Spreading is fine, but if you go so fast I stop writing, that's because I can't understand you. Your points cannot be added to the flow if I do not understand them. This will not happen often, but if you see me put the pen down, you are going too fast.

Please refrain from abusing theory until it drops dead and needs its corpse moved around on a marionette. You will be penalized for shameless abuse of debate.

I did LD, some Policy/CX, and Congress in high school.

Please add me to the email chain: chloegbrown31@gmail.com :-)

**Feel free to ask more specific questions before rounds, but know that your style/ research is more important than my feelings about specific args/ strategies.**

CX:

I did policy all through high school, mostly critical/ soft-left stuff. I l still like K stuff, not necessarily more than anything else though. Honestly, I don't tend to vote for T but will if the voting issues are made very clear and important.

Southside is my first tournament judging the 2023-24 topic, if there are specific acronyms, please clarify them. Don't expect me to have super intimate knowledge of NATA/ AI- related legislation. I keep up with the news, but I am an English major.

I pay close attention to role-of-the-ballot and role-of-the-judge args but want to knowwhythose roles are valid/ important/ good.

If you are going to run a K, please demonstrate a good understanding of your methodologies, authors, and foundational philosophies. Running something critical just for the sake of it is not going to win you any points.

Generally, I want to know why things matter and believe in truth over tech. I am not going to catch every minute technical concession. By the end of the round, wrap things up nicely and tell me exactly what matters the most (and why).

L/D

I never competed in LD but enjoy judging it and have quite a lot.

Although I don't have super specific preferences, please do flesh out any framing-- do not assume that just because yousay the value criterion is "____" that means I assume it's true. Tell me why!Let me know what matters in/ out of the round.

I pay close attention to the line-by-line and love to see direct clash.

If the facts are on your side, argue the facts. If the law is on your side, argue the law. If neither the facts nor the law are on your side, bang on the table. Don't bang on the table. I prefer substantive arguments, presented in a linear fashion, strongly supported by logic, and and backed up by well-sourced facts.

I don't know every arcane rule and style of debating, but as an AP Gov teacher for 18 years, I know the topics and recognize proper argumentation and reasoned position-taking.

Thanks.

Samford

He/Him

Updated as of Indiana 2024

Add me to the chain: maddoxforfun@gmail.com

TLDR: I judge off the flow. Clash is great. Being prepped is awesome, not flowing and debating off of a script is not. I can only flow what I can hear, speed is fine but never sacrifice clarity for it. Start slower at the top of the final rebuttals. Don't change the args you go for in front of me, do what you wanna do and what you think you're best at. Do not ask to give a road map just give one. A roadmap is just the order of the flows, not what the arguments are. If there are more than 3 cards in the speech you should send a doc. Please be nice and have fun!

Above everything else be respectful to everyone involved in round. If you cannot be nice at least be polite. Respect isn't something that should be an added bonus but a norm. If I find that anyone regardless of ability is disrespectful of someone else involved in the round, then speaks will drop like the Nasdaq and I'll probably find it harder for myself to be persuaded by your args.

Everything else:

DA's:

The most important aspect's of the DA to me are comparative analysis, impact calculus, and contextualization with the aff. I don't believe in 100% risk or absolute defense/ 0 risk of the DA but I will vote on arguments near that threshold.

CP's:

Counterplan's should be both functionally and textually competitive. I think you can win with internal NB's, but that it's much harder to evaluate WHY the cp is an opportunity cost of the plan, and makes me err aff on the perm debate. I think that PIC's that steal the aff can be abusive, but not always a reason to reject the arg or team.

T:

I am not the best T vs policy aff's judge. I think teams need to be way slower and more deliberate when going for T, especially in final rebuttals. Reading pre-written speeches at full speed with the assumption I am catching all of this and understanding the deepest and most intricate nuances of the topic has not fared well in front of me. There should be clear ground loss and abuse stories presented in the debate, with contextualization to the plan text and the counter interpretation. I am a 70% reasonability 30% competing interps judge. T is a swinging gate, so if you win that the aff should be weighed/ is topical, you win the debate.

