For me, the best PF debates are ones in which debaters take the idea of a public forum seriously, presenting their arguments with such clarity that anyone would be able to follow them, even with no prior knowledge of the subject. This means not only having a coherent argument, but also making sure to define any topic-specific jargon from the very beginning, reading with expression, and enunciating words. Finally, I value debates in which all debaters display the utmost respect for one another, relying on the strength of their ideas rather than an intimidating or contemptuous attitude.

Istealprep@gmail.com

AND

BabciiDebate@gmail.com

It is pronounced Bab (ki) not Bab (chee).

I debated for Wichita State and JCCC. Currently an assistant coach @ Wichita State.

Top level

Debate is meant to be fun. I demand that you have it. If you can not find enjoyment in this activity do not ruin other peoples love for this activity.

Do not say anything obviously problematic or violent to the other team. I will end the round immediately and assign the lowest possible speaker points the tournament will allow.

Tech over truth. This applies to all arguments. You do not get to handwave arguments away because they are "troll" or "science fiction". If the other teams arguments are not backed by rigorous research then defeating them should be simple and easy. If you cannot defeat them without me intervening and asserting what I "know" to be true than by all definition you have lost the debate.

I will keep a strict flow and decide the debate based on that flow and nothing else.

I will only consider arguments that happened in the debate about the debate. I am fundamentally uninterested in resolving any interpersonal beef you may have with another team.

If you do not feel safe engaging in a debate for any reason please communicate that to me, tab, and/or your coaching staff, and the necessary actions will be taken.

Planless affirmatives

Generally fine for these debates. I would prefer the 1AC actually defend a method and be related to the topic if possible instead of being a walking impact turn to framework but I digress. As long as you win your arguments and are ahead on the flow I will vote for you.

"vote aff cause it was good" means nothing to me. You forfeited the right to say that when you disagreed that we are all here playing a game where we pretend to be the USFG evaluating policy proposals. Explanations of why you resolve the impacts of the aff and why the ballot is key should come early and be contextualized well.

"Why vote aff" followed by "why not" is not compelling for the same reason. 1AC's have the burden of proof. I will struggle to burden the negative with rejoinder if I don't think the 1AC has met the burden of proof after 1AC CX.

Framework/T-USFG

Framework 2NR's tend to be too defense oriented to win most debates. Negatives should be impact turning or link turning aff DA's to framework more often. If not that then there needs to be a large explanation of why clash accesses aff offense and/or why they don't get an aff because of fairness.

Everything is and is not an impact. Fun, Clash, Fairness, Burnout, etc... You should explain why those things matter and why I should care.

TVA's matter a lot to me. I think well deployed TVAs are nearly unbeatable.

KvK

Method v method debates in my mind lack the pre prescribed norms of competition that usually appear in policy v policy debates. You should use this to your advantage and explain how competition ought to work in a world where the affirmative is not held to a plan text. Otherwise it seems nearly impossible for me to vote against the perm in 99% of these debates.

Figuring out what the aff will defend and pinning them to that seems important, especially when the opportunities to disagree with the 1AC are already limited.

K's on the neg

If the aff is going for a framework that says "No K's" and the neg is going for a framework that says "No aff" then I will pick one at the end of the debate. I will not intervene and concoct a "perm" where the aff gets the aff and the neg gets their links. Of course you are free to advocate the perm/middle ground.

Explanation is usually much better when contextualized to links, alt, f/w, etc... and not a chunk of text for a minute at the top of a speech.

Topicality

I will evaluate topicality as offense/defense just like every other argument in debate. Affirmative reasonability arguments are much better framed as reasons why limits are bad/an impact to overlimiting or precision.

Aff's should be more offensive when answering neg limits and grounds arguments. Most of the time the actual weight of these arguments seems stringent as best and made up completely at worst.

Evidence quality tends to matter more in T debates for me than most. Evidence that describes topic mechanisms and lit direction are important. The same is equally if not more true for the interpretation debate.

Counterplans

Everything is legit until somebody says it isn't in which case then it becomes a debate. I think most affirmative theory arguments are much better deployed as competition arguments. I am unlikely to ever be persuaded by "solvency advocate theory", "process CPs bad", or the like, unless the neg completely whiffs. This doesn't apply when the neg CP doesn't pass the sniff test. I.e. international fiat, private actor fiat, etc...

I generally lean towards infinite condo being good. Obviously this is a debate that can take place and I will evaluate as offense/defense like normal, I just think the negative arguments in regards to this are much more compelling.

Mixed thoughts about judge kick. It’s probably fine but just please say it in the block.

0 Idea how anyone evaluates CP's besides sufficiency framing and I have yet to hear a alternative way to evaluate them. Grandstanding about sufficiency framing in the 2nr is about as useful as saying that they have conceded the neg gets fiat.

2NC CP's out of add-ons are fine. 2NC CP's out of straight turns are not fine. If you can't win against a 2AC that straight turned a DA then you should lose or put in a 1NC CP that fiats out of the straight turn.

Disadvantages

Fine for every politics DA you want to throw from your box. What fiat means can be debated like any other argument.

Link and Internal link turns case arguments are extremely important. Our nuclear war impact turns your nuclear war impact arguments are extremely not important.

Case

Try or die is important to me. If the negs only answer to case is solvency pushes but concedes the squo causes extinction and doesn't have a CP to remedy that then even a small risk the aff solves will almost certainly win them the debate. The opposite is true if aff drops an internal net benefit to a process CP, as the neg now controls try or die.

0% risk is definitely possible on both sides.

Misc

I will not read or consider rehighlightings you did not read yourself. Text must be actually read for it to matter, debate is a communicative activity and you must communicate. If you read it in cross-x and then insert it that is fine.

Cross-x can only make modifications to speeches if both sides consent. If the other team asks you about a card you do not get to scratch it in the middle of cross-x unless they agree. The same is also true for reading evidence obviously.

Cross-x is binding and I will be flowing it.

Speaker points are my decision and I will not listen to arguments about them. You can ask for a 30 if you want, but you will be wasting speech time.

I understand why we stopped because of Covid, but I miss handshakes between opponents. That being said, don't shake my hand.

Lay judge with limited experience.

Suggestions for contestants: Be respectful, stick to the facts, watch the timer.

Parent judge with no prior experience.

Please be respectful and speak clearly.

Try to avoid using debate jargon and make sure to explain your arguments thoroughly, as anything that goes unexplained may not be taken into consideration.

TL;DR: Just look at the bolded stuff in the Flow Section if you don't want to read everything.

Background: I debated 4 four years in high school in Public Forum Debate (2016-2020). I dabbled in Extemp.

Lay Stuff:

Don’t be a jerk, otherwise I'm going to give you low speaks and a low point win if you happen to win by flow. If you are any type of -ist in round or has an argument that is- you are dropped. Be inclusive and kind

Speed = fine, but I will say “clear” and stop flowing if too fast.

Speaks: high avg speaks if you do everything right- 28. Ill drop speaks if you are not civil, have an abusive argument/fw. If u make me laugh/snicker +.5 speaks. Also if you do key voters right +.5 speaks.

Clipped or Falsified Evidence = drop, be ethical, stop clipping

Time yourselves and hold each other and your opponents accountable.

CX: it’s for you guys to clarify things/poke holes (it's ok to use it to clarify, don't feel bad). I may listen I may not, I'm still not gonna flow it either way. Whatever you or your opponent says that is important in CX better be brought up in speech otherwise it doesn’t count. Don’t be abusive with follow up questions.

Flow stuff:

I really don't care for Rhetoric heavy debate, just get to the point. I want clash and clear warranting.

I expect 2nd rebuttal to respond to the first rebuttal responses. (The fact that some people don't do this is weird to me).

SIGNPOST WHEREVER YOU GO, it’s a basic skill every debater needs to do.

In general I prefer the Quality > Quantity of responses. Please Don't Card Bomb Me.

Don’t flow through red ink, I will likely catch you and what you say won’t be counted in round. Additionally I have a pet peeve of saying “flow through contention 1” or "flow through smith 19" and then moving on, u better explain to me exactly how your contention/warrant/card actually flows through and what the argument/content is.

I like Key Voters but if you don’t know how to do them I’m fine with down the flow as long as u signpost and condense/collapse well. In Summary since it’s now 3 minutes, I want some weighing analysis at the end, but there should be more weighing in FF.

