards, would be valuable. Bringing through traditional line-by-line case attacks in the 2NR to directly mitigate some of the Aff advantages is probably pretty smart. I think Negs set an artificially high burden for themselves when they completely drop case and only go for the K in the 2NR, as this means that they have to win 100% access to their “Alt solves the case” or framework args in order for the K to outweigh some super-sketchy and ridiculous, but functionally conceded, extinction scenario from the 1AC. K's based in a framework strategy tend to be more compelling in front of me than K's that rely on the alt to actually solve something (because, let's be honest here - they rarely do). Identity-related arguments are usually not the most compelling in front of me, and I tend to buy strategic attacks against them from the left as more persuasive than attacks from the right.
Random:
I understand that some teams are unbalanced in terms of skill/experience, and that's just the way it goes sometimes. I've coached many teams like that. But I do like to see if both debaters actually know what they are talking about. Thus, your speaks will probably go down if your partner is answering all of your cross-ex questions for you. It won’t impact my decision (I just want to know the answers), but it will impact speaks. Same goes for oral prompting. That being said, I am inclined to give a moderate boost to the person doing the heavy lifting in those cases, as long as they do it respectfully.
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Parli Paradigm
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Parli is not my primary debate background, so I likely have an atypical paradigm for a parli judge that is influenced by my experiences coaching policy and circuit PF. Please adapt accordingly if you want to win my ballot.
First, I honestly don't care how you sound. I care about the arguments you make. Please, don't read that as an immediate excuse to engage in policy-style spreading (that level of speed doesn't translate super well to an event that is entirely analytics and doesn't have cards), but I will likely be more accustomed to and be able to handle debates that are faster than most of the HS parli rounds I have seen to date.
Two general things that I find annoying and unnecessary: 1) Introducing yourself at the top of each speech. I know who you are. Your name is on the ballot. That's all I need. This just seems to be an unnecessary practice designed to turn an 8 minute speech into a 7:30 speech. Forget the formalities, and just give me the content, please. 2) I don't need a countdown for when you start. We aren't launching a rocket into space or playing Mario Kart. Just start. I am a sentient enough of a being to figure out to hit the button on my timer when you begin talking.
I'll go speech by speech.
1st Gov: Spending the first minute or so explaining the background of the topic might be time well spent, just to ensure that everyone is on the same page. Please, if you have a contention-level argument, make sure it has some kind of terminal impact. If it isn't something that I can weigh at the end of the round, then why are you making the argument?
1st Opp: Same as above re: terminal impacts in case. Any refutations to the Aff case you would like me to evaluate at the end of the round need to be in this speech, or at least be able to be traced back to something in this speech. That means you probably shouldn't get to the Aff case with only a minute or two left in the speech. If your partner attempts to make new refutations to the Aff case in the 2nd Opp, I won't evaluate them.
2nd Gov: Similar to the 1st Opp, any parts of your case that you want me to consider when making my decisions need to be explicitly extended in this speech. That includes all essential parts of an argument - link, internal link, and impact. Just saying "extend my Contention 2" is insufficient to accomplish this task. You will actually need to spend at least a modicum of time on each, in order for me to flow it through, in addition to answering any refutations that Opp has made on it in the prior speech. Considering that you will also need to spend some time refuting the Neg's newly introduced case, this means that you will likely NOT have time to extend all of your contentions. That's fine. Make a choice. Not all contentions are equally good. If you try to go for everything, you will likely not do anything well enough to make a compelling argument. Instead, pick your best one (or maybe two) and extend, rebuild, and impact it. Prioritizing arguments and making choices is an essential analytical skill this activity should teach. Making decisions in this fashion will be rewarded in both my decision-making at the end of the round, as well as in speaker points.
Opp Block: If you want me to evaluate any arguments in the these speeches, I need to be able to trace the responses/arguments back to the 1st Opp, except if they are new answers to case responses that could only have been made in the the 2nd Gov. For example, 2nd Gov makes refutations to the Opp's case. New responses to these arguments will be evaluated. However, to reiterate, I will absolutely NOT evaluate new refutations to Gov case in these speeches. Just as with the 2nd Gov, I also strongly advocate collapsing down to one contention-level impact story from your case and making it the crux of your narrative about how the debate should be decided. Trying to go for all three contentions you read in the 1st Gov is a great way to not develop any of those arguments well, and to leave me to pick whatever I happen to like best. I don't like judge intervention, which is why I want you to make those decisions for me by identifying the most important impact/argument on your side and focusing your time at the end of the round on it. Do my thinking for me. If you let me think, you may not like my decision.
Both Rebuttals: Listing a bunch of voters is a terrible way to debate. You are literally just giving me a menu of things I could vote on and hoping that I pick the one you want. You would be much better served in these speeches to focus in on one key impact story, and do extensive weighing analysis - either how it outweighs any/all of the other side's impacts, or if it is a value round, how it best meets the value framing of the debate. As I stated in the Opp Block section, please, do my thinking for me. Show that you can evaluate the relative worth of different arguments and make a decision based upon that evaluation. Refusing to do so tells me you have no idea which of your arguments is superior to the others, and thus you do not have a firm grasp on what is really happening in the round. Be brave. Make a choice. You will likely be rewarded for it. Also, there is very little reason to POO in these speeches. I keep a good enough flow to know when someone is introducing new arguments. If it is new, I won't evaluate it. I don't need you to call it out. I largely find it annoying.