Identity based args note:

I have absolutely no tolerance for anything related to authenticity checking, invalidating anyone's identity based off of some silly game we go to camp for, or anything of that nature that would discourage people from partaking in this activity. Identity rounds have the potential to get personal and I am wholly uncomfortable letting any debater internalize negative things said about their identity, all for a ballot. I reserve the right to vote down any team regardless of how good they think they are based off of this premise.

K Affs:

I believe USFG should: is a norm and not a rule, so I have and will vote on aff's outside of that actor. How to win my ballot with a planless aff: Explicitly lay out what exact harms the affirmative aims to solve, be good on the flow as to why your implementation of X is sufficient and necessary, commit a fair amount of time to judge instruction and impact out what winning each part of the flow means. Be clear as to why my evaluation of X should come before standard policy framing/whatever the 2nr is. vote aff to affirm us because X has/probably will never be persuasive to me. that also applies to k's on the neg.

K's:

K teams who routinely win my ballots are great at explaining what offense me voting for them solves, via post or pre-fiat means. Impact out what winning an arg means, and what args you need to win to come out ahead on flows/which flow matters most. Point to 1ac and 2ac evidence and show me the link, it's really easy convincing me that an aff links when I see the exact verbiage and rhetoric in aff evidence when the neg points it out. Super long 3 minute overviews struggle to find cohesive spots on my flow, yet in speeches that go straight to the line by line I find myself losing the meta-level crux of the flow, so try and toe the line of over-explaining but also efficiency. Impact calc is still a necessity. Overexplain the alt's necessity/sufficiency, and how it correlates to the ballot. Oftentimes teams overinvest in the link debate, and I just don't know what I'm supposed to do with whatever is left of the alt. I don't find aff frameworks that exclude the K to be even slightly convincing. Paired with that I think I will pretty much always weigh the plan's impacts vs the k in my decision unless there is a tremendously lopsided debate had on this that concludes neg. Floating piks are probs bad, and if you kick the alt and go for it as a disad in the 2nr, the aff will get to respond accordingly.

Theory:

True neutral on condo. For condo bad args I don't think its how many worlds were involved in round that signal an aff ballot but what they justify. The difference between 3 and 4 or 5 and 6 conditional worlds isn't that big. but what the negs framework allows and prevents is what gets me to sign off. That being said, you probably never need more than 3 condo. Anything more and you're overloading the 1nc and are gonna link way harder to any in round abuse args. If aspec was hidden on another flow it gets a new 1ar answer. The moral of the story is don't be a coward, let us know youre going for aspec. If you are that scared of the 2ac answering it then it's probably not that good of an arg in this round. Perf con is not an independent voter, but rather an extension of condo or something that gets you ground somewhere else. Think about flowability and pen time before you blaze through multiple paragraphs of analytics.

Framework:

I will almost always weigh the aff, unless the negative forwards a better way of evaluating the debate. You do not have to win the entirety of the framework to win the debate or K flow. I'm fairly convinced by fw perms. Cross applications are key, and 1 dropped warrant could change the way I evaluate the rest of the flow.

Clipping:

If a clipping accusation is made the round immediately ends and is determined based off of the veracity of the accusation. If the accusing team is wrong they will lose, if the accusing team is right they will win. I will adhere to the tournament rules, if provided, pertaining speaks. If no rules are posted I will give 0's to the losing team, and some speaks in the low 29's to the winners.

Card doc:

I am not a card doc heavy judge. My ballot will be reflective of the argumentation on my flow and in round clash, and the card doc is merely supporting the flow. If you think a piece of ev is critical to my decision say so in speech, but do not expect me to recreate the debate based on ev.

Speaks:

A very easy way to lose speaks is to have a lot of downtime in the round where a clock is not running, if there isn't a speech going either you should be running prep, or have announced that the doc is being sent out. Especially after 2+ years of online debate, egregious stealing of prep will be harshly punished speaks wise.

Debate shouldn't be one big meme thread, but humor makes you more convincing and personable(if it's funny that is). I am a big fan of sports or pop culture references.

