I am a parent judge with experience in PF, LD debate judging. I appreciate clearly identified and well-supported contentions, road mapping, speaking at an understandable pace, and respectful crossfire. I do not appreciate spreading. I like to flow while I'm judging a round. I prefer traditional debate to approaches like counter plans or progressive frameworks.

I am a parent judge, who has some experience judging public forum rounds. I like a few things in a speaker.

For the First Speaker:

When presenting your case to me, I would like you to speak clearly and slowly. If you start speaking too fast, I'll stop flowing. Make sure that you're emphasizing what contention you're on and organize your case by subpoints, making it easier for me to flow your case.

For the Second Speaker:

When you are rebutting your opponent's case, make sure that you tell me what on their case you are responding to, and I would prefer you to go down the flow. If you do something else, tell me in an off time roadmap. Also, clash is very important in a round so I would like to see a lot of it from you.

During your final focus, I would like to hear Impact calc and why you win the round. Your impacts should be resolutional. Also tell me the reasons why you should win.

Cross Ex:

I want you to be respectful to your opponent. I don't care about where you're facing, either me or your opponent. During Grand CX, teams can either stand up or sit down.

I am the parent of a debater. Although I make my living crafting persuasive arguments, I am a lay judge, with limited knowledge of the technical rules of debate. I will try and give you the best judging experience I can. You can help me, and yourself, by clearly and concisely stating your position, explaining why sources support your argument, and politely pointing out the flaws in your opponent's claims.

I prefer truth over tech. Evidence ethics are paramount. If the cards I see do not say what you say they do, I will drop the argument from the round— and depending how egregious the ethics violation, I may drop you. I do not want to see your cut card, I want to see the article or source, with the portion you used highlighted. I have no tolerance for sexism, racism, and rudeness. Be civil, be kind. And try not to talk too fast- I can't give you credit for an argument I cannot understand.

For me it all comes down to Final Focus. Please make sure you include everything you want me to consider in those 2 minutes. Your job is to persuade me, through your research and arguments, that your position is right and I should vote for you. I am not well-versed on tech and the specific rules for extending arguments, however I will not credit any argument not in final focus. Signposts and numbering of arguments will be very helpful to me.

Last season, I thought debaters Anoosh Kumar, Nathaniel Yoon, Kevin Zeng, Maggie Mills, Sasha Haines (last year's Nats winners) and the Abbasi twins were excellent debaters.

Congrats to all you debaters. Your ability to articulate complex arguments and make them clear and simple is amazing. I am in awe of your ability to research, think on your feet, respond to some off the wall claims that are thrown at you without warning, and speak clearly and calmly with a skill well beyond your years.

This paradigm was written by my son, who debates for Montgomery Blair.

I am a standard lay judge. Please speak slowly and clearly. Clearly elaborate your arguments and why I should vote for you. Speaking well will make you more convincing, so try to focus on being understandable and dignified. In the summary and final focus, give me the overall picture instead of a mess of complicated arguments. I want to understand what you're saying, so avoid being too technical.

Good luck.

Parent of 5 year public forum debater. Between 30-40 rounds experience at local CFL tournaments in the Washington, D.C. area. Prefers slow, persuasive manner of traditional public forum debate. The emphasis should be on argument development through the round, effective refutation of case positions on both sides of the resolution, with effective crystalized final focus and summary speeches. Excessive card checks are not tolerated as it is expected that all debaters are cutting and reading cards using the highest of ethics in debate rounds. Excessive road mapping before each speech will also not be tolerated. Please help the judge and tournament stay on time. No Spreading!

I am a parent "lay" judge. I debated in high school (Lincoln Douglas) and have done some PF judging in recent years, but am hardly an expert on the technical aspects of PF debate.

What I am looking for is clean, cogent arguments that are internally and externally consistent. Internally consistent meaning that they have an underlying logic that is well explained and does not conflict with other arguments your team makes. Externally consistent meaning that there is a tie to relevant supporting facts, and that the facts lined up to support your arguments are not in conflict with one another or with common sense.

On rebuttal, I'm looking for teams to attack the internal and external consistency of the other side's arguments. Again, I'm looking for logic and evidence in this attack.