Jeffrey Miller
Current Coach -- Marist School (2011-present)
Lab Leader -- National Debate Forum (2015-present), Emory University (2016), Dartmouth College (2014-2015), University of Georgia (2012-2015)
Former Coach -- Fayette County (2006-2011), Wheeler (2008-2009)
Former Debater -- Fayette County (2002-2006)
jmill126@gmail.com and maristpublicforum@gmail.com for email chains, please (no google doc sharing and no locked google docs)
Last Updated -- 2/12/2012 for the 2022 Postseason (no major updates, just being more specific on items)
I am a high school teacher who believes in the power that speech and debate provides students. There is not another activity that provides the benefits that this activity does. I am involved in topic wording with the NSDA and argument development and strategy discussion with Marist, so you can expect I am coming into the room as an informed participant about the topic. As your judge, it is my job to give you the best experience possible in that round. I will work as hard in giving you that experience as I expect you are working to win the debate. I think online debate is amazing and would not be bothered if we never returned to in-person competitions again. For online debate to work, everyone should have their cameras on and be cordial with other understanding that there can be technical issues in a round.
What does a good debate look like?
In my opinion, a good debate features two well-researched teams who clash around a central thesis of the topic. Teams can demonstrate this through a variety of ways in a debate such as the use of evidence, smart questioning in cross examination and strategical thinking through the use of casing and rebuttals. In good debates, each speech answers the one that precedes it (with the second constructive being the exception in public forum). Good debates are fun for all those involved including the judge(s).
The best debates are typically smaller in nature as they can resolve key parts of the debate. The proliferation of large constructives have hindered many second halves as they decrease the amount of time students can interact with specific parts of arguments and even worse leaving judges to sort things out themselves and increasing intervention.
What role does theory play in good debates?
I've always said I prefer substance over theory. That being said, I do know theory has its place in debate rounds and I do have strong opinions on many violations. I will do my best to evaluate theory as pragmatically as possible by weighing the offense under each interpretation. For a crash course in my beliefs of theory - disclosure is good, open source is an unnecessary standard for high school public forum teams until a minimum standard of disclosure is established, paraphrasing is bad, round reports is frivolous, content warnings for graphic representations is required, content warnings over non-graphic representations is debatable.
All of this being said, I don't view myself as an autostrike for teams that don't disclose or paraphrase. However, I've judged enough this year to tell you if you are one of those teams and happen to debate someone with thoughts similar to mine, you should be prepared with answers.
How do "progressive" arguments work in good debates?
Like I said above, arguments work best when they are in the context of the critical thesis of the topic. Thus, if you are reading the same cards in your framing contention from the Septober topic that have zero connections to the current topic, I think you are starting a up-hill battle for yourselves. I have not been entirely persuaded with the "pre-fiat" implications I have seen this year - if those pre-fiat implications were contextualized with topic literature, that would be different.
My major gripe with progressive debates this year has been a lack of clash. Saying "structural violence comes first" doesn't automatically mean it does or that you win. These are debatable arguments, please debate them. I am also finding that sometimes the lack of clash isn't a problem of unprepared debaters, but rather there isn't enough time to resolve major issues in the literature. At a minimum, your evidence that is making progressive type claims in the debate should never be paraphrased and should be well warranted. I have found myself struggling to flow framing contentions that include four completely different arguments that should take 1.5 minutes to read that PF debaters are reading in 20-30 seconds (Read: your crisis politics cards should be more than one line).
How should evidence exchange work?
Evidence exchange in public forum is broken. At the beginning of COVID, I found myself thinking cases sent after the speech in order to protect flowing. However, my view on this has shifted. A lot of debates I found myself judging last season had evidence delays after case. At this point, constructives should be sent immediately prior to speeches. (If you paraphrase, you should send your narrative version with the cut cards in order). At this stage in the game, I don't think rebuttal evidence should be emailed before but I imagine that view will shift with time as well. When you send evidence to the email chain, I prefer a cut card with a proper citation and highlighting to indicate what was read. Cards with no formatting or just links are as a good as analytics.
For what its worth, whenever I return to in-person tournaments, I do expect email chains to continue.
What effects speaker points?
I am trying to increase my baseline for points as I've found I'm typically below average. Instead of starting at a 28, I will try to start at a 28.5 for debaters and move accordingly. Argument selection, strategy choices and smart crossfires are the best way to earn more points with me. You're probably not going to get a 30 but have a good debate with smart strategy choices, and you should get a 29+.
This only applies to tournaments that use a 0.1 metric -- tournaments that are using half points are bad.
I am a former public forum debater. When you make arguments, make sure you understand what they mean. Impacts are always benifical throughout the entire debate. But extend the argument not the card. If you believe you have won a point, you should be able to summarize why you have into a brief statement as opposed to not mentioning it. By the end of the final focus I should have a clear presentation of why your team won the round. If you use evidence in the round, please have that evidence ready to be shown in case it is called for by the opposing team or me.i will give a verbal RFD about what need to be worked on or give suggestions for possible help.
Please be respectful, speak well, and remember this activity is one for education and fun
I did primarily PF for 4 years and now coach. Just as background: I studied political science and international relations and now work in state politics. I'm a very average flow judge. Clean up the round/write my ballot for me PLEASE.
add me to the email chain morgandylan183@gmail.com.
Flip, pre-flow, and get ready as fast as possible, don't wait for me to get to there.
I will and expect other teams to call out others noticeably prep stealing, please don't do this.