Be nice to the other team, have fun, and make friends!!! I promise you when everything is said and done you will remember the friends you made and the fun had in the activity more than the rfd's you get

If everyone in the round has a well-updated wiki with open-sourcing, I will give everyone a + .1 in speaks

Hi! I'm Karnessia (pronounced car-nee-see-uh). If you're reading this, you're most likely frantically prepping before a debate round, trying to figure out if you can run that K or if I'm ok with spreading. The answer to both questions is likely yes, but my favorite phrase is "make it make sense."

My background: I was a circuit CX debater and later transitioned to LD. I have a bit of experience with PF as well. I later coached parliamentary debate in college.

411:

"How I pull the trigger" --> I likely won't pull the trigger (so to speak) on technicalities unless it's an egregious violation. I'm also not a one drop and you're out type judge. For me, the big picture and the implications of actions in the "real world" are of paramount importance. Again, make it make sense. Paint the world for me that you're asking me to vote for. Show me a world that's genuinely less oppressive, more efficient, than this current one and you're doing well.

If you're going to read a card, be ready to engage it. It's a red flag for me when a debater is asked about a claim made in their card and they stumble through it. As a debater, I was never with the jargon and the posturing that so often comes with debate. Communication is a two-way street. It involves a nuanced understanding of the needs of the speaker and listener. So, break it down for me. Weigh things! Impact it out. And if you're doing LD, please do some value/value criterion weighing/analysis. You don't have to spend a bunch of time with it, but LD is about the values so I want you to engage that too.

I try to be as open-minded as possible, meaning I will most certainly vote for an argument, even if I don't personally agree with the said argument. HOWEVER, I just can't behind arguments that are blatantly racist, sexist, homophobic, and xenophobic. Hateful ideas like that don't deserve your breath.

Re: speaker points: Again, clarity is everything! Please be clear on your taglines. And please don't cut your opponent off during cross-examination. I mean, sometimes the ends really don't justify the means. It makes me extremely uncomfortable when people get rude to their opponents out of the blue. To clarify, it's definitely ok to press your opponent to wrap up if they're being long-winded.

Extra: Much of my debate philosophy is informed by my former coaches, Darin Maier and Jharick Shields. I studied under Maier and Shields for 6 years. As a result, I realize my paradigms will sound eerily similar to theirs. They go into many specifics re specific arguments and I generally agree with most of their assessments. I endorse almost 100% of each of their paradigms. I hope I've been clear here, but if you'd like a bit more perspective, viewing theirs may also shed a bit more light on mine.

brixztheflip@gmail.com

I don't have a pair of dime, but i got four nickels

T is not a voter

Fairness is not an impact

although i believe in my heart of hearts that disclosure is good, I don't care about your disclosure theory...

I vote against my personal beliefs all the time it often makes me sad

Make Art Not War

Good Luck out there, show me something I ain't seen before.

I'm not one of of these smug intellectuals, I use a lot of fancy words sometimes but I thrifted them.... so the better you can tell it like it is and give historical examples the easier it is for me to make a decision.

Judge instruction is nice... dont just say it to me, tell me what to do with it.

add me to the chain @ antongw@gmail.com

I will vote on an ass whooping in any direction. What this means:

- I'm not side biased i.e. You having the last speech isnt intrinsically more convincing

- I'll vote on either policy or K stuff (To be fair I'm pretty much only versed in K stuff, but if you're good at policy, kill it but I don't know what any of your acronyms mean)

Other things:

- I just started judging but i probably have debated policing for the last three years so take that as you will.

- I debated for 3yrs in HS at BRMHS and currently debate at Wayne State as a freshman

- I give speaks for jokes

- Base for speaker points is 28, unless you are explicitly racist sexist homophobic or ableist in round.

I evaluate the debate based on the flow -> tech over truth I don’t have a specific way I evaluate cards; I will follow your framing

each speech is a performance do what you want i have no qualms about specifics

Debate how you can the best you can, swag is good. swag is not us heg rn but yall can make it swag??? maybe idk

I did Speech and Debate for 4 years. I did Original Oratory, Expository Speaking, Prose, Poetry, Congress, and some Policy.

I may stop writing now and again, but this is so that I can focus on what you are saying (I usually just jot down what sticks out). Spreading is fine, but if you can refrain from doing so I'd rather actually hear your points, so be clear. Keep it classy and be nice to your opponents. Don't falsify evidence. Be thorough with your arguments and tell me why you should win.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask me before the round. Best of luck.