In your final speeches (esp Summary): Extend your warrants otherwise I am not giving you access to your impacts. If something is brought up in FF that isn't in Summary, it doesn't count- don't flow through red ink, and be consistent with your partner.

PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING GOOD WEIGH IN YOUR FINAL SPEECHES. If you don’t weigh you essentially leave it up to my opinion on what I value the most. If you guys can use and talk about multiple weighing mechanisms like the probability, scope, time-frame, magnitude of your impacts in relation to each other, and which mechanism should be preferred over the other- you'll catch my interest. Alongside any logical fallacy names like; “slippery slope”, and “straw man”.

Also you can definitely talk about cards and methodology in your speeches. Just don't let evidence debate be all that the debate boils down to. I may ask for and read for critical cards after the debate too, regardless of evidence debate.

Ill probably disclose at the end if you made the debate clean and easy (and if I am allowed to) but if not I detail the ballot.

Framework/Nontraditional stuff:

Don’t ever give me a “framework is utilitarianism” in case because that is inherently what Public Forum debate is (you can use it as a response in rebuttal and so on). This also goes for "Cost Benefit Analysis" if it is in the resolution. That being said I welcome non traditional frameworks and interpretations of the resolutions that have a rational basis that you can explain well and have cards to back up. I really enjoy and love fw debates. Also shouldn't be an abusive fw.

Please respond to your opponents framework if they have one, cuz that could ultimately cost you the round.

I'd rather not judge a K/theory/plans in PF please (don't really know about them in depth anyway). Although I would rather not judge it, I am open to hearing these Kritiks/Theory but you will need to be able to explain VERY clearly and how it works in round not only to me but your opponents, because if they don't know what you are doing it kind of ends up being abusive cuz they can't or don't know how to respond to them. If you end up using progressive debate techniques in PF I hope it is supplemental to traditional debate cuz as I said above I have a very loose understanding of this stuff and would likely be a time waste.

Plans are not allowed in PF (NSDA Rule). You can have a advocacy (NOT A PLAN- difference is in a plan you specify how you are going through with it, advocacy is just a general recommendation) as long as u can explain how it makes sense under the resolution in round (not after when u are trying to persuade me). Also make sure its not overly abusive to your opponents and puts them in a corner where they can't get out, that ties into being a jerk.

Feel free to ask me questions about any of this or something not here.

Thanks for checking out my paradigm, here it is:

(Updated June 4, 2022)

DEBATE

Public speaking is an art and few learn choose to learn it early on, so for that I commend you. Our voice is our most powerful tool, and in time we all learn to master it. Few realize the power of their words in the moment that they say things, but it should remain as a critical imperative to be deliberate and informed in our expressions. Ignorance is truly the enemy of grace in this activity and ignorance can happen at any moment we've said something we know nothing about or we've handicapped our opposition through the manner in which we've chosen to express ourselves.

The debate events used to be powerful learning tools that prepared students for a well-lived life, full of lasting friendships, and an advanced understanding of rhetoric that would prepare them for not only college but any task or event that makes their way to their door. The culture of debate has profoundly changed since the inception of spreading, which is an activity that a debater performs to fine tune his speech and for the purposes of memorization. For some reason, students began using this technique during official debate rounds for strategic purposes. In their consideration, the students believed that delivering their arguments with greater speed resulted in a more efficacious debate - hammering out all the details that could possibly be considered on both sides of the argument.

The spreading style forever changed the debate events and created a culture of spreading, which detracted from our natural ability to speak publicly to all those who would listen to us. As a reminder, debate was meant to prepare the student to engage in meaningful dialogue with anyone in our proximity, but the spreading culture caused students to become handicapped from this ability by warping their ideas of what constitutes substantial dialogue. The problem is that spreading caused the competitors to adapt their entire presentation to the logos, instead of balancing the logos with ethos and the pathos (the three cannons of rhetoric). The purpose of true debate is to understand that there's one truth being conveyed through two (or more) interpretations. The winning debater is able to articulate their interpretation in such a way that it includes the other interpretation all while balancing the canons of rhetoric. 

The best debaters that I've ever seen have mastered the art of deliberate speech. Deliberate speech is not spoken fast, its spoken to the pace of a golden mean. Deliberate speech has an air of gravitas and is presented with bravado so as to create a lasting impression. Deliberate speech is golden, its harmonic, it never betrays the notion that every person in the room is involved in the presentation you're presenting. Deliberate speech balances the three canons of rhetoric (ethos, pathos, and logos) to a fine tune of perfection and effectively includes the three types of evidence accessible to the debater (assertion - which is based off of a priori reasoning; philosophical in nature; professional opinion, which is based off of expert testimony that has been published through some means; scientific in nature; and empirical, which is based off of observable data beset and embedded in the framework of our reality; mathematical in nature).

Your voice is the most powerful tool in your arsenal - of all the skills you'll come to learn in debate its the manner in which you deliver speeches that matter most because delivery will always include content if its done deliberately. Discovering your voice is half the work, once you've found it you'll be able to develop your own style and through some practice you'll be able to champion tournaments. Debate transforms your ability to consider and evaluate information, and most importantly equips you with the skills you'll need for the rest of your life when it comes to responding to the information you're presented. These debate events when done right are a means of accessing grace and natural talent - allow the activity to be as enriching as it was designed to be and keep spreading out of it. 

LD

LD invites us to consider the ethical, moral, and philosophical implications of a resolution. A strong and functional framework that contains a strong philosophical analysis of the resolution and implores us to consider inherent values or core doctrines in our evaluation of the debate is foundational. Furthermore, our claims must be supported by warrants (evidence), which must lead to demonstrable (and measurable) impacts. We must never make any claim in the round that isn’t officiated by evidence that allows us to prove our claims, and we must never make assert impacts that we cannot properly measure. 

As all debate events implore us to do, we must be willing to substantially engage with our opponent's notions - with their values and the subsequent arguments that follow form. Discover the nuances in debate and bring them to light, lead by example, and remember to always respond to what has been asked of you to address. Stay organized and signpost to make sure your opponent and I are able to follow your reasoning. Don't leave unanswered questions and remember to provide compelling reasons to either support or reject a notion. All of what we have to say in the debate are notions regarding the truth until there is agreement on the notion at which point our notions become the truth. Use cross examination to do just that and find aspects that we can agree upon - this will set you up a paradigm for which to evaluate the round in your voter's later on. Remember that points that aren't addressed are conceded points. (That's not an excuse to spread).

Stay away from abusive argumentation, which is anything that handicaps your opponent in such a way that they cannot properly recover. Examples include spreading, making new arguments late in the round, responding to points you already conceded, or anything that follows that suit. Never allow yourself to be aggressive or derogatory towards your opponent - remember that no one is better than anyone else in this activity, its about finding out what we believe in. Convince your opponent as much as you're convincing your judge, don't become frustrated with them if their arguments are misleading or there is an insensibility in what is being said; point out the defects and clarify the situation eloquently. Remember that there's one truth you're both channeling through two different interpretations - no matter what the truth will remain. So, its only sensible to interpret the truth to the best of your ability.

Please summarize, crystallize, and weigh the arguments before the round ends - I'm interested in understanding your own evaluation of the round and will be weighing that in to my own decision. Don't lie during this part of the debate and say something you never said before or say you proved something you never proved (doing such would be abusive and the chances are high that I'll catch on). Demonstrate your victory to me through clearly delineated reasons, and don't forget to signpost that last speech should make it crystal clear which team was victorious.   

Please call me Judge Bravo during the round if you have a need to address me directly during your presentation, however, I'd prefer it if you kept my name out of the debate round. 

Perfect scores are attainable, but rarely given. 

PF

PF invites us to consider the practical applications of a resolution on a global scale. A strong and functional framework that contains a strong situational analysis of the resolution and implores us to consider the inherent conditions of the resolution through a convincing lens - one that allows us to strategically explore the context of the round; a weighing mechanism of sorts doctrines in our evaluation of the debate is foundational. Furthermore, our claims must be supported by warrants (evidence), which must lead to demonstrable (and measurable) impacts. We must never make any claim in the round that isn’t officiated by evidence that allows us to prove our claims, and we must never make assert impacts that we cannot properly measure. 