Don't shake my hand
I evaluate the round, first, by looking to framework, then weighing to see where to vote. If neither occur, I look to what's left in final focus and whichever team has the cleanest link into their impact. I default to probability, then scope. I’m open to why I shouldn’t do any of this.
Speed: I do not want to have to follow along in a doc, be understandable.
Evidence: I expect all evidence to be in cut card format and ready to see when asked in a few minutes at most. If it is misrepresented I'm docking speaks, but it must be called out in a speech for me to strike it from the flow. Non-highlighted cards are a BIG no. (note: cards can be abused, if your opponents string together words to make a new argument, that is a legitimate reason for me to strike it from the flow)
You can paraphrase if you have cut cards but properly explain each argument, I will not get blippy args on my flow and I shouldn't have to.
General Preferences of Arguments
quality over quantity (collapse on your offense and defense)
Tell me why I should prefer your analysis/warrant/evidence, etc. Resolve the clash!!
Frontline at least turns in 2nd rebuttal, anything in final focus needs to be in summary, besides soommee weighing
I love tons of warranting, smart analytics, good knowledge of your evidence and real-world stuff, and making up sound arguments on the fly that you can defend well.
I love it when you make things on the flow interact with each other: explain any links between contention, use cards from one argument for another arg, concede a delink to logically get out of turns, find a contradiction, literally any weighing at all...
Progressive Arguments
I'll listen to and vote off anything BUT I strongly prefer substance debates and I don't care. BUT If there's legitimate abuse I kind of understand how to evaluate theory. I'm not that familiar with K's or any other progressive args.I am a lay progressive judge. Slow down and explain everything more. I require sending speech docs for these.
Speaks: I range from 27.5-29.5, nothing crazy. More commonly 28-29, just do what I talked about above and you'll be fine. I will doc speaks if you do not do things I specifically ask, i.e. slowing down during progressive args.
I love being asked questions and helping you learn!!
he/him
I've been involved in competitive speech and debate for about a decade. I am the Director of Speech and Debate at Seven Lakes High School in Katy, Texas. I competed in PF and Congress in high school and NPDA-style parliamentary debate in college at Minnesota.
I am also a Co-Director of Public Forum Boot Camp (PFBC) in Minnesota. If you do high school PF and you want to talk to me about camp, let me know.
Put me on the email chain. Please flip and get fully set up before the round start time. My email is my first name [dot] my last name [at] gmail. Add sevenlakespf@googlegroups.com, sevenlakesld@googlegroups.com, or sevenlakescx@googlegroups.com depending on the event I am judging you in. The subject of the email chain should clearly state the tournament, round number and flight, and team codes/sides of each team. For example: "Gold TOC R1A - Seven Lakes CL 1A v Lakeville North LM 2N".
In general:
Debate is a competitive research activity. The team that can most effectively synthesize their research into a defense of their plan, method, or side of the resolution will win the debate. I would like you to be persuasive, entertaining, kind, and strategic. Feel free to ask clarifying questions before the debate.
How I decide rounds/preferences:
I can judge whatever. I will vote for whatever argument wins on the flow. I want to judge a small but deep debate about the topic.
I've judged or been a part of several thousand debates in various formats over the past decade. I have seen, gone for, and voted for lots of arguments. My preference is that you demonstrate mastery of the topic and a well-thought-out strategy during the round and that you're excited to do debate and engage with your opponents' research. The best rounds consist of rigorous examination and comparison of the most recent and academically legitimate topic literature. I would like to hear you compare many different warrants and examples. Ignoring this preference will likely result in lower speaker points.
I flow, intently and carefully. I will stop flowing when my timer goes off. I will not flow while reading a document, and will only use the email chain or speech doc to look at evidence when instructed to by the competitors or after the round if the interpretation of a piece of evidence is vital to my decision. There is no grace period of any length. I will not vote on an argument I did not flow.
There is not a dichotomy between "truth" and "tech". Obviously, the team that does the better debating will win, and that will be determined by arguments that I've flowed, but you will have a much more difficult time convincing me that objectively bad arguments are true than convincing me that good arguments are true. In other words, an argument's truth often dictates its implication for my ballot because it informs technical skill.
I will not vote for unwarranted arguments, arguments that I cannot explain in my RFD, or arguments I did not flow. I have now given several decisions that were basically: "I am aware this was on the doc. I did not flow it during your speech time." Most PF rounds I judge are decided by mere seconds of argumentation, and most PF teams should probably think harder about how to warrant their links and compare their terminal impacts than they do right now.
Zero risk exists. I probably won't vote on defense or presumption, but I am theoretically willing to.
An average speaker in front of me will get a 28.5. I'm trying to align with community expectations, but I am not easily impressed. I almost never give 30s.
Critical arguments:
I am a decent judge for critical strategies that are well thought out, related to the topic, and strategically executed. I am happy to vote to reject a team's rhetoric, to critically examine economic and political systems of power, etc. if you explain why those impacts matter. In a PF context, these arguments seem to struggle with not being fleshed out enough because of short speech times but I'm not ideologically opposed to them.
I am not a great judge for strategies that ignore the resolution. I will vote for arguments that reject the topic if there are warrants for why we ought to do that and you win those warrants. But, if evenly debated, I probably think that relating your strategy to the topic is a good idea.
I am a terrible judge for strategies that rely on in-round "discourse" as offense. I generally do not think that these strategies have an impact or solve the harms with debate they identify. I've voted for these arguments several times, and I still find them unpersuasive - I just found the other team's defense of debate worse.
Theory:
Theory is generally boring and I rarely want to listen to it without it being placed in a specific context based on the current topic.