Updated February 2023

Caveat: This is my perception of what I think I do. Those who have had me in the back of the room may have different views.

The TL;DR version (applies to all forms of debate).

1. The resolution is pretty important. Advocate for or against it and you get a lot of leeway on method. Ignore it at your peril.

2. Default policymaker/CBA unless the resolution screams otherwise or you give me a well-reasoned argument for another approach.

3. “Roles of the ballot” or frameworks that are not reasonably accessible (doesn't have to be 50-50, but reasonable) to both sides in the debate run the risk of being summarily thrown out.

4. Share me to the speech doc (maierd@gosaints.org) but I’m only flowing what you intelligibly say in the debate. If I didn’t flow it, you didn’t say it.

5. Fairness and reciprocity are a good starting point for evaluating theory/topicality, etc. Agnostic on tech v. truth debate. These are defaults and can be overcome.

6. Rudeness, rules-lawyering, clipping, falsifying evidence and other forms of chicanery all make me unhappy. Making me unhappy reduces your speaker points. If I’m unhappy enough, you might be catching an L.

The longer version (for all forms of debate)

The Resolution: Full disclosure – I have been a delegate to the NFHS Debate Topic Selection Meeting since 2011 (all years for Mississippi except 2022 when I voted on behalf of NCFL) and was on the Wording Committee from 2018-2020, the last of those years as chair. There’s a lot of work that goes into crafting resolutions and since you’re coming here by choice, it should be respected. Advocate for or against the resolution and I’ll give you a pretty wide degree of latitude on method. If you’re just going to ignore the resolution, the bar is pretty low for your opponent to clear to get the W (though I have seen teams bungle this).

File Sharing and Speed – Yes please, but understand I’m only flowing that which comes out of your mouth that I can understand – I don’t flow as fast in my mid-50s as I did even in my 40s. I only go to the speech doc if a) I lost concentration during the speech through no fault of your own, b) I need to read evidence because there is a dispute about what the evidence says, or c) I want to steal the evidence for a future round. If you bust out ten blips in fifteen seconds, half of them aren’t making the flow. Getting it on my flow is your job and I have no problem saying “you didn’t say that in a way that was flowable”.

Arguments: Arguments grounded in history, political science, and economics are the ones I understand the best – that can cut both ways. So while I understand K’s like Cap, CRT, and Intersectionality, I have a harder time with those that are based on some Continental European whose name ends with four vowels in a row who says that not adopting their method risks all value to life. Your job is to put me in a position to be able to make the other team understand why they lost, even if they disagree with the decision. If you don’t do the work, I’m not doing it for you. Regarding “framework” or “role of the ballot” arguments – if what you’re advocating isn’t at least reasonably accessible to both teams, I reserve the right to ignore it.

Deciding Rounds – I try to decide the round in the least interventionist way possible – I’ll leave it to others to hash out whether I succeed at that. I’m willing to work slightly harder to adjudicate the round than you do to advocate in the round (basically, if neither debater does the work and the round’s a mess, I’m going to look for the first thing I can embrace to get out of the round). If you ask me to read evidence, especially your evidence, you’ve given me a tacit invitation to intervene.

Point Scale – Because I judge on a few different circuits that each have different scales, saying X equals a 28.5 isn’t helpful. I use the scale I’m asked to use to the best of my ability.

Things that will cost you speaker points/the round:

1. Rudeness – Definitely will hurt your speaks. If it’s bad enough, I’ll look for a reason to vote you down or just decide I like to make rude people mad and give you the L just so I can see you get hacked off.

2. Gratuitous profanity – Saying “damn” or “hell” or “the plan will piss off X” in a frantic 1AR is no biggie. Six f-bombs in a forty second span is a different story.

3. Racist/sexist/homophobic language or behavior – If I’m sure about what I saw or heard and it’s bad enough, I’ll act on it unilaterally.

4. Falsifying evidence/clipping cards/deliberate misrepresentation of evidence – Again, if I’m sure about this and that it’s deliberate, I’ll act on my own.