As all debate events implore us to do, we must be willing to substantially engage with our opponent's notions - with their framework and the subsequent arguments that follow form. Discover the nuances in debate and bring them to light, lead by example, and remember to always respond to what has been asked of you to address. Stay organized and signpost to make sure your opponent and I are able to follow your reasoning. Don't leave unanswered questions and remember to provide compelling reasons to either support or reject a notion. All of what we have to say in the debate are notions regarding the truth until there is agreement on the notion at which point our notions become the truth. Use cross examination to do just that and find aspects that we can agree upon - this will set you up a paradigm for which to evaluate the round in your voter's later on. Remember that points that aren't addressed are conceded points. (That's not an excuse to spread).

Stay away from abusive argumentation, which is anything that handicaps your opponent in such a way that they cannot properly recover. Examples include spreading, making new arguments late in the round, responding to points you already conceded, or anything that follows that suit. Never allow yourself to be aggressive or derogatory towards your opponent - remember that no one is better than anyone else in this activity, its about finding out what we believe in. Convince your opponent as much as you're convincing your judge, don't become frustrated with them if their arguments are misleading or there is an insensibility in what is being said; point out the defects and clarify the situation eloquently. Remember that there's one truth you're both channeling through two different interpretations - no matter what the truth will remain. So, its only sensible to interpret the truth to the best of your ability.

Please summarize, crystallize, and weigh the arguments before the round ends - I'm interested in understanding your own evaluation of the round and will be weighing that in to my own decision. Don't lie during this part of the debate and say something you never said before or say you proved something you never proved (doing such would be abusive and the chances are high that I'll catch on). Demonstrate your victory to me through clearly delineated reasons, and don't forget to signpost that last speech should make it crystal clear which team was victorious.   

Please call me Judge Bravo during the round if you have a need to address me directly during your presentation, however, I'd prefer it if you kept my name out of the debate round. 

Perfect scores are attainable, but rarely given. 

SPEECH

I have a BA degree in Political Science and Journalism. My career was doing political fundraising for National and Statewide candidates until I decided to be a stay at home mom.

I am a parent judge who has been judging for 7 years, I have judged in Indiana and Arizonia. Most of judging has been in PF and Congress with a lot of Parli experience in Congress.

For scoring I need to be able to understand what your points are. In other words if you spread so fast I cannot understand you I cannot award you the points. A roadmap is fine but not necessary. Definitions of key points are important so that I know what you are using as a focus.

Being able to defend your opponents questions is the most important point for me. A canned speech that does not react to the round will not score well with me.

To convince me you need to do a couple of things:

-speak clearly and slowly/do not rush your speaking points

-make clear and concise arguments

-thoughtfully counter the other teams points

-answer to the other teams rebuttals effectively and with weighing

-try and incorporate real-world examples

I'm a Blake debate alumna and now an assistant coach.

Worlds Schools debate was my main format, and I competed it for three years at the national level. Speech content: include the principle debate, rebuild / extend arguments from the first speech in the second speeches, and become more globalized for third and fourth speeches. Weigh - and early!! Speaking style: signpost.

As a secondary format, I competed in PF. I am very familiar with the format, and lay on most topics. Read dates, signpost, and I prefer cards / evidence over paraphrasing.

Be nice to each other! At the end of the day, debating is about learning and having fun.

EMAILS FOR EMAIL CHAINS: blakedocs@googlegroups.com and sierra@u.northwestern.edu

weigh

i begged you

but

you didn’t

and you

lost

-rupi kaur

If you do not have an off case position, I will forget your off-time roadmap. Please tell me in your speech what argument you are addressing.

Read whatever (non-offensive/egregiously untrue) argument you want; I try to be flexible.

I will not evaluate theory arguments presented in the ABCD interp violation blah blah format. If you want to explain your theory argument in the (relatively) conversational language that you present all your other arguments in, then I will listen. https://www.vbriefly.com/2021/04/15/equity-in-public-forum-debate-a-critique-of-theory/

I reserve the right to be more persuaded by a team.

I am a former Public Forum debate coach. I like to see good clash, linking, and weighing. Please listen and respond to one another!

Consistency and intelligence of argument are always going to mean the most to me. With that being said, I have three easy recs to follow:

1. Please provide a framework (it will help me conceptualize how to view the round).

2. Please weigh impacts for me. If this is not done, I will do it myself.

3. You will secure your vote in summary/FF. Logically, you can't extend anything into FF if you didn't mention it in summary.

Also, have fun and challenge yourself!

Please contact me any time, including before or after our round, with any questions or comments: aricf@staff.harker.org.

Above all else: Treat the round as an educational experience, and your fellow participants as you would like to be treated. This means being reasonably kind in general, but also ethical within the debate. I may intervene, even when not asked to by the opposing team, if a competitor:

○ fabricates evidence, including disingenuous paraphrasing, or

○ employs hateful language, or

○ is disrespectful vis-à-vis trigger warnings for unexpected arguments (either neglecting to give one or, more rare, asks that a potentially-triggering argument is avoided as an act of strategy rather than legitimate self-care).

Background

○ PF and LD in high school (2011–2014), both events on the national as well as local circuits

○ Coached PF at the Champion Briefs Institute (now part of ISD)

○ Now an Assistant PF Coach at The Harker School.

The upshot: I have been in a lot of debate rounds, so I am comfortable with debate-specific jargon and can flow at most speeds (I will call "clear" if needed). Please know, though, that clarity can be a factor in speaker points.

Sign-posting is especially appreciated, as I keep a detailed flow and base my decision on it.

Winning My Ballot

My preference is to do as little work as possible, so tell me what to do: clear weighing of well-linked impacts within a well-established framework will go a long way. Try to anticipate the places in the debate where I have to make a non-obvious decision; if you give me reasonable instructions on how to make that decision, and the other team does not, you are ahead. I am open to almost anything that is sufficiently justified within the round, though the farther you stray from the resolution, the more you are inviting me as a judge to insert my own subjective views on reasonableness.

Things I wish I saw more of in PF:

○ Contextualize your impacts against the alternative(s). If you have a link to a small percentage decrease in the chance of, say, a famine, your impact is not that voting for you saves 100% of the death toll of said famine.

○ Be selective. For example, it's often not a great use of time to read turns and mitigation on the same argument. If the turn is strong, mitigation only hurts you, and if it's weak, why read it?

○ Be comparative. If you read a card that says something is true, and your opponent reads a card that says it is false, you need to give me reasons to prefer your argument to theirs. Do not just repeat your argument and insist that it is true without engaging in the clash.

Let's have fun!

Engineer by training and profession. So I value clear substantiated logic over style or ethos.

Any evidence clipping will get you dropped. I am serious about this. I may ask for your cards after the debate for my edification.

Speed: Slow Down. I understand the desire to cover as much ground as possible but do not do it at the cost of clarity. Remember, this debate is for someone who is moderately familiar with the topic. If you go too fast, you will lose the audience. This is especially true in the era of online debates. (Plus speed is sometimes used to hide evidence clipping which I strongly dislike - see above)

College Judge- former speech student from Nova.

I am a PF parent, a beginning judge and also a Finance executive (highly analytical, primarily with numbers - but certainly also with issues, evidence and logic). After reading over many other PF judges' paradigms in order to evaluate my own preferences, I'll summarize:

1. Clarity, organization / signposts and flow are critical - remember that I have not heard your particular construction of support for your position before so in order to follow along it needs to be woven together tightly.

2. Evidence and a very sound logical foundation for your case are critical - to me these are table stakes upon which speaking ability and style rest. If big leaps don't make sense, they aren't going to resonate. Sometimes simple and succinct is better than overly complex.

3. PF Debate implies . . . debate - your ability to continuously support your position by really listening to, processing, analyzing and responding (professionally) to your opponents' arguments while demonstrating a very deep and nuanced understanding of the issues will be a key differentiator.

4. "Cute" underdeveloped extensions/arguments wont win with me. To borrow from another judge paradigm "Your win is still determined by your ability to persuade me on the importance of the arguments you are winning not just the sheer number of arguments you are winning. This is a communication event - so do that with some humor and panache.(Bilal Butt)"

SCORING: (also borrowed - thank you Bilal and Mollie Clark)

30: Excellent job, you demonstrate stand-out organizational skills and speaking abilities. Ability to use creative analytical skills and humor to simplify and clarify the round.