I am more than qualified to evaluate theory debates and used to go for theory in college quite a bit.
I would strongly prefer not to listen to debates about setting norms. Disclosure is generally good. Paraphrasing is generally bad.
Here is a list of arguments which will be very difficult to win in front of me: violations based on anything that occurred outside of the current debate, frivolous theory or other positions with no bearing on the question posed by the resolution, trigger warning theory, anything categorized as a trick or meant to evade clash, anything that is labeled as an IVI without a warranted implication for the ballot.
I recognize the strategic value of theory and that sometimes, you need to go for it to win a debate. If you decide to do that, you might get very low speaker points, depending on how asinine I think your position is. I will be persuaded by appeals to reasonability and that substantive debate matters more than your position.
Evidence:
Evidence ethics arguments/IVIs/theory/etc. will not be treated as theory - I will ask the team who has introduced the argument about evidence ethics if I should stop the debate and evaluate the challenge to evidence to determine the winner/loser of the round. The same goes for clipping. This is obviously different than reasons to prefer a piece of evidence or other normal weighing claims. I reserve the right to vote against teams that I notice are fabricating evidence during the round even if the other team does not make it a voting issue.
You should read good evidence and disclose case positions after you debate.
Hello! I competed in public forum for 4 years at Kennedy High School (2015-2019).
While I do find debate to be strategy based, I prefer arguments that follow a logical well thought out narrative. I keep a flow, but I prefer truthful and reasoned arguments.
There are a couple of things to do to win my ballot:
1. Have a clear narrative throughout the round. This helps me understand which argument is most important to each team rather than having a ton of random arguments that aren't clashing.
2. Extend claim+warrant+impact
3. Extend the cleanest piece of offense
4. Weigh. It is important that you weigh because if you don't I am forced to choose what I think is important and you lose control over my ballot
Flowing
- Signpost! At the end of the round I evaluate what is on my flow so it is important to be clear where you are making arguments.
- I prefer teams to not just say "extend Smith 19"- you need to explain the evidence and what that is directly responding to
- I can handle fast PF speed, but be aware of how fast I can write- speed is not always an advantage if I am unable to write it on my flow in time (also if you do choose to speak faster than normal do not exclude the other team)
Rebuttal
- I prefer well thought out articulated responses over a bunch of blippy responses (quality>quantity)
- I like carded responses, but don't card drop excessively
- For 1st rebuttal just solely respond to the opponent's case- please don't go back to your case because I just heard it and there are no responses on it yet
- For 2nd rebuttal it is your choice what you do strategically. It would be smart to do some frontlining, but I have no personal preference
Summary
- For first and second summary I would like you to extend responses on your opponent's case in order to extend it to final focus
- within this speech it is important to collapse and make grouped responses
Evidence
- I will call for a card if the other team calls for it and it becomes a point of discussion within the round or it you bring up a specific card that is very important to winning your point
- If it takes you more than 2 minutes to find a card we will have to move on and I will cross that card off the flow
K's/Theory
- I have no experience in LD or Policy so if you choose to run this type of argument you need to dumb it down for me. Personally, I would prefer a traditional contention over this type of argument. I am not a fan of disads read in rebuttal.
Other Things
- pre flow before the round! please don't delay
- I am open for discussion after the round, but please be respectful
- I understand rounds can get heated and I like respectful humor and sassiness, but do not be condescending or rude to your opponents
- Have fun!
I try to interfere as little as possible, and the best way to make your case is weighing. However, debate is an art, not a science, and just because you win the flow doesn’t mean you’ll win the round 100% of the time.
Debate Theory usually plays poorly-run at your own risk. At this level, presentation and delivery should be strong; clash is often the differentiator in my rounds. I’m fine with a little speed, but I won’t flow anything that’s TOO fast. Probably 225 words per minute is an upper limit. At this pace I strongly encourage the presenter to emphasize key points.
Additionally: Warrant extensions are crucial. Give me a strong argument and apply your warrants through the round.
Obviously practice good evidence ethics. I will call cards if necessary and judge how they fit the round. Feel free to keep your own time. Don’t be rude or disrespectful- we’re here to have fun. I’m happy to provide more insight at the beginning of the round.
I am the head debate coach at James Madison Memorial HS (2002 - present)
I am the head debate coach at Madison West HS (2014 - present)
I was formerly an assistant at Appleton East (1999-2002)
I competed for 3 years (2 in LD) at Appleton East (1993-1996)
I am a plaintiff's employment/civil rights lawyer in real life. I coach (or coached, depending on the year) every event in both debate and IE, with most of my recent focus on PF, Congress, and Extemp. Politically I'm pretty close to what you'd presume about someone from Madison, WI.
Congress at the bottom.
PF
(For online touraments) Send me case/speech docs at the start please (timscheff@aol.com) email or sharing a google doc is fine, I don't much care if I don't have access to it after the round if you delink me or if you ask me to delete it from my inbox. I have a little trouble picking up finer details in rounds where connections are fuzzy and would rather not have to ask mid round to finish my flow.
(WDCA if a team is uncomfortable sharing up front that's fine, but any called evidence should then be shared).
If your ev is misleading as cut/paraphrased or is cited contrary to the body of the evidence, I get unhappy. If I notice a problem independently there is a chance I will intervene and ignore the ev, even without an argument by your opponent. My first role has to be an educator maintaining academic honesty standards. You could still pick up if there is a path to a ballot elsewhere. If your opponents call it out and it's meaningful I will entertain voting for a theory type argument that justifies a ballot.