The team that wins is the team that has the most convincing contentions that survive (withstand other team's attacks) to the end of the debate.

Pretty straightforward. Let me add a few things that I'm *not* looking for:

1. Too rapid speaking/high volume of arguments: Speaking quickly in order to get in the most words and make the most points is at best a tradeoff: you get more words, but your words become less effective if I can't understand them or can't fully grasp the point. On average, PF debaters I've judged speak too fast and the effectiveness of their arguments suffer as a result.

2. Overuse of debate lingo. Don't tell me you've won the debate because you turned their contention and negged their impact. Tell me in plain English why you've won. Or better yet, just tell me why your main arguments have survived intact through the debate and your opponents' arguments have not.

3. Rude/overly aggressive behavior: Yes, this is a competitive event and emotions can run high. But try to be respectful and polite towards your opponents at all times, and do not try to get "under their skin" with overly aggressive behavior.

4. Unrealistic impacts: Keep in mind that impacts have to do with probability as well as outcome. Impacting everything to utter calamity (nuclear war, societal breakdown) does not win if the probability of such an outcome is slight. It's really hard to judge the exact probability of extremely low probability events -- so try to keep it in the realm of reasonably probable.

Finally, let me say thank you for all of the work you all put in. I get the easy job, and I'm impressed by the level of effort and the quality of debate that I usually see.

Updated for virtual debate in 2021-22.

Add me to the email chain: azgphoto@hotmail.com.

If providing / exchanging speech docs: Please email the text of your speech to me. I prefer this to a link to your doc in the cloud. If you also want to send a link, that is fine.

Time: Speeches and cross: Please state something like "my time starts now" or "time starts on my first word." Prep time: Say "starting prep now," "time starts when I get my partner's call," or hold your timer so that everyone can see it when you start prep. Also say "stopping prep, we used X" or "x remaining." This helps me and everyone in the round keep track.

Virtual evidence exchange: Teams must be able to pull up evidence and provide it promptly. Teams asking for evidence must keep both microphones on until the evidence is received in order to keep your prep time from starting. Any team asked for evidence that cannot provide it within 1 minute may lose prep time.

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Experience: I am a former Bronx High School of Science policy debater where I debated all four years and competed regularly at national tournaments. This was a while back. Abraham Lincoln was the President. (Obviously joking.) This is my fifth year judging PF debate for what is now my son's former high school. See my judging record below.

Please read my full paradigm below.

Signposting. Please signpost all of your positions/arguments. This includes your warrants, impacts, links, as well as when you weigh the issues in each speech. Numbering with signposting is often helpful for me to make clear what you consider to be independent arguments. Without good signposting, I (like any judge) may miss part of an argument or not vote on what you believe is key to the round.

Speed is okay but you must be clear. I flow debates. If I can't understand you or feel like I am missing what you are saying, you will be able to tell by the look on my face in the round. Online debate adds another level of difficulty to this so if I can't understand enough of what you are saying, I will say "clear."

Warrant your arguments and weigh them (where it makes sense to do so). I do not want to do any analysis for you that you do not present in the round. Intelligent and thoughtful analysis can beat warrantless evidence.

Evidence. Know your sources and tell me precisely what your evidence says. The NSDA allows paraphrasing but I don't think it is worth the potential trouble that can result. Context is often very important. If a team is paraphrasing and the evidence is critical to the round, I encourage you to call for it and look for weaknesses in your opponents's characterizations. Also, consider the persuasiveness of the author. I won't necessarily know who the author of your evidence is. Consider telling me enough so that I can evaluate how persuasive the evidence is as well as explaining why your opponent's sources may be biased or untrustworthy. I may ask for evidence that becomes important in the round. All evidence must say what you claim that it does. If paraphrased text doesn’t say what you claim that it said, I will weigh that against you. I don't like to call for cards but if you think that someone's evidence doesn't say what is claimed in the round, ask me to call for it. (Don't tell me to call for evidence that is not at issue in the round and don't bother to ask me if I want to see evidence after the round. I will tell you if I want to see something.)

Cross: I may make notes during cross but if you want to make an argument or respond to one, it must be made during a speech in the round. You can refer back to an argument made in cross but make sure I understand how you are using it in the round.