5. Rules-lawyering – Debate has very few rules, so unless it’s written down somewhere, rules-lawyering is likely to only make me mad. An impacted theory objection might be a different story.

Lincoln-Douglas Observations

1. Way too much time on framework debates without applying the framework to the resolution question. I’m not doing this work for you.

2. The event is generally in an identity crisis, with some adhering to the Value Premise/Criterion model and others treating it like 1 on 1 policy, some with really shallow arguments. I’m fine with either, but starting the NC with five off and then collapsing to one in the NR is going to make me give 2AR a lot of leeway (maybe even new argument leeway) against extrapolations not specifically in the NC.

3. Too many NR’s and 2AR’s are focused on not losing and not on winning. Plant your flag somewhere, tell me why you’re winning those arguments and why they’re the key to the round.

Public Forum Specific Observations

1. Why we ever thought paraphrasing was a good idea is absolutely beyond me. In a debate that isn’t a mismatch, I’m generally going to prefer those who read actual evidence over those who say “my 100 page report says X” and then challenge the other team to prove them wrong in less than a handful of minutes of prep time. Make of that what you will.

2. I’ve never seen a Grand Crossfire that actually advanced a debate.

3. Another frustration I have with PF is that issues are rarely discussed to the depth needed to resolve them fully. This is more due to the structure of the round than debaters themselves. To that end, if you have some really wonky argument, it’s on you to develop your argument to where it’s a viable reason to vote. I will lose no sleep over saying to you “You lost because you didn’t do enough to make me understand your argument.”

4. Right now, PF doesn’t seem sure of what it wants to be – some of this is due to the variety of resolutions, but also what seems like the migration of ex-debaters and coaches into the judging pool at the expense of lay judges, which was supposed to be the idea behind PF to begin with.

5. As with LD, too many Final Focuses are focused on not losing instead of articulating a rationale for why a team is winning the debate.

So, I accidentally deleted my account recently. Tabroom helpdesk was more than helpful and recovered my account (thank you tabroom). However, the damage was done, and my old paradigm is floating somewhere in the digital aether. I really do not feel like re-writing my paradigm, as it was easily the most exceptional paradigm ever written -- largely due to the fact I am the greatest at judging and no one can convince me otherwise. Therefore, what follows is an abridged version of my impeccable judging style; if this does not satisfy your questions, feel free to ask me before the round or via email.

Debated policy for Caddo Magnet 2015-2019

Louisiana Tech - Class of '22

Assistant coach for Caddo Magnet

Currently teaching Theology and Physical Science at Providence Classical Academy, Bossier City, LA

Email: palmer0110@gmail.com

General:

Don't be rude or mean, please.

Don't take too long flashing.

Be honest. Don't misrepresent your evidence, don't clip, and don't steal prep time.

Quality over Quantity in both evidence (good evidence > more evidence, unless somehow the quality of the argument is contingent on the quantity, so something like demonstrating a scientific or expert consensus could maybe warrant this) and in arguments

I LOVE really good analytical argumentation. I'd prefer a logically sound analytic to a boat-load of cards you hardly utilize any day. On this note, if it is a debate wherein many cards are being read even into the rebuttals (like a Heg debate or something), my decision will be highly influenced by the evidence quality.

(To be Continued)

Updated for 2023-2024 Season

Please put me on the speech thread! Thank you.

Email: thelquinn@gmail.com

Titles: Director of Debate at Samford University (AL).

Meta-thoughts:

I’m not the smartest human. You’re maybe/likely smarter than me. Please do not assume I know anything you are talking about. And I would honestly love to learn some new things in a debate about arguments you researched.

Debaters are guilty until proven innocent of clipping cards. I follow along in speech docs. I believe it is judges job to police clipping and it is unfair to make debaters alone check it. I will likely say clear though, it's nothing personal.

I keep a running clock and "read along" with speech docs to prevent clipping. At the end of the round, I find myself most comfortable voting for a team that has the best synthesis between good ethos, good tech/execution, and good evidence. I will not vote on better evidence if the other team out debates you, but I assign a heavy emphasis on quality evidence when evaluating competing arguments, especially offensive positions.