I prefer a team that continues to tell a consistent story/advocacy through the round. I do not believe a first speaking team's rebuttal needs to do more than refute the opposition's case and deal with framework issues. The second speaking team ideally should start to rebuild in the rebuttal; I don't hold it to be mandatory but I find it much harder to vote for a team that doesn't absent an incredible summary. What is near mandatory is that if you are going to go for it in the Final Focus, it should probably be extended in the Summary. I will give cross-x enough weight that if your opponents open the door to bringing the argument back in the grand cross, I'll still consider it.
Rate wise going quick is fine but there should be discernible variations in rate and/or tone to still emphasize the important things. If you plan on referring to arguments by author be very sure the citations are clear and articulated well enough for me to get it on my flow.
I'm a fairly staunch proponent of paraphrasing. It's an academically more realistic exercise. It also means you need to have put in the work to understand the source (hopefully) and have to be organized enough to pull it up on demand and show what you've analyzed (or else). A really good quotation used in full (or close to it) is still a great device to use. In my experience as a coach I've run into more evidence ethics, by far, with carded evidence, especially when teams only have a card, or they've done horrible Frankenstein chop-jobs on the evidence, forcing it into the quotation a team wants rather than what the author said. Carded evidence also seems to encourage increases in speed of delivery to get around the fact that an author with no page limit's argument is trying to be crammed into 4 min of speech time. Unless its an accommodation for a debater, if you need to share speech docs before a speech, something's probably gone a bit wrong with the world.
On this vein, I've developed a fairly keen annoyance with judges who outright say "no paraphrasing." It's simply not something any team can reasonably adapt to in the context of a tournament. I'm not sure how much the teams of the judges or coaches taking this position would be pleased with me saying I don't listen to cards or I won't listen to a card unless it's read 100% in full (If you line down anything, I call it invalid). It's the #1 thing where I'm getting tempted to pull the trigger on a reciprocity paradigm.
Exchange of evidence is not optional if it is asked for. I will follow the direction of a tournament on the exchange timing, however, absent knowledge of a specific rule, I will not run prep for either side when a reasonable number of sources are requested. Debaters can prep during this time as you should be able to produce sources in a reasonable amount of time and "not prepping" is a bit of a fiction and/or breaks up the flow of the round.
Citations should include a date when presented if that date will be important to the framing of the issue/solution, though it's not a bad practice to include them anyhow. More important, sources should be by author name if they are academic, or publication if journalistic (with the exception of columnists hired for their expertise). This means "Harvard says" is probably incorrect because it's doubtful the institution has an official position on the policy, similarly an academic journal/law review publishes the work of academics who own their advocacy, not the journal. I will usually ask for sources if during the course of the round the claims appear to be presented inconsistently to me or something doesn't sound right, regardless of a challenge, and if the evidence is not presented accurately, act on it.
Speaker points. Factors lending to increased points: Speaking with inflection to emphasize important things, clear organization, c-x used to create ground and/or focus the clash in the round, and telling a very clear story (or under/over view) that adapts to the actual arguments made. Factors leading to decreased points: unclear speaking, prep time theft (if you say end prep, that doesn't mean end prep and do another 10 seconds), making statements/answering answers in c-x, straw-man-ing opponents arguments, claiming opponent drops when answers were made, and, the fastest way for points to plummet, incivility during c-x. Because speaker points are meaningless in out rounds, the only way I can think of addressing incivility is to simply stop flowing the offending team(s) for the rest of the round.
Finally, I flow as completely as I can, generally in enough detail that I could debate with it. However, I'm continually temped to follow a "judge a team as they are judging yours" versus a "judge a team as you would want yours judged" rule. Particularly at high-stakes tournaments, including the TOC, I've had my teams judged by a judge who makes little or no effort to flow. I can't imagine any team at one of those tournaments happy with that type of experience yet those judges still represent them. I think lay-sourced judges and the adaptation required is a good skill and check on the event, but a minimum training and expectation of norms should be communicated to them with an attempt to comply with them. To a certain degree this problem creates a competitive inequity - other teams face the extreme randomness imposed by a judge who does not track arguments as they are made and answered - yet that judge's team avoids it. I've yet to hit the right confluence of events where I'd actually adopt "untrained lay" as a paradigm, but it may happen sometime. [UPDATE: I've gotten to do a few no-real-flow lay judging rounds this year thanks to the increase in lay judges at online tournaments]. Bottom line, if you are bringing judges that are lay, you should probably be debating as if they are your audience.
CONGRESS
The later in the cycle you speak, the more rebuttal your speech should include. Repeating the same points as a prior speaker is probably not your best use of time.
If you speak on a side, vote on that side if there wasn't an amendment. If you abstain, I should understand why you are abstaining (like a subsequent amendment contrary to your position).
I'm not opposed to hearing friendly questions in c-x as a way to advance your side's position if they are done smartly. If your compatriot handles it well, points to you both. If they fumble it, no harm to you and negative for them. C-x doesn't usually factor heavily into my rankings, often just being a tie breaker for people I see as roughly equal in their performance.
For the love of God, if it's not a scenario/morning hour/etc. where full participation on a single issue is expected, call to question already. With expanded questioning now standard, you don't need to speak on everything to stay on my mind. Late cycle speeches rarely offer something new and it's far more likely you will harm yourself with a late speech than help. If you are speaking on the same side in succession it's almost certain you will harm yourself, and opposing a motion to call to question to allow successive speeches on only one side will also reflect as a non-positive.