Frameworks: If your opponent seeks to establish a voting framework for the entire round, address that framework directly. Tell me why I should reject it or why I should adopt an alternate framework. If you do not respond to your opponents framework directly, I will treat that as though you have accepted it.

By the end of your summary speeches, I should have a clear idea of exactly what you want me to vote on and why. (“We win the round on x is nowhere near as helpful as “We win the round on x because ...” Please address your opponents’ voting arguments head on.

Extend your key arguments into Final Focus. Extending an argument is not the same as repeating an argument. Know the difference. If you want me to vote on it, it must be there.

On a related note, don't drop your opponents’ voting arguments. If an argument is truly dropped and this is pointed out in the final focus, I will give the dropped argument to the team that made the argument. They may not win as a result but it could be easier to do so. DO NOT, however, claim that your opponents dropped one of your arguments when, in fact, they merely responded generally to it.

Timing. When time runs out, please stop speaking. If time runs and you are in mid sentence, you may complete the sentence but only if you can do so in no more than a few seconds. Arguments made or responses given after time is up are NOT "in the round."

I will disclose my decision after a round along with my RFD if the rules of a tournament allow me to do so.

Progressive arguments: I am not very familiar with progressive arguments / Ks, so run them at your own risk. That being said, I will evaluate any argument presented on the merits of the argument.

I am a parent judge and I have judged on national circuit for four years.

General Preferences

Please keep track of speech and prep time yourself and for your opponents.

Please do NOT spread. Keeping the word count less than 180 words per minute would be great.

I like arguments that are logical and explained clearly. Roadmaps are helpful as well.

Be civil and respond logically. Don't be over-aggressive.

I am a parent judge.

Besides my subject matter expertise in Climate Change, Aviation, Unmanned Air Systems and Renewable energy, I closely follow geopolitics and current world affairs.

During judging, I carefully observed whether debate rules and regulations are being followed.

I emphasize a few points:

1. Speak clearly and slowly enough for the other team and judge to follow your position.

2. Do not speak over the heads and display any gestures.

3. Keep your own time and do not exceed the time limit allowed.

4. Use verifiable facts.

Hi there! This is my 5th season judging public forum. That being said, I am not a debate wonk. I am not a lay judge, but not as technical as many other judges in the circuit. I do not coach and really don't dive into the ethos and technicalities of this activity. This being said, I have a few expectations.

Clash

I love love love clash in debates. One of the best things for me is weighing the merits of arguments and cards rather than a game of everyone throws whatever they can at the wall to see what sticks. This being said, a debate that devolves into constant critiques of the ethos of sources is frustrating to me: there's a fine balance.

"Spreading"

I can follow kids talking fast in debate but after constructive you need to be able to extrapolate what is important instead of just auctioneering your arguments to me. This isn't super important to me relative to more of the fundamentals to me, and I don't expect you to re-tool your debate style for me.

Pre-written Blocks, Turns etc. and Speaker Points

Especially on the local circuit, this is easily my biggest pet peeve. I won't hold it against you, but as an alum, the single biggest skill I gained in this activity was my extemporaneous speaking abilities. I think pre-written blocks and turns really hinder that from you, especially when I've heard the same blocks from your teammates over the course of the same or multiple tournaments. I do weigh this when I consider speaker points (not heavily, but no one with pre-written blocks is getting a 30 from me). In general, speaker points come from your ability to conduct yourself professionally and effectively during extemporaneous parts of the debate (everything except constructive).

Conduct during Cross and Rebuttal/Summary

My BIGGEST pet peeve in debate is how high-level debaters act in response to their opponents during responses, especially the sort of hyper-casual style that is condescending. I don't care about archaic notions of "professionalism" because I believe they are rooted in classist and racist connotations, but I'm really not okay with being condescending to your peers. It's hard to articulate this conduct, but every debater knows it when they see. I don't expect you to refer to your opponent's as "my good friend" or "the right honourable gentleman" but just be respectful.

Arguments with Nuance

If you're going to make a claim that relies on an assertion that isn't a universal belief or value (e.g. "free market solutions are inherently better than government solutions" or vice versa), you need to justify your assertion. I enjoy unconventional arguments, but if your case relies on a belief that is often challenged in the court of public appeal, you can't just state it and move on.