29: Very strong ability. Good eloquence, analysis, and organization. A couple minor stumbles or drops.

28: Above average. Good speaking ability. May have made a larger drop or flaw in argumentation but speaking skills compensate. Or, very strong analysis but weaker speaking skills.

27: About average. Ability to function well in the round, however analysis may be lacking. Some errors made.

26: Is struggling to function efficiently within the round. Either lacking speaking skills or analytical skills. May have made a more important error.

25: Having difficulties following the round. May have a hard time filling the time for speeches. Large error.

Below: Extreme difficulty functioning. Very large difficulty filling time or offensive or rude behavior.

I'm a parent judge

I don't flow so please speak clearly. If you spread then I won't know what you are saying and vote you down.

Don't run Kritikal arguments.

This is my first time judging, I judge for the Quarry Lane School. Please be respectful to your opponents during crossfire and please talk clearly and not too fast. I might take light notes but if anything is crucial please emphasize during speeches. Most importantly, have fun!

Email- JKaminskii34@gmail.com

TLDR (updated 11/4/22)

1. Speed is fine, you won't go too fast
2. Win the flow=win the round
3. Presumption =neg
4. Theory is cool, run it well (Interp, violation, standards and voters. RVI's have higher burden)
5. K debate is even better
6. Defense needs to be extended
7. I default to magnitude/strength of link weighing
8. You can run any and all args you want, but they cannot be problematic/discriminatory/ attack your opponents. This will be an auto 20 speaks and L.

My debate experience:

Current assistant PF coach at Trinity Prep

3 Years of NFA-LD Debate

4 Years of Public Forum debate

Paradigm-

It should be pretty easy to win my ballot. In my opinion, debate is a game, and you should play to win. Here are the specific things most debaters would want to know.

PF

- I am cool with speed, so long as you don't use it to push your opponents out of a round. I will call clear if you become hard to understand, so keep that in mind.

- I will evaluate all types of arguments equally unless told otherwise.

- I am willing to listen to things like K's and theory arguments, so long as they are impacted out in the round.

- I really enjoy framework debates as well. I think these can be particularly beneficial for limiting the ground your opponents have in the round.

- I am tech over truth, which means so long as it is on my flow, I will evaluate the argument regardless of my own feelings on it. I will also not flow arguments through ink on the flow, so be sure to engage with your opponents answers in order to win the link level of your argument.

- Summary and FF should be somewhat consistent in terms of the direction they are going. Inconsistencies between these speeches will be harmful, especially when it comes to evaluating the strengths of your links and impacts

- On that same note, I want to see some sort of collapse in the second half of the debate- going for everything is typically a bad strategy, and I want to reward smart strategic choices that you make.

- I default to a net benefits impact calc, unless given a competing way to view the round. I am cool viewing the round through any lens that you give me, so long as you explain why its the best way for me to evaluate the round. If absent, I have to intervene with my own, which is something I hate to do.

- If you want me to call for cards, you need to ask me to do so. In that same regard, I wont intervene unless you leave me no other option.

- I dont flow CX, so if you want me to hold something that was said as binding, you need to bring it up in all of the subsequent speeches.

-Speaker points, in my opinion, are less about your speaking performance and more about your ability to present and explain compelling arguments, interact with the opposition, and provide meaningful analysis as to why you are necessarily more important. Content above style

-On a more personal note, I want the rounds that I judge to be educational and allow debaters to articulate arguments about real world issues, all of which deserve respect regardless of your own personal opinions. I have seen my partners and teammates experience sexism, racism, and other types of discrimination, and I have absolutely zero tolerance for it when I am judging.

-If you have any other questions about my paradigm, please feel free to ask me. I also will give feedback after rounds, you just have to find me and ask.

LD

- All of the above applies here as well. There are a few extra points that may be helpful.

- I will always evaluate framing first, so long as there are competing positions. If values are the same, just collapse and move on. These can be either traditional or more progressive/kritical frameworks.

- For the NR/2AR, don't go for everything- there simply is not enough time and debates are not lost by making strategic decisions to go for one or two arguments instead of extending the entire case.

- I dont need voter issues- just go top down the AC and NC and win your offense/extend defense.

- Impact calc is necessary- PLEASE weigh your impacts. I default to a net benefits impact calc, unless given a competing way to view the round.

Please speak clearly and do not go too fast. I am a parent judge, but I do understand content well as long as it is explained well in all of your speeches.

Please specify your contentions and impacts very clearly in your constructives and make sure to explain the entire argument that you are going for in summary/final focus.

Please do not go for all of your arguments in later speeches. Also, do not make claims without giving a reason as to why it may be true.

Do not make any responses to your opponents’ case if it is not explained properly.

Do not misconstrue your evidence or your speaker points will be deducted.

Have a good round!

Name: Steve Kroepel

School Affiliation: Belvidere North High School

Number of Years Judging Public Forum: 8

What is your current occupation? Data Analyst

Please share your opinions or beliefs about how the following play into a debate round:

Speed of Delivery - brisk conversational - no faster

Format of Summary Speeches (line by line? big picture?) Big picture

Extension of Arguments into later speeches - If you want me to vote on it, yes

Flowing/note-taking - I am a flow judge as long as the round takes place at a reasonable pace and I am able to keep up, if you go faster than I can flow, and something does not end up on my flow, I will not vote on it

Do you value argument over style? Style over argument? Argument and style equally? As far as the W or L is concerned, 100% argumentation. If you can't articulate your warrant, don't expect to win on it.

If a team plans to win the debate on an argument, in your opinion does that argument have to be extended in the rebuttal or summary speeches? Yes

If a team is second speaking, do you require that the team cover the opponents’ case as well as answers to its opponents’ rebuttal in the rebuttal speech? Yes, if the round is happening at a reasonable pace, if one team sounds like an auctioneer so the other team is not able to get to all of their arguments, debating at a reasonable pace, I will not be as firm on this.

Do you vote for arguments that are first raised in the grand crossfire or final focus? No.

Hi everyone,

I am a new parent judge and English is not my first language, so I would appreciate it if you went slow and kept the jargon to the minimum. Please give me a big picture of what is happening in the round and explain very clearly why you are winning compared to the opponents. 

Good luck to all debaters! 

I am a parent judge who did debate all through high school and in my first couple years of college. It's been a while since I've done debate, and I did a different format to public forum, so you'll have to bear with me if I have some questions. I expect both teams to treat each other cordially and maintain respect to each other and to the debate itself. I like debaters who respond effectively and efficiently to their opponent's arguments. If you are unable to deliver a rebuttal or ignore their argument entirely, it makes me less likely to be convinced.

Above all else, have fun!

I am first time judging LD, I havd done judging for 4 PF tournaments, but this is the first time I am judging LD.

I would prefer if debaters speak slow so that I can totally comprehend the content. The fact that I am a parent judge (not professional judge), coupled with technical issues around bandwidth when we have debates over video conferences makes it harder to understand if people speak too fast.

I try to do very objective evaluation of the debate based only on the content shared during the debate. So it is up to the debaters to define the argument and weighing mechanism. I will be judging based the definitions provided in the debate. I expect debaters on both sides to take time to focus on these aspects.

I prefer if debaters not use debate jargon, spread or theory to win the debate.

I will prefer if the teams track theirs and opponents time and keep themselves and others in check. Let me know if you would rather want me to keep the time check.

Lastly, however heated the debate goes, it should be 100% respectful. Teams should respect the rules, time limits and other team mates.

I believe that 'Debate is a way of understanding a problem deeply and from various perspective to be able to make better decisions!'

Position yourself so I can hear you. Don't speak into your laptop or stand on the opposite side of the room. Don't read typed-out things like they are the text of a card. Slow down and change the intonation of your voice when you're speaking.

I normally look to impact calc throughout debate

If I don't understand something, I will not vote on it even if it is conceded.

I am getting tired of multiple conditional cp's. Seriously, it is getting out of hand. The neg gets 1 conditional cp or Kritik.

I not only look for argumentation but also HOW you debate (aka how well you can convince me).

Clarity is key. If you are spreading and I can not clearly hear your arguments I will not flow them.

last speeches should start with telling me exactly what should be on my ballot.