A good sponsorship speech, particularly one that clarifies vagueness and lays out solvency vs. vaguely talking about the general issue (because, yeah, we know climate change is bad, what about this bill helps fix it), is the easiest speech for me to score well. You have the power to frame the debate because you are establishing the legislative intent of the bill, sometimes in ways that actually move the debate away from people's initially prepped positions.
In a chamber where no one has wanted to sponsor or first negate a bill, especially given you all were able to set a docket, few things make me want to give a total round loss, than getting no speakers and someone moving for a prep-time recess. This happened in the TOC finals two years ago, on every bill. My top ranks went to the people who accepted the responsibility to the debate and their side to give those early speeches.
LAST UPDATED: NOV. 4, 2023
My previous paradigm preferences are four years old at this point and likely outdated. I have deleted them for now.
I am likely much, much worse at flowing these days than I was when judging all the time. I have been a tournament tab resident for years on end now, and that likely means I'm not as up to date on new progressive developments in rounds.
Here's what I'll say:
- Don't treat me like I'm a dummy, but don't presume I understand everything you're saying. I need you to do the work of explaining arguments, articulating impacts, and explicitly weighing within the round.
- I expect that a PF team going 2nd will have a rebuttal that both answers the opponent's case and rebuilds their own. Any argument not addressed in the 2nd team's rebuttal is a conceded argument, and if the first team makes it a voter, that's likely ballgame (assuming there is offense on the argument for the 1st team).
- I'm watching everything, but if you don't make it matter, it doesn't matter.
- In PF, I'm not going to break my back to follow you at a thousand miles an hour, so if you're fast, I'll give you one verbal "CLEAR" in the round to let you know you're leaving me behind. I will not feel at all responsible for what you might think is a bad decision if the way you're speaking disregards my ability/inability to follow and flow you.
- I expect clear and explicit voters in the final speeches.
- I'm not at all impressed by debaters who are jerks to opponents. This is a community, and everyone in it should be a steward of that community. Decorum, in extreme cases, is a voting issue for me, and I do consider my ballot my greatest means of discouraging outlandish and abusive behavior.
- I want full text reading of evidence, not paraphrasing. Upon the request of the opponent, cards not provided in a reasonable timeframe will be disregarded as if they don't exist.
If you have any specific questions, ask them pre-round.
Pronouns: she/her/hers
I have three years of experience debating Public Forum at Millard North High School, and coached for three debate seasons from 2018-2020. Since then, I have gotten a degree in forestry and am currently working in that field. I have not been involved in the debate world since 2020, so I may not be up-to-date on circuit norms.
Speed: I am not good with speed. Do not go above a fast conversational pace/a speed you would reasonably expect reporters on say, CNN, use to communicate with the public. Talking slightly faster than normal is fine, but if a random member of the public would have trouble following what you are saying I probably will too. All my experience is in PF, with a sprinkling of Congress, so please pace yourself accordingly. I will put something in the chat if your speed is a problem for me. Additionally, make sure that your speed is accessible for your opponents.
Virtual Debate Issues: If you are having problems following a speech because of your own/another debaters' Internet connection or related tech issues, SPEAK UP AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. If you have these concerns during your opponents' speech, please put them in the chat as soon as they arise. I have no problem stopping mid-round to work around technology issues.
How I vote: I vote off my flow and what is said in the round, but I will accept "nope" as a sufficient answer to arguments that are obviously, wildly false or implausible: (like if someone is arguing, idk, that Turkey is protecting NATO from a zombie apocalypse). If someone provides an argument for a role of the ballot that is different from the usual norms of Public Forum, I will consider it and vote based off how well you defend the ROB, and, if you are successful, which team best meets that role. It's possible to win on framing but lose the round.
2nd speaking Team: I expect you to rebuild your case in rebuttal.
If an argument isn't in Summary and final focus, I will not vote off of it. The sole exception is if everyone drops all the important arguments in summary/final focus and I need to re-examine dropped speeches to decide who wins.
I always disclose and give oral feedback.
I have judged mostly PF and have just a little LD experience. I come from a speech and theatre background, so I expect you to speak clearly. I can flow fairly quickly, but I give a lot of weight to making your arguments clear and supported. I judge on logical ideas that are well supported not the minutiae LD.
Please, look at me as much as possible!
Randy Stone
**I have judged this NFA topic once (1). Please go slow and explain. If youre fast on tags, or fast on theory, it is entirely your fault if you drop because there was an argument I didn’t hear or understand.
They/Them
Competitive Debate Participation: Millard North 2014-2017 (PF), University Nebraska-Lincoln 2017-2021 (NFA-LD, 1 v. 1 policy)
Coaching: Assistant Debate Coach, Lincoln High School 2017-2018. Assistant Debate Coach, Marian High School 2018-2021; 2023-Present
Email: addissonLstugart@gmail.com
TBH you can probably avoid the rest if you're familiar with Nadia Steck's or Justin Kirks paradigms.
TL/DR:
Content warnings: If you are running something sensitive, you need to have a trigger warning. This means things such as suicide, human trafficking, domestic violence, etc. NEED to have a disclaimer before you say them. Furthermore, you NEED to have a back-up plan if reading it puts the safety of someone in the room in jeopardy. And, for both of our sakes, please don't use something sensitive solely as a means to win a round. Commodification of trauma isn't something that I will listen to.
I will vote on content warning procedurals.
Tech > Truth (what does that mean?)