About Me

I'm a lay judge and the parent of a debater.

I generally can handle a good rate of speech but cannot follow you if you speak too fast.

General

I may or may not disclose right away.

I’m fine with people watching the round.

Please keep track of speech and prep time yourself.

Signpost and road-map help.

Off-time road maps are fine but please keep them short.

I will follow your points and sub-points (as much as I can) and keep track of whether they are refuted, and the effectiveness of their rebuttals.

Bad/nasty behaviors and hateful comments will not be tolerated.

What I vote for:

• Ability to reason and convince

• Ability to articulate

• Clarity and consistency of speeches

• Soundness in logic

• Weighing in rebuttal

• Credibility/quality of sources/evidences

• Good extension and linking (of your arguments) from summary to final focus

• Team cohesion and manner

I'll try my best to judge fairly. Good luck and have fun.

Hi there! I work as a journalist and a writer, and this influences the way that I think about judging. My job, if I do it right, is to learn and tell a complicated story in a way that people can understand it after hearing it just one time. In interviews, my job is to ask questions that point to holes or contradictions in someone's story.

As a PF judge, I'll be asking basic questions. Did you give a clear and logical presentation that's persuasive? Did you find and expose flaws in the opposing case? My knowledge of the finer points of debate scoring is probably less than yours.

You'll help me follow your case through good pacing. Take your time speaking; be willing to pause for emphasis, or to check your notes. Just talk. Pacing is more than just the speed at which you talk. It's also the way you develop your ideas. Organize your thoughts in a way that they flow logically so that I can follow them.

If a good pace makes your speech too long, edit. Choose your most persuasive points. Express them in a tight logical progression. Sometimes a speech is not in the best order, and finding the right order makes it both better and shorter.

If reading your case aloud takes exactly four minutes, it might be a bit long. Consider allowing some time to improvise.

In crossfire, think of short, simple questions that challenge your opponent to defend or explain something they have not.

A sense of humor is welcome and appreciated.

Debaters are most persuasive when they are civil. Sarcasm or scorn draws my attention to the person expressing it, rather than the flaws they see in their opponent's case. You should stick up for yourself and your case--graciously.

Finally, be creative and think for yourself. Other than the part about civility, disregard my suggestions if you or your coach know a better way to make your case. You may teach me something. I'll be listening. Have fun!

I'm an alumna of University of Chicago and am in the mental health field. I would prefer no spreading as I can't understand it!

PARADIGM: Lincoln/Douglas

"Traditional" parent judge.

GOOD: You pick a few compelling points; thread them together rhetorically; respond in the moment to challenges; and thereby formulate an argument. Your even pacing and signposting demonstrate organization, clarity, and the understanding that your case and rebuttals must be compelling to the judge; not merely to you or your competitor.

BAD: Disregard for history. Remember, LD is named after two giants of American rhetorical practice, who squared off in a series of values-based debates on the most divisive issue of their time. Those debates occurred in the public square, with the intent of compelling voters to adopt a cause. Lincoln did not use K's. Douglas did not use Progressive Theory Arguments. And neither of them spreaded. (Speed-talkers in this event cannot or will not prioritize. Yes, you're operating within a time constraint. Use that not as an excuse to cram in more stuff and talk faster. Rather, use it to winnow out all but the most persuasive points.)

Good luck!

I am Unique Palmer and the team captain of the Towson University Debate Team. I debated four years at Baltimore City College as a krikal debater. I often ran race and gender centered arguments and will continue to do such in my next three years in college debate. I have very few prefs:

1. I believe in the burden of proof for the aff and neg if there's an alternative. Don't be inclined to use debate lingo and statistics, especially if you don't use the word correctly.

2. Win the meta level of the debate. Big picture debates are cleaner.

3. IF YOU ARE DEBATING ANY THEORY, please relate it to real world context and explain solvency clearly. If its unclear to you how you solve, don't run it. If its unclear to me how you solve, I won't vote for it.

4. Respect pronouns. My preferred pronouns are she/her.

5. Don't post round me. I will debate my reasoning back to you and win.

6. You don't have to spread to win with me in the back. You can if you'd like but make sure you're clear. 

I flow on paper and take notes speech by speech to give individual comments at the end. 