I WILL NOT VOTE FOR:

Things I will not vote on:

Arguments that suggest students should engage in risky behavior.

Death is good.

Fear of death is bad

Bataille

Baudrillard

Updated 4/19/2024

Experience:

Policy Debate at Shawnee Mission West from 2009-2013 (social services, military presence, space, transportation)

Assistant Policy Coach/Judge for Des Moines Roosevelt 2014-2017

Judge for Dowling Catholic 2018-2022

Marketing/Communications at the NSDA 2018-2022

LD or PF

I judge policy debate 99.9% of the time. On the occasion that I'm in LD or PF, be fairly warned that I don't know your abbreviations or jargon, and I don't know your topic as well. Please explain your acronyms and any tech style arguments you're making. I want clear and specific impacts, and good analysis of your impacts vs. your opponent's.

POLICY

To sum up my paradigm, I value good argumentation and clash. I default as a policymaker, so if you want me to vote on something different, you have to tell me. I can follow pretty much any speed with good signposting and clear tags, but you need to slow down on theory/T/analysis that is tougher to flow. I will answer any questions before the round, and I think you should ask me about things to make this a good experience for us both!

Please note, I have not judged any rounds on this year’s topic. I consider myself fairly knowledgable about the topic areas, but might need further explanation on acronyms or hyper-topic-specific information.

Disadvantages: I think DAs are great. I think they're some of the most real-world argumentation that happens in policy debate. I value great clash and specific link debate.

Counterplans: Go for it.

Kritiks: I have never been a K debater, and I consider my debate IQ on the K to be very low. If you decide to run a K anyway, and want to get my ballot, you need to drop the jargon and explain your argument extremely clearly. To be crystal clear: running a K in front of me is going to be tough. I have a high bar for clarity and understanding, and if I don't understand what is happening, it's going to be hard for me to vote for you.

If you've read all that and still want to run a K and win the round, you need to do a few things:

1. Explain clearly why passing the affirmative plan is bad.

2. Explain what action signing the ballot takes -- focus on solutions. What does the alternative do? What does it solve?

3. Drop the jargon/high theory args and talk to me like I've never heard of debate.

I have been on panels where teams decide to throw out my ballot because they love the K. I believe this is a poor strategic decision.

Topicality: Unless you give me a good reason otherwise, I won't evaluate potential abuse, so don't run T unless the aff is actually untopical.

Theory: If you're going to read theory args, go slow. I flow on paper and it's super hard to flow if you just rattle them off. I will likely just stop flowing. Like I said in the T description, I most likely won't evaluate potential abuse, so don't run theory unless it's actually unfair.

I believe students should be given the benefit of the doubt when it comes to tech issues at online tournaments. However, if I believe you are taking advantage to get extra prep time or cheat in another way, I will offer one warning before beginning to penalize the team.

I will not tolerate any forms of harassment in rounds that I am watching. If something you do constitutes harassment in my eyes, I will give you the lowest speaks possible and end the round.

My email is thegracerogers@gmail.com. You can put me on the email chain if you want, but I won't be following along with your speech doc -- I'll only look at evidence if I need to call for it after the round.

Siva Sambasivam

<< if you can explain the meaning of the two coins above, I'll start your speaks at a 29 (unless u do smth problematic in round) >>

siva.m.sambasivam@gmail.com

Saratoga High '20; started circuit debate my junior year - I qualified to TOC, NCFL, NSDAs, and California States, and reached the TOC autoqual level at both NCFLs and Nats, my junior and senior year respectively. I now privately coach a few teams around the circuit, and run the Delta Debate Academy. My teams have won TOC and t5'd NSDA Nats, so I should be able to keep up with whatever type of panel you have.

Debate is a game, play to win.

Debate is an educational activity, play fair.

TLDR: Tech > Truth, please warrant args and do comparative analysis, I’ll vote for anything. I can handle pretty much whatever you wanna throw at me, I think I'm a pretty good judge. except if you are Zach Yusaf - only two times I've ever squirreled were against him, so if you're hitting Hackley, free ballot for you :))

Most importantly, I appreciate debaters that are technically sound, but debate without ignoring the persuasive element of the activity - i.e. don't spam args in the back-half knowing that I'll be ABLE to sort through the flow, because I'd rather have my decision be simple.

Also, please make the round pleasant - nothing I hate more than spending time on a weekend watching kids get mad at each other. It's just debate; not that deep.

Standing Conflicts: F.C. B.A.L.L. Prep Group (Foothill AD, Centennial BN, Brentwood HM, Bergen KC, Anderson BC, La Salle GN, Lynbrook RG) + Seven Lakes LW

For 2021 TOC:

• You should be disclosed at TOC - speaks boost if you do. That said, my threshold for any theory (disclosure or paraphrase) is super high here, because I really don't want to drop a team at TOC on theory.
• Getting a 29+ from me at this tournament is super easy: 1. don't take more than 1:30 to pull up any given card your opponent calls for, 2. don't steal prep (I know this one is tough for PF teams), 3. don't interrupt someone in cross.
• For online debate: Please send docs for case and rebuttal if you are going fast or reading something that's not stock - my zoom/NSDA campus cuts out often. Feel free to turn off export options or unshare me right after, I have no desire to take your prep, I just don't want to mess up a decision because someone cut out.
• If y'all are cool with this, let's skip grand cross and take it as 1:30 of prep. Gcx begs people to interrupt each other and bring up new responses or new wEiGHiNg to arguments. You can have it if you want - but know I'll probably be listening to Juice or Cudi rather than the yelling match going on.

------

What has four letters,

Never has five letters,

Occasionally has twelve letters, and

Sometimes has nine letters.

------

Now the juicy stuff:

• I will only intervene under two conditions: 1. If a team is skewed out of the round technically or accessibility is compromised. Keep debate safe and fun - read trigger warnings, send docs, etc (more on this below). 2. There is absolutely 0 weighing done - then I'll do my own impact calc because I really don't want to presume.
• If you haven't had me before: As a debater, my favorite judges on the circuit were Cale McCrary, Riley Shahar, John Nahas, Cara Day and Conrad Palor - This would have been my ideal 5 judge panel, and a lot of my paradigm is based on theirs, so I'll evaluate rounds most similarly to them.
• It's my job to adapt to you. Let me know if there's anything I can do to make the round more accessible and feel free to ask paradigm questions before round.
• Postround as hard as you feel like. I’ll continue the conversation for as long as you want (even after the tournament), unless I think it’s going in circles.
• Second rebuttal must frontline turns and respond to weighing, if you wish to contest them. Otherwise, they are conceded, with full strength of link. Don't try some wand-waving in summary, it's a waste of your time. First summary only needs to respond to arguments that second rebuttal interacted with. (If second rebuttal doesn't respond to defense, you can backline it in first final focus). I'm willing to buy arguments that second rebuttal needs to FL everything.
• I will ALWAYS disclose my decision and give an RFD, whether the tournaments bans it or not (pls don't snitch on me). I used to hate it when I didn't get a decision/feedback, especially from flow judges, because it prevented me from making mid-tournament adjustments. I think not getting judges' feedback gives a significant advantage to schools who can have coaches watch the round, and I want to level the playing field. Feel free to message me on facebook during or after the topic if you have any questions or want feedback/advice.
• The only time I expect disclosure is if you read a pre-fiat argument with discourse as an impact. If you don't, it's not an auto-L, but disclosing is a way to show me that you are not commodifying my ballot. This also means I'm inclined to buy disclosure theory in this type of situation - I hate people running arguments like these just for ballots. I think it's great if you actually care, though, because debate can be used to bring awareness and force people to research/understand arguments they previously wouldn't have.