I will always disclose first and will always give a detailed rfd. Not doing so is bad for education
Speed is a wonderful thing in all events unless it's used as an exclusionary tactic. If either opponent doesn't want speed, neither do I.
You can probably tell if I’m buying an argument based on my facial expressions.
Judge intervention will only ever happen if the safety (physical/mental) of a student in the round is at jeopardy.
Presume/default neg in all circumstances UNLESS the alt/cp does more than the aff. Then presumption flips aff.
Flex prep is a-okay in all events.
Evidence
I will call for evidence after round in 3 circumstances:
1. I have read the evidence beforehand in some context and believe that how you are construing it is wrong and unethical
2. The opposing team has asked me to
3. The round is decided on this evidence
Speaks:
Should be primarily based off of skill of debate, not eloquence of speaking.
While I believe speaks are arbitrary, I will generally determine speaks through this loose model:
28-29: You debated incredibly well. Strategic choices were made, and I have very little feedback for improvements.
27.5-28: Most frequently awarded speaks from me, baseline for my evaluation.
27: Arguments were poorly explained and require much more development throughout the round.
If you owe someone an apology at the end of the round, I may drop your speaks down to <26.
For public forum debate:
Observations: I will listen to anything. I LOVE strategic observations. I LOVE observations that narrow the topic based on grammar/interpretations of the resolution.
On the flow: Don't drop turns. Extend terminal offense. Ghost extensions of terminal defense from rebuttal--> final focus are the only extensions I allow to not be in summary. Other than that, if you want it weighed in final focus, have it in summary.
Rebuttal: It is preferred, but not required, for the second rebuttal to cover both sides. I used to card dump in my rebuttals, so I understand how it can get you ahead on the flow, though. I'm not strategically against it, but pedagogically I am.
Summaries: This is the MOST important speech in the round. This should set up the framing for the final focus, and should have all of the offense you want to go for in it. All previous opposing offense needs to be addressed in this speech (for example, if team a drops team b's turns in summary, strategic strat is for team b to sit on them in final focus. It's too late for team a to come back on that part of the flow.)
Final focus: The same framing should be given as was given in summary. But overviews or underviews are the best. I flow summaries and final focuses in columns next to each other. The final focus' main job is impact analysis. Explain to me why your impacts o/w because, as an owner of four dogs, if left to my own fruition, I could vote for 10 dog lives over nuclear war.
For Lincoln Douglas/CX Debate:
Inherency: I THINK THIS IS ACTUALLY A VERY VALID ARGUMENT TO GO FOR. Ya got me, I am a stock issues judge
"status quo acts as a delay counterplan" = *chefs kiss*
Value/criterion: I will typically default util~ especially in muddied v/c debates.
PLEASE, for the love of all that is good and holy, COLLAPSE V/C DEBATES IF IT DOESN'T MATTER (if I have to see another util vs consequentialism debate ???? I might SCREAM)
Also, please explain how the substance of the ac or nc actually relates to your v/c, or better yet, how it could *also* relate to your opponents.
Theory: After being in the activity for a while I have come to the conclusion that proven abuse is a silly metric to win theory debate. I do not believe that in order to win theory you should have to skew yourself out of your own time.
I am unlikely to vote for RVI's on theory in regards to things like "the theory is just a time suck".
I find “Drop the argument, not the team” to be fairly persuasive for general theory arguments (excluding t).
I probably won't vote for condo bad when there's one conditional advocacy.
Topicality: (I will never vote on "they have to prove abuse") I default competing interpretations on t but will listen to reasonability arguments. I believe effects t/extra t can be independent voters with independent standards. I think a dropped violation will *almost* always win a t debate. But because t is try or die, consider the following:
1. If you win the "we meet", reasonability explanations are easier.
2. T is something the neg has to win, not that the aff has to prove opposite. What does that mean? I am not doing the work for the neg to find the aff untopical. Extend and EXPLAIN your standards. (utilize clash, don't just rely on blocks) Tell me why the neg's definition is better than the aff's. Tell me why things like competitive reciprocity is key to eduaction, etc. I know all of these things but will judge *only* based on your explanations.
3. T is just like any other debate. The interp is the claim. The violation is the warrant, the standards are the internal link to>>> the voters being the impacts. So, just like any other debate, I expect you to win on all parts of the flow *especially because topicality is try or die for the aff*.
5. HOWEVER, I will always prioritize being tech over truth. That means that *even if* I don't agree with one's sides strats, or find that they are bad at performing the t strat (or responding) if the opposite side drops something of importance (a violation, concedes a voter, or even a standard that is sat on as the key internal link) I am probably voting there. Concessions are the easiest way for me to pick a winner on T debates.
Tricks: Take like 15 seconds to crystallize it after you do it to make sure I got it, and if you don't do this, don't be mad at me if I don't catch on.
Kritiks: I am open to all kritiks, but I am not familiar with all of the literature. Don't expect me to know the argument off the top of my head, but expect me to flow it and (hopefully) understand it the way that you communicate it to me. Debate is inherently a communication activity, and k debaters can lose sight of this. If it helps you to understand my experience with k's better, when I compete, I always go for framework.
I say K aff's have a higher burden of proof for solvency/explanations than standard policy affs.
Disclosure: Well first off, everyone should disclose. Debate is for education, not just the wins. IDK how I feel about voting on this theory. I have, but I don't like it.
Da's: disads with specific links are probably for the best. I am all about the net bens to counterplans. I am open to any type of argument here.