Education/Debate Background:

Wake Forest University: 2011-2015. Top Speaker at ADA Nationals my Junior Year. 2x NDT First-Round Bid at Wake Forest. 2x NDT Octofinalist. 2x Kentucky Round Robin. Dartmouth Round Robin. Pittsburgh Round Robin.

Mountain Brook High School: 2007-2011. 3x TOC Qualifier. 2011 Winner of Emory's Barkley Forum in Policy Debate. Greenhill and Harvard Round Robin. Third Place at NSDA Nationals in 2011. Seventh Place NSDA Nationals 2010. Winner of Woodward JV Nationals.

Policy Thoughts:

Tl;dr: Offense/defense, the algorithm, cards are currency. UQ determines link unless otherwise said. Willing to pull the trigger on T/theory.

Flow: Most debaters should make analytics off their flows, especially in digital debate. Conversely, if you include analytics on your speech doc but I do not find you clear but I recognize where you are on your speech doc, I will not consider them arguments.

Condo: Im largely ok with conditionality. I think the best aff args against conditional are against contradictory conditional options. I do not really like the counter-interp of dispo. Im a much bigger fan of CI is non-contradictory conditional options.

• 3 or less non contradictory conditional options is ok to me
• 2 contra condo is fine
• 3 contradictory condo (including a K) and I am willing to vote on contra condo bad.
• For new affs, I think at most 5 contra condo is permissive. Anymore and I think you risk losing on theory.
• I think negs should take the 2 seconds it takes to have a CI that isn't "what we did." "What we did" is not really a good CI in debates.

CP Theory: If the 2AC straight turns your disad, no amount of theory will justify a 2NC CP out of/around the straight turned DA. 2NC CP's vs addons are different and chill/encouraged. Generic Process/ Conditions/ consult CPs cause me to lean aff on theory/perm, unless you have a good solvency advocate specific to their plan text which can prove its predictable and important for that area of debate. But I’m persuaded that a generic/predictable aff posted on the wiki can win a theory debate/perm do CP against a generic process/ conditions/ consult CPs. This is especially true with any Con Con CP. Con Con is the worst.

I hate judge kick. Do you want me to flow for you too? Maybe compose your speech doc while you're at it? I don't give the affirmative random permutations. Don't make me kick your trash counterplan for you.

T: My "favorite" standards are predictable limits (debatability) and real-world context (literature/education). I think a topicality interp that has both of those standards I will err on. Evidence that is both inclusive and exclusive is the gold standard. I tend to be more moderate with reasonability. I am not in the cult of limits. I err aff if I believe your interpretation is "reasonable" and that the negative did not prove you made debate impossible even if their interpretation is slightly better.

Kritikal Debate. I vote off the flow, which means my opinions on K debate are secondary to my voting. And I was 4-0 for Wake BD last year in some big debates against policy teams, so I'm going to vote for the team that I thought did the better debating (But are you Wake BD?). Im not really opposed to kritiks on the negative that are tied to the plan/resolution or kritikal affirmatives that defend a topical plan of action. I think where I draw the line is that I'm not a good judge for more performance based "affirmatives/negatives" that neither affirm nor negate the plan text/resolution. I lean very heavily neg on FW v non or anti-topical K affs. I think a good topical version of the affirmative is the best argument on FW. The role of the judge is to vote for the team who does the better debating. Debate is an educational game we play on the weekend with friends. I will not evaluate arguments that derive from actions/events out of the debate I am judging. Fairness is an impact and intrinsically good. I do not believe the ballot has material power to change the means of production/structures and thinking it does may even be problematic.

Please do not read global warming good. Global warming is real and will kill us all. And I am particularly persuaded by the argument that introducing these arguments in debate is unethical for spreading propaganda and should be deterred by rejecting the team. I'm way more persuaded by inevitability and alt cause args.

Director of Speech & Debate Isidore Newman School

Coach USA Debate

EMAIL: Add me to the chain:
newmanspeechdocs@gmail.com

Online Update:
Please slow down! It is much harder for me to hear online. Go at about 75% rather than 100% of your normal pace!!!