Come to the round already preflowed & coinflip done pls unless you have a paradigm question

| LINE BY LINE | SIGNPOST | EXTEND ARGS | SUMMARY TO FF CONSISTENCY | HAVE FUN |

-General-

• Please extend your link story with warrants in the back half - one exception: if a certain part of your argument is conceded, I don't NEED that part. For example, if you read in case a warrant for nuclear war -> extinction, I don't need that warrant extended in the back-half if it's conceded. Remember, if it is conceded, I don't NEED this, but I'd prefer it. If your entire arg is conceded, I still need at the least the link and impact. Debate is about efficiently and persuasively articulating arguments - if you don't do that in the back-half I'll be hesitant to vote for you, and your speaks will take a hit.
• Cool with anyone speaking in cross, I don't see a reason why every cross shouldn't just have everyone involved, ESPECIALLY in rounds with pre-fiat and apriori arguments.
• Please send a speech doc if it's either, A: above 350 wpm (cards) or B: above 275 wpm and a lot of paraphrasing and blippy analytics. As my old coach would say: I'll probably be fine without a speech doc, but it won't help you when I get distracted for 0.2 seconds and miss your 12 rOuNd WiNnInG TuRnS. I think speed is good for the activity, just try your best not to be exclusionary.
• Speaker Point boost for disclosing - I think disclosing is good but I also have a very high threshold for disclosure theory and paraphrase theory because I don't believe teams should be *forced* to disclose. That said, I do believe it is a good practice and it does put you at a disadvantage, so let me know before constructive that you disclose, and I'll add 1 pt to speaks.
• TKO (Technical Knockout) Rule: if you believe your opponent has 0 path to the ballot as long as you properly extend arguments, not just a small probability chance (they drop a warranted and extended ROTB and a clean link and they don’t have an external link into your ROTB, for example), you can call a "TKO" and the round ends early. If you're right, you win and get 30s. If you're wrong, you lose and get 20s.
• For the second speaking team, no new final focus analysis is allowed unless it is responsive to new first final focus arguments.
• If you think there is something missing from my paradigm, ask me before round or make an argument in round for why I should follow a certain rule when judging.

-Substance-

• DAs in second rebuttal: Here's the deal. Most of y’all accidentally do this anyway cause people don’t read proper "link turns" or "impact turns". That's fine. However, let’s make sure these are all warranted and implicated. Remember, warrants make arguments, implications make responses. Also don't just read disads, sprinkle in some analytics. Like, if your rebuttal is “oN ThEiR CaSe - iTs GoNnA sTaRt wiTh An OvErViEw.... COnTeNtIOn FoUr Is..." then please abstain. I already said I’m cool with speed, read your 12 contentions in constructive. Let's make rebuttal somewhat responsive.
• Hidden arguments are fine as long as they have warrants.
• Summary - this is BY FAR the most important speech in the round. I know other judges are willing to do this, even some of the best, but I will not vote for a team with a second speaker that ghost extends stuff into final focus. I won’t do that. Please extend your arguments well in summary. I also find the warrants for defense and turns go away by summary for a lot of teams - my rule about not voting for unwarranted arguments still applies to these. Even if you are winning 5 pieces of conceded terminal defense, if a warrant isn't extended, then I won't buy any of the defense.
• sTrEnGtH oF LiNk meta weighing is the new "clarity of impact". I won't vote for it absent a very well developed warrant. Even if you do warrant it, I think it's stupid. This is pretty much a "trick" read by techy teams to skew another team out of the round. If someone reads it on you - here are 4 responses: 1. It destroys education because it encourages people to avoid impact calculus, which is key to real-world policymaking, 2. It also encourages people to extend tons of blippy defense through ink because frontlines are rarely terminal, as opposed to interacting with arguments, which is key to in-depth education, and 3. It discourages warranted link comparison, like historical precedent or uniqueness comparison, which is more applicable to the real world, and 4. If you win your argument, you also have 100 percent strength of link. Read these 4 responses and it'll probably take out the SoL metaweighing, if not serve as an independent reason to drop your opponents for setting bad norms (if you make this implication, obviously). I would absolutely love a team to drop if you win any of these. However, if you don't read these responses, I won't have any sympathy for you, because you should be reading paradigms before round.

-Weighing-

There are two ways I can comfortably vote for you: you either nuke them on the flow, meaning you just win the arguments indisputably and weighing isn’t needed, or you properly weigh. You'll likely have a better time in the latter category. With that:

PLEASE PLEASE WEIGH. Comparative and INTERACTIVE weighing specifically.

Carded weighing and framing are great. Meta weighing is awesome. Link comparison is even better.

• Weighing is not spamming random buzzwords. Weighing is not "OuR EcOn aRg OuTwEiGhS tHEiR LiVeS aRg On ScOpE." Do impact calc, and actually responsive impact calc (not just scope, magnitude, reversibility, timeframe, etc). While I do appreciate this traditional weighing, I would obviously prefer interactive and comparative analysis - i.e. link-ins, pre-reqs, short-circuits. I'm inclined to reward good internal link debate.
• Just a piece of advice: disguise link turns here (i.e. if you are winning an Econ argument and you’ve conceded a war link, just give reasons why a bad economy link turns war and why it outweighs on probability for example). This is also a great way to get back in the round if you drop something big. But also don’t read new substantive link turns as “weighing” - there’s a difference and I’ll catch it.
• Weighing that is not responded to in the next speech is conceded - that doesn’t mean you can’t do more analysis on it (i.e. linking into that weighing or reading a pre-req) but if the actual warrant on any weighing is dropped, it is conceded.
• "Probability" is not weighing on the impact level. If an argument is won, the probability is high. You can do strength of link weighing, but ultimately anything you say is "probability weighing" is just impact defense that needs to come in rebuttal. The only time that I’ll evaluate probability weighing is if it’s new comparative analysis done on the link level between multiple arguments that could not have come in rebuttal.
• Clarity of impact is not weighing unless you warrant why it is weighing (and there are ways to do this, ask me in round if you want) - but just saying that you have a number and your opponents don’t is a stupid way to look at debate, and encourages zero interaction and zero comparative analysis - I’m never going to vote on it absent a warrant. If you make a claim that your opponents don’t have impact contextualization, then sure, I’m more likely to vote for you, but pls pls pls don’t let cLaRiTy oF iMpAcT be your “weighing” in the round. Same thing with "uniqueness" weighing.

• Do meta weighing and link weighing - if two teams both have links into an impact (which should happen in high-level rounds) - do link comparison. (Strength of link, historical precedent, uniqueness, probability). In my career I always HATED when judges intervened with their own thoughts about which warrant or link “made sense” - I’ve had this happen in super late elimination rounds at bid tournaments. If I’m in this scenario I will 100 percent not intervene - it is your fault for not giving me reasons for why your warrant is better even if everyone can agree it “makes more sense” - So, if everyone has extended warrants into the same argument and there is no terminal defense from either side, I’ll default to (in order):

  • Which argument has less mitigatory defense (Strength of Link)
  • If there's any empirics read on the argument
  • Whoever is winning the uniqueness picture (since that makes it more likely that your link has a larger magnitude and greater SoL)
  • I’ll prefer a carded link over an analytical link turn
  • Remember, these are all easy ways to compare links, along with evidence comparison, that should be said in round, but if nobody says anything, this is how I’ll evaluate competing links.

-Theory-

TLDR: Default RVIs and reasonability, don't skew teams out of round with this

• I really hate teams being exclusionary with theory but here are my bright lines so there is something that is concrete -
• If a team is qualified to the GOLD TOC, they should be able to handle theory shells.
• If you are at a Round Robin, the same goes.
• If you are one round past the bid level at a tournament (i.e. sems at a quarters bid) go for it.
• Otherwise, I'd prefer if you didn't read theory, but if you must: go slow, no jargon, and paragraph form.
• If reading theory against a team that can handle it structure it properly and go as fast as you want. I’m cool with meta-theory. Do weighing between the shells.
• As a side note, if I’m on a panel, please only read your shell if all the judges can handle it. I hate teams reading theory and then getting the benefit of doubt from the judges that don’t know what they are doing. This also means I’m inclined to vote on a shell saying you can only read theory if judges all expressly say they can evaluate it.
• I default to RVIs unless told otherwise. Also, because theory is not a common argument, I default reasonability so that teams that are new to theory can respond to it like a regular argument. I will not drop a team if they responded to the shell adequately, but didn't know exactly what a "counterinterp" was. I'm more than down to default competing interps, but please (1) explain what they are for your opponents and (2) give me a WARRANT as to why.