Counterplans: "Yes. The more strategic, the better. Should be textually and functionally competitive. Texts should be written out fully and provided to the other team before cross examination begins. The negative should have a solvency card or net benefit to generate competition. PICs, conditional, topical counterplans, international fiat, states counterplans are all acceptable forms of counterplans." -Dr. Justin Kirk; the man, the myth, the legend.
Debate was really important in my development as a person in high school and prepared me for my college career. Nothing will annoy me faster than violating the spirit of a debate round. I am all for innovation, but the further your arguments get from the mainstream, the better your justification needs to be.
1. Slow down. Speed kills.
2. You should treat me as a lay judge. I am not a debate coach nor active in the scene besides judging. I had some policy experience, but it was back in the late 90's.
3. Clash is important. Your responses should directly and clearly answer the topic and/or your opponents. I have judged too many rounds that looked like two ships passing in the night.
4. Be respectful to your opponents. This is a duel, not a war. Debate should be civil and you can have a debate round without being a jerk. This includes not cutting off your opponents during cross ex.
I've been a debate coach and I've judged debate for 16 years, but I was never a debater.
With that said, MAKE MY JOB EASY FOR ME. Signpost your speeches, make sure your summary summarizes, weigh the round during the Final Focus, tie it into the framework, and basically tell me why and how you have won.
I need your speeches to be organized, clear, and concise. I need you to speak clearly, loudly (but not yelling), and to enunciate - I listened to a lot of loud music in the 80s, and my hearing isn't the best.
I will time you, but I expect you to also keep your own time. Keep your eye on your clock and budget your time accordingly during your speeches. If the timer goes off, finish the sentence in your mouth and make a quick conclusion...do not keep talking on and on.
If you drop one of your or your opponent's contentions (or subpoints) in your rebuttal or summary, I will NOT flow it through if you pick it back up later in the debate.
No new arguments in summary (it's abusive; your opponents don't have enough time to respond).
NO NEW EVIDENCE IN FINAL FOCUS. Final Focus is meant to weigh everything important that's happened in the round and to tell me why you should win, not to make new arguments.
Politeness and appropriate debate decorum are important to me. I will take off speaker points for being rude, snippy, or snarky, or if I perceive you willfully misunderstanding or misrepresenting something your opponent says. Using strong-arm and straw-man tactics is considered poor sportsmanship and will be taken into account when I make my decision.
I am a parent lay judge and have been judging for the past few years.
This means try to keep the debate at a conversational speed.
I have a business and marketing background.
Whilst I will do my best to take notes, I do appreciate sound logic and constructive evidence.
It would be beneficial for you to hash out your link chain and narrative throughout the round.
Please engage with what your opponents say in their speeches and not just ignore it.
Above all, please make the debate an inclusive space and be respectful to your fellow debaters.
Remember to have fun!
htang8717@yahoo.com
I'm a forth year parent judge that splits time between LD and PF.
I prefer slower, in depth, articulate speakers. Not a fan of spreading. if I can't understand what you are saying, I won't flow it.
I like a good contention level debate. Make sure your arguments clash and you're not just replying to your opponents tag line. Address all of your opponents points, clearly extend your points and weigh them against your opponents. Call out your voters.
Make sure you arguments tie into an organized framework. I have a hard time weighing your arguments if your all over the place or if they don't tie back to the framework.
I enjoy a spirited debate but you must ALWAYS be polite and respectful to your opponents. If you are a jerk or derogatory to your opponent, your speaker points will take a major hit.
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.
I am a parent judge, but I have judged lots of rounds and have been told I am a "flay" judge. I am a financial economist and professor, so I have a deep understanding of arguments. I am against spreading of all kinds. Speak slowly and clearly if you want me to flow. I understand some jargon but I believe debate should cater to all kinds of people and should be largely jargon-free. I do not flow cross but I do pay attention to make sure every team understands their arguments. If a team makes a key concession in cross, make sure to mention it in your speeches. I am Truth > Tech, so I am very unlikely to vote for absurd cases. I am not familiar with Ks or theory, but if they are very well explained I will vote based on them. However, I would prefer it if debaters strayed from this type of debate unless an egregious violation of debate rules occurs. If necessary, I will call for evidence. If you want me to vote off particular evidence, it must be in final focus, but not necessarily summary. PLEASE weigh. If an argument is really muddled, tell me which argument I should prioritize and why. It makes my decision a lot easier.
Please time yourself. I want aff on my left, and neg on my right. Please be respectful to everyone in the room. Language etiquette is important. I do not want to shake your hand.
I am relatively new to debate, but I have some judging experience. I am a classroom teacher in English. I have no experience competing in debate; however, I evaluate oral presentations frequently in my classes.
I will take notes as you speak, but I am probably not taking notes that you would call a flow. I am approaching the round with more of a big picture perspective.
I did Public Forum for 3 years at Millard North Highschool and I am
Here is how to win my ballot:
1. 2nd rebuttal and first summary need to defend
2. All arguments need to be in final focus and summary for me to vote on them
3. I will not vote off of new arguments made in 2nd summary or final focus
4. Collapse to main voters in summary/ final focus and contextualize them.
5. Extended the warrants for args you want me to vote on.
6. Weigh for me. If no one in the round tells me how to weigh arguments I'll have to do it myself and you might not be happy with the result.
Other important things:
1. I'm generally tech> truth
2. Speed is fine
3. I will call for evidence if you ask me to or if something seems too good to be true
4. Most importantly: treat everyone in the round with respect
If there is anything I can do to make the debate space more accessible let me know and I'll be happy to oblige