Relevant for Both Policy & LD:

This is my 20th year in debate. I debated in high school, and then went on to debate at the University of Louisville. In addition, I was the Director of Debate at both Fern Creek & Brown School in KY, a former graduate assistant for the University of Louisville, and the Director of Speech & Debate at LSU. I am also a doctoral candidate in Communication & Rhetorical studies.

I view my role as an educator and believe that it is my job to evaluate the debate in the best way I can and in the most educational way possible. Over the past several years have found myself moving more and more to the middle. So, my paradigm is pretty simple. I like smart arguments and believe that debates should tell a clear and succinct story of the ballot. Simply put: be concise, efficient, and intentional.

Here are a few things you should know coming into the round:

1. I will flow the debate. But PLEASE slow down on the tag lines and the authors. I don’t write as fast as I used to. I will yell clear ONE TIME. After that, I will put my pen down and stop flowing. So, don't be mad at the end of the debate if I missed some arguments because you were unclear. I make lots of facial expressions, so you can use that as a guide for if I understand you

2. I value effective storytelling. I want debates to tell me a clear story about how arguments interact with one another, and as such see debates holistically. Accordingly, dropped arguments are not enough for me to vote against a team. You should both impact your arguments out and tell me why it matters.

3. Do what you do best. While I do not believe that affirmatives have to be topical, I also find myself more invested in finding new and innovative ways to engage with the topic. Do with that what you will. I am both well versed and have coached students in a wide range of literature.

4. Know what you’re talking about. The quickest way to lose a debate in front of me is to read something because it sounds and looks “shiny.” I enjoy debates where students are well read/versed on the things they are reading, care about them, and can actually explain them. Jargon is not appealing to me. If it doesn’t make sense or if I don’t understand it at the end of the debate I will have a hard time evaluating it.

5. I will listen to Theory, FW, and T debates, but I do not believe that it is necessarily a substantive response to certain arguments. Prove actual in-round abuse, actual ground loss, actual education lost (that must necessarily trade off with other forms of education). Actual abuse is not because you don't understand the literature, know how to deal with the argument, or that you didn't have time to read it.

6. Be respectful of one another and to me. I am a teacher and educator first. I don’t particularly care for foul language, or behavior that would be inappropriate in the classroom.

7. Finally, make smart arguments and have fun. I promise I will do my best to evaluate the debate you give me.

If you have any other questions, just ask.

Hey! My name is Faraaz Yousuf, I mostly did Policy in high school with a little bit of LD. I look forward to judging your debates!

Just some top-level things, don't be rude, don't be unethical with evidence (i.e. falsifying, clipping, etc.), really just make sure to be respectful during rounds and there shouldn't be any issues at all.

Policy Debate/General Paradigm

Good organization and clarity are extremely important. Make sure your arguments are well explained, and having a consistent structure in your speech helps immensely with judging a debate. Be thorough with your arguments, make sure you lead me through why you're winning the round. Make sure you do impact calculus, things like weighing probability and magnitude. I'm down to vote for most arguments, just explain. Be persuasive.

Speed is fine, do make sure you're being clear as well. I'll say "clear" twice before I stop flowing. It should be pretty clear when I either stop typing or writing things down. *As a later addendum to this I've been a little removed from judging debate and don't quite have the same ear for spreading, I should still comprehend you for the most part but I would def take it down a notch, or at least ramp up in speed as a speech or round progresses to allow me to better acclimate to the speed (which is also a good tip in general in my experience debating).

I try to avoid giving nonverbal cues, but reactions do slip out of me sometimes so do keep an eye out for that.

I'll try my best to evaluate rounds based on the approaches articulated in them, but I do tend to default to a policy-making perspective when nothing else is offered. I'm open to other approaches, just the explanation should be clear, though that should be ideal for any argument in a debate.

I feel like I tend to lean truth over tech, but as long as theory arguments have a well-developed explanation I'm perfectly comfortable voting for them. Just because I tend to lean truth doesn't mean you can hand wave away any theory arguments.

I think K's are good, I just may not extremely familiar with whatever literature you're basing it off of so the explanation may have to be a little more in-depth for me to get it.

I like to think I'm decently equipped to judge most rounds if you have any questions at all feel free to ask me before the round starts!