• THIS is IMPORTANT - If you read no RVI’s - I do NOT believe winning no RVIs turn your shell into no-risk offense. I've heard from people that this is a hot button issue in policy as well right now, and because theory is still relatively new to PF, norms for theory debates are still being set. My stance on this is pretty simple - I've had theory debates (especially back when I didn't understand theory as well) where the warrants for an RVI never actually held up to what the judges considered an "RVI". For example:

  • I believe that if someone is winning a link turn on your shell (not reasons to prefer a competing interp) but a link turn - i.e. you read time skew bad and they say time skew good because it fosters critical thinking, an RVI does not get you out of that unless you explicitly explain why your RVI should preclude link turns. Like if your warrant for no RVI's is that it is illogical because you shouldn't win for proving that you are fair/educational - that isn't responsive to time-skew good, right, because their argument is that they are being comparatively more fair/educational than you.
  • (Chilling effect could be responsive, but you need to explain why) You can also read defense to your own shell/standards to get out of it, I think conditionality is fine.

Basically, theory is always more exclusionary than substance, so if we use jargon, let's not conflate what that jargon means.

If responding to theory/you’re reading my paradigm rn and worried some tech lord is gonna go 89 off on you, not to fret, just treat theory like any arg (logically) and you should be good ... this isn't an excuse to undercover it though.

-Tricks/K’s-

• Ks. I prefer util debate. That said, I've read and debated basic K stuff so if you wanna read a K and that's your topic strat, I won't change that or penalize you for it. Just please be really clear and explicit and explain stuff well. Once again, if you are hitting a team that doesn't understand it, please be extra slow. I just say I prefer util because I'm less likely to make a bad decision/have to intervene for yall.
• I’m definitely chill with forms of epistemological/deontological weighing, I think these aren't read well by teams and are often underutilized.
• Tricks - just don't. If you are thinking about reading tricks with me in the back, you'll probably win substance anyway, so just do that, please. If you REALLY want to, tell your opponents 30 minutes before the round, and disclose the tricks if they ask.

-Speaks-

• Speaks are subjective - If you are funny, chill and disclose - you’ll prolly get good speaks.
• To give you a gauge on what I like - My favorite debaters stylistically were Matt Salah, Max Wu, Gabe Grodan, and Ezra Khorman.
• Be calm and slow, or dominant and assertive, I don't care - I'm happy to give great speaks to both if you execute properly.
• I know I have implicit biases, so I’ll do my best to counteract them while giving speaks.
• 30 speaks shell: Please don't read this. I think it’s read by predominately male teams and it further hurts womxn, gm’s, and minorities in the activity. As I said, I’ll try to prevent any action on my implicit biases but I won’t vote for this argument, because I do think this fosters exclusionary practices.

-Other-

Formal clothes are stupid - pull up in whatever you want. Make the round chill.

CX: I don’t listen. That said concessions in cross, obviously, can be leveraged.

I don’t like calling cards because I don’t like intervening. I will only call a card if a) you tell me to in a speech and give me a reason to do so, b) I actually just can’t make a decision without seeing it, or c) your representation of the card changes as the round progresses

-Two quick things-

I know you want to win and debate can get super heated and competitive. Trust me, I was never known for being nice in round. But at the end of the day, even if you can’t see it now, you are going to value this activity for the connections you’ve made and the people you meet, not for the nice trophy you get with a horse on top of it. Instead of making enemies, try to be chill and create friendships with the people you debate.

I know lots of schools don’t have many resources or coaching. If you are in this boat - feel free to ask me for help/advice after round, or even after the tournament. I dealt with this for a while and I know, it sucks. We’ll never fully fix the inequities in debate but the least that I can do is try my best. :)

If you’ve gotten this far in my paradigm, I have quite a bit of respect for you. I used to stalk paradigms to learn more about debate, so I love people that read paradigms in their entirety. Let me know that you made it here before round, just pm me in the zoom chat, and you'll get a speaks boost.

I'm not really good at putting this into words so if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.

I competed in Public Forum nationally and locally (AZ) all four years of high school, and dabbled in Extemp and Congress.

Speeches: In rebuttal, it is really easy to try to talk fast and have 7-10 responses per argument, but most of the time that means that each response is barely covered and there is a high chance that one response has been reiterated a few times, just with different words/cards. Please don't do that, I would much prefer quality of your responses to quantity of your responses. I expect that you maintain consistency between summary and final focus. If they are not consistent I will not weigh something said in summary and not FF and vice versa. However, just telling me to 'flow through ____ card' is not sufficient, I must get the link chain, and explanation of why that card is important. Also, WEIGH, I am sure that if you don't, and I end up doing the work, neither of us will have a fun time with the decision. Make sure that you collapse in summary and final focus, this makes it easier to judge the round and it makes everything much clearer. Also, make sure that your narrative is strong. Remember, you should tell me a story, don't just read cards and expect me to understand your argument, make sure that I understand step by step why your argument functions and makes sense.

Evidence: If you read something in any speech, it should be readily available and so if the opposing team asks for it, I will give you 30 seconds to look for it before I start cutting into your prep time. Also, please abide by evidence rules. I will ask for evidence if hotly contested or if its validity is questioned.

How to win my ballot: Basically, do all the things you were taught to do: Link out and warrant each argument you are going for, make sure you have offense, and most importantly, tell me why you win and why I vote for you.

Notes:

- Please try to respond to every argument brought up in constructives, otherwise it allows for easy offense for your opponents.

- Don't flow through red ink, I will be flowing and I will know if the argument has been responded to.

- I won't listen to CX wholly, bring it up in a speech if its mentioned in CX

- Only use FW/Observations/Definitions if they really are beneficial to your case/the round. If it is just "cost-benefit analysis" or "Merriam-Webster defines ___" it just takes away from the substance of your case.

- Run whatever arguments you want but just make sure that the link chain is clear, and everything is properly warranted and linked.

- Don't be racist, sexist, ableist, etc. Just be a nice person, its easy.

- Signposting is nice, please do it.

I also have two huge pet peeves:

1) Please please please do NOT give me an off time roadmap if it is "down their case, then if time permits mine" or "the three voting issues". Only give me a roadmap if it is something completely out of the ordinary that I should know.

2) Do not count down the time to your speech "3, 2, starting... now". Just start talking, I trust you to take time for yourself.

I really am bad at saying what I look for in a round so if you have any specific questions don't hesitate to ask!

Hi! I am Selma Tabakovic (she/her pronouns) and I debated Public Forum in high school. I went to American University. Now I'm going to Brooklyn Law School. I am an external PF coach for American Heritage Palm Beach/Boca.

Generally: Debate in a way that will make you feel most comfortable and confident within the round! I will be able to adapt to you and your style. My paradigm below is just some specifics about my preferences, but you should feel free to compete in your own style.

I definitely look at the flow to decide who wins the round, but if I think that something is not handled effectively on the flow (ex: really under-covered argumentation in response to major points in the round), I will likely vote on the truth of an argument.

What I like to see in the round:

Comparative weighing in FF is key! Tell me why an argument matters more than another. Comparing worlds to each other will make the round more wholistic. If I have to decide which argument matters more than another, it is technically intervening and I would prefer if I didn't have to do that.

If you want me to vote for an argument it has to be extended from Summary to FF. Please extend the warrants for your arguments from case that you want to go for. Please frontline in second rebuttal and collapse on the argument you want to win on!

I love hearing unique arguments in PF! Feel free to run any argument about imperialism/colonialism/etc within the PF topic. I think engaging with these types of arguments within a round makes debate more educational, impactful, and interesting.

What isn't necessary in the round:

Please do not give me an off-time roadmap unless you are running theory. I will be able to follow your train of thought if you sign post!

Please do not ask "I am first speaker, so can I have first question?" Please just assume that first speaker in the round has first question.

Please do not spread! I would prefer if the round is slower so that I can fully understand the warranting of your contentions. I prefer slow, well warranted debates over fast, blippy debates.

Evidence Exchanges:

Please share me on the evidence exchanges -- selma.tabakovic@ahschool.com.

I do not like paraphrased evidence and would much rather prefer you read cut cards.

Progressive Debate Rounds:

I am happy to adjudicate progressive rounds, but I strongly prefer adjudicating rounds that engage on substance within the resolution. I will adjudicate progressive rounds purely off of the flow, so all responses must be on the flow. If you run theory please clearly explain your link. For Ks, please clearly explain how the alternative is worse and how voting pro solves.