If you have questions about any of my paradigm or college debate in general, please email me at Upalme1@students.towson.edu

Affiliation: Woodrow Wilson High School (DC- 2015-2020)

Other Coaching positions: T.A. Edison High School (VA -1993-1997), W.T. Woodson High School (VA--1997-2000).

Email: tim.stroud@k12.dc.gov. Please use the File Share function on NSDA Campus if it is available over an e-mail exchange.

Coach of 25+ years at the high school level. Coached debaters throughout the years who have excelled at the TOC, nationals, invitationals, etc. I think of myself as a tabula rasa judge. Beware when I have to do more work than the debaters in the round I am far less inclined to vote in a debater's favor. Simply put, the better debater is one who presents, defends, and ends their advocacy with a clear logical/analytical position based upon solid research and an understanding of the proposed resolution.

Avoid at all costs: Flex prep, tricks, non-topical positions, wasted time in rounds doing doc exchanges, long roadmaps, time suck arguments, cond args in LD (if the intent isn't to debate it throughout the round, then don't put it out on the flow...), generic shells with absolutely no links to the resolution--Baudrillard, etc. IF YOUR advocacy IS TO DISRESPECT, QUESTION THE VALIDITY OF, OR MAKE A MOCKERY OF DEBATE please change your tactics OR consider finding another activity to engage in.

Framework/Standards Debate--Set a standard for the round that makes sense in terms of the activity. If you are debating policy, make a policy argument and support it accordingly. If you are debating LD, let's hear about the resolution. Tangential theory arguments that lack a clear link make the purpose of the resolution suspect. I vote on whether to affirm or negate the resolution...not a critique on the consequential outcome of forced policy parameters.

Case Structure: Contentions should be carefully crafted, contain warrants and impacts and link back to the standards in order to provide a well researched/reasoned case position. A case position that is founded upon theory arguments that is without research or evidence to support the basic claims are simply assertions and will be treated as such. If they are run and the opponent fails to point that out they are passing up an opportunity for an easy ballot. Same goes for warrantless case/plan spikes that are advocated for in the constructive and then neglected/punted for the remainder of the round which serve merely as a strategic time suck for the opponent. I am not a judge that will pretty much ever vote for tricks, time suck arguments, or spreading intended to overwhelm the opponent. If you are offering 6 off case arguments in LD then I am probably listening to poorly constructed, warrentless claims that don't have a chance of overcoming affirmative presumption. Yup, I've actually voted on presumption arguments offered by the aff in the last year.

Neg: if the only thing run is a structural security K or overly general CP shells then be prepared to prove and defend specific links to the resolution. Aff debaters who can chip away at uniqueness, internal links, impacts, or alternatives are greatly rewarded.

Speed--I can flow it if you can get it out...however, if it is unintelligible or full of debate jargon that doesn't either further the argument or advance your position then I will be far less compelled to write it down, understand it, or vote for it at the end of the round. Simple lines of analytics are not arguments...they should be explained.

Flowing--I do

Time--Feel free to time yourselves, but excessive road maps, getting set up, outside of CX card checks, and things that should have been accomplished in CX or during prep time are a waste of time. Unless there are a slew of arguments that need to be reorganized for some reason at the top of the speech, simply sign-post as you speak.

RFD: If the tournament allows it I will provide my decision at the end of the debate. It is based upon the debater that provided--throughout the round--a logically sound set of arguments that are presented in a cogent manner. I have little tolerance for high school students who continue their advocacy during the RFD. If you would like to engage in a dialogue about the round during breaks in the tournament feel free to approach me in the hallway or cafeteria.

Speaking: This is a communication activity that carries with it standards for decorum. If you are appearing before a judge for the first time, I coach my debaters to always put their best foot forward. That goes towards always defaulting toward the norm that the judge expects you to stand for CX, address your advocacy toward the judge, and show a level of courteousness that one might encounter in any professional work environment. Speaker points reflect all of these elements.

Please speak slowly so I can clearly understand you. Please focus on / reemphasize your main points and rebut other side’s main arguments instead of flooding me with information about everything. Depth than breadth. Sometimes less is more :)