TLDR on my paradigm:

I debated my junior and senior year of high school in the West LA/OCSL circuits and graduated in '20; qualified to nats and STOC my senior year & coached for ~3 years after that. I am now pursuing a bachelors in Politics & Public Affairs & coaching the debate team @ Denison U.

email: tan_s1@denison.edu

Important Things for the skimmers:

-I am about 75% tech 25% truth.

-Spread and I will drop you.

-I default to Cost-Benefit Analysis w/ a value of human life if no other framework is read and first speaking if there is no offense on the flow.

-I require weighing and extensions if you want to win the debate. Both defense and offense are not sticky (more on this below). I should hear extensions from the 1SS onward.

-I flow on paper, so keep it somewhat slow.

It has been quiteeeee a while since I've last judged, so please be gentle with my feeble mind.

If you are running theory or Ks, both sides must OK it for me to evaluate the arg. I never debated and have hardly judged pre-fiat so don't expect me to be anywhere close to my post-fiat judging abilities.

I have voted aff 69 times and neg 87 times (give or take), meaning an almost 56% neg bias. Yikes. I would guess the bias is from defaulting neg; I have since shifted to voting for first speaking in the interest of fairness.

Parli:

Debated parli mainly my junior year, I am versed in the event.

POIs need to be short. I will not flow them. Bring it up in a speech if it's important.

I'll tell you if I accept your Point of Order.

I am versed in topicality shells. I am receptive to prefiat args in this event, but you'll still need to slow them down and dumb them down a bit.

I prefer that Ks link in to the res, but non res Ks are fine, I'm just more receptive to res level.

I know that quantified impacts are hard to come by in parli. If you don’t have a quantifiable impact, I expect some sort of framing that replaces terminalization. If you don’t have terminalization or a framing level thing going for your impact, I find it difficult to vote for it.

LD:

I tend to evaluate the round on framing and VC above all else. Treat me like a flay judge (quick reminder that I have the least amount of experience judging this event). Pre-fiat args are ok (and encouraged), but no guarantee I can evaluate them well.

PF:

What I like to see in round:

Extensions: My threshold for extensions is fairly low. I expect you to extend every link in the arg you're going for; they can be paraphrased. I expect your impact scenario to be extended.

Signposting: I hate guessing where I should be flowing. Be explicit where you are going on the flow both before your speech and during it. If you think you're being obvious, be a little more obvious. Seriously, this is one of my biggest problems in-round. Signpost.

Two worlds analysis: I like to see this both on the weighing, warrant, and evidentiary level. Why should I prefer your weighing over your opponent's? Compare them. Why should I prefer your warrant over your opponent's? Compare them. Why should I prefer your evidence over your opponent's? Compare them.

Weighing: Weighing is a must if you want to win the round. If you don't weigh and your opponent does, they win. Irrespective of the quality and integrity of your link chain and impact, I will always vote for the side with the winning weighing. If you both weigh, you'll also need to metaweigh to get my ballot.

Evidence analysis: I like it when you call for evidence. Evidence standards in pf suck and have been getting worse. You're likely to find some great responses if you call out crappy evidence. It also makes me happy to hear people call out a crappy card.

What I don't like to see in round:

Sloppy crossfires: Crossfire can be a great way to clear up confusion and communicate critiques of the other side. They can also be horrible screaming fits where nothing gets done and you both end up angry. Make sure you are having constructive conversation or I will drop speaks.

Disorganization: If your speech is not organized and super jumpy, regardless of signposting, I will likely get lost. Please have a strategy when you deliver.

Ad hominem: If you're racist/rude/homophobic you get L20'd & tournament management will be notified.

My quirks:

Defense is not sticky: Lack of defensive extensions, even if dropped, makes for a messy backend debate. You will win the defense if it is dropped, no need to spend too much time on it.

Post-rounding: I encourage post-rounding in order to better myself as a judge. Judges that drop you and say, "everyone did great!" made me extremely angry when I debated. If I missed something, bring it up. However, it will not change my ballot. If I missed it, I missed it.

The "truth" part of my paradigm: If the round gets really messy or your evidence sounds far too absurd then I will intervene. It pains me to say this, but the standard for evidence is already rock bottom and I am trying to make a minuscule difference. If you don't have messy rounds and read good evidence then this shouldn't worry you.

Remember that I am a human and debate is a game. I will sometimes make mistakes, please do not hate me for it.

My paradigm is pretty similar to this one: https://www.tabroom.com/index/paradigm.mhtml?judge_person_id=35843

*EXCEPTION* I will accept what the evidence says unless the other team asks enough questions that make it sound stupid. I will not vote for anything that sounds incredible or just completely dumb.

General:

1. Assume I'm bad at debate. I hate doing work.

2. If you read two cards correctly and they make sense, I will buy them instantly. (these are not specific for a reason)

• Guardian card that says 420.
• A card that says chance of civil war jumps to ~77.6%.

3. I don't know how to evaluate theory. Shoutout to Kyle Chong.

Speaks:

1. I don't often give 30s but if you make me laugh or make me cringe, I’ll give you a 30. Also, if you make a half decent pun with the topic, I’ll give you a 30.

2. If you go more than 5 seconds over time I’ll take off 0.5 speaks per second after.

3. I’ll take off a point every time a terrible analogy is used. (selling an apple for $5 is not comparable to international trade)

Evidence:

1. Make me call for it. I also hate reading a lot, so don't tell me to read it unless you think it’s critical.

2. If you read a card I know, you should hope you're not misrepresenting it.

Case read:

Speed is not an issue.

Cross-x:

1. You get first question if you speak first.

2. Don't be mean.

3. Refer to point 2.

4. Refer to point 2.

5. Point 2 is really important.

Summary/FF:

1. Anything works.

2. No new evidence in FF.

Argument stuff:

1. If you read a link turn and say "if you don't buy that", then proceed with an impact turn, you better explain why I can't evaluate your impact turn under your link turn. Otherwise, it's a double turn.

2. If you read anything diabetes or sugar related, I will not like the arg. Although it is important to recognize that whether I like the argument does not matter. If it’s well developed, I'll vote for it.

Second year lay judge.

1. Do not speak too fast. Be Clear.

2. Rather than just reading cards, make sure to clearly warrant everything you say in round.

3. Make sure your arguments are consistent throughout the round.

4. Any arguments made in final focus must have been mentioned in summary.

5. Be sure to weigh clearly. Interactive weighing is great.

6. Do not be rude to your opponents during the round.

please start an email chain: syadavdebate@gmail.com

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I would call myself a fairly flow judge. "tech > truth" unless the evidence that is being read is very misrepresented.

Anything you want me to vote on must be extended in summary. There's no such this as sticky defense. Frontline in 2nd RB. Frontline, if applicable, and extend in summary.

You do not have to extend case in 1st RB.

I prefer the weighing done for me; as in a bunch of warrants, defense and turns will do nothing for me if they are not contextualized. I expect to hear why I should prefer your side with reference to warrants. I could maybe vote on something left off of FF, but I won't extend something from case/rebuttal to summary UNLESS it makes sense in the round (ie opponent brings it up again). Weighing should be comparative, doesn't help if both teams say they have a high probability without comparing to their opponent.

I do not flow cross-ex (but I do listen). if it's a new argument/warranting in CX, it should be in a speech. Be nice

As for mechanics, I am pretty flexible and should be comfortable with speed (unless it will be very fast/spreading) as long as you are clear. A speech doc will be well appreciated if you are speaking fast. I'm open to theory, as long as it is not frivolous (ex: no shoe theory). Ks and shells are both ok. I default to reasonability. Please note I am not an expert with theory, and again speech docs will help me understand more. (especially in online debate)

Have evidence ready, shouldn't take longer than 1-2 min to find it or send it out. Also, I will take it from your prep if you're prepping when your opponent is getting a card. I know online debate means I can't enforce this too well so honor system.

About paraphrasing: It takes away from the education of the debate, I do hate it, and while I won't drop you (on face) for it, I won't like you any better if you give me 40 one-lined "cards" in case or rebuttal. Plus it just takes away from the round when your opponent has to call for 10 cards because you read them too fast. (Anti) Paraphrasing theory will pretty easily win my ballot if done well.

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Overall, I try my best to make the right decision (but I'm nowhere near perfect). If you have ANY questions feel free to contact me (syadavno1@gmail.com) or ask me before/after the round. Thank you!