I'm a parent judge with a few years of experience. That being said, treat me as you would any other lay judge: refrain from speed, jargon, tech, etc. I don't usually disclose after rounds.

Hello, this is my second year judging as a parent judge.

I borrowed this from Jessica Jung/Trevor Greenan, but I find that I vote in this order:
1. conceded arguments
2. arguments with warrants and substantive analysis
3. arguments with in-round weighing/framing
4. arguments with implicit clash/framing

Please speak clearly and not too fast. As you can see from my voting order, clear articulation of arguments along with a good and clear clash of ideas is central in gaining my ballot. Which means if you spread and I can't follow your arguments, you may not get the benefit of your argument.

I've basic familiarity with theoretical arguments (in the form of a theory shell). Having said that I've enough familiarity so that you don't have to spend time explaining how theory shell works -- or how to weight it - get straight into the substance of the abuse. Please only run it if you believe there are genuine grounds to do so. No friv theory.

I generally do not disclose after rounds unless required by tournament (elimination rounds etc.)

Overall, debate is about ideas, and I would love to hear yours. Have fun!

I'm a parent judge with a few years of experience. That being said, treat me as you would any other lay judge: refrain from speed, jargon etc.

I am a parent and have recently started judging(only since this year).

I want contestants to be courteous and respectable. Its ok to be aggressive but not rude.

I want both sides to present with clear arguments with valid supporting evidence. Keep it simple. If I don't understand the argument, it will become hard to me to vote for it. Explain everything thoroughly and focus more on content and evidence.

i dont usually disclose the results immediately
Have fun at your rounds!

Parent judge here so please steer away from theory unless you really think the other team is being abusive (so that means you should not be running frivolous theory in a round where I am the judge) and you'll have to explain it super clearly-- so don't use jargon in terms of theory. I'm also not super familiar with kritiks so don't run those!

Basically: don't run super techy arguments. keep it simple. stick to case debate if you can. if you veer off case debate there should be a REALLY good reason why.

I'm also not too comfortable with speed, so please be clear when speaking and DO NOT SPREAD.

Most importantly, have a fun debate! Don't be mean or bigoted or else I definitely won't vote for you :D

Have a great debate!

-Ana

Hello, I am a first year parent judge, so I would prefer not to judge theory or kritiks. I would appreciate if your arguments were very organized and clear so that I can follow along. Also, please speak at a moderate speed. Thank you!

I am a parent judge with not much experience. I don't have really strict guidelines for what you should or should not run as long as the argument makes sense. If you want more in-depth information, see below.

1. I will not understand your jargon. Put every argument in terms anyone can understand and make sure each argument has a clear story.

2. Please explain your arguments thoroughly and articulate your points well.

3. Signpost. Please. Not the ULI signposting (I won't understand what part of the argument you are talking about), just tell me where on the flow you are and what you are talking about. Off-time roadmaps would help me keep a neat flow too.

4. I am not familiar with technical debate. Please no Ks. I will not vote for them. If you want to run theory it better not be frivolous and make sure it makes a lot of sense. Even then I may not vote for it. If you are trying to skew your opponents out of the round with technical debate I will not vote for it.

5. Just have logical arguments. We are all here to grow and have fun, remember that first and foremost.

School Affiliations: Dougherty Valley High School

Judging/Event Types: Parli

How many years have you been judging? Two years.

How will you award speaker points to the debaters?

I give points to speeches that are articulate and intelligent, and/or with good delivery and analysis. Humor always help.

What sorts of things help you to make a decision at the end of the debate?

Quality of the argumentation, rhetorical skills, and wit. I leave my own biases and views behind when making decision.

Do you take a lot of notes or flow the debate?

I do take notes/flow of the debate.

Preferences on the use of evidence?

Solid evidence always help with building/destroying a case.

Thoughts on real world impacts in the debate?

Real world impacts are always persuasive points

How do you judge cross examination?

No new evidence should be introduced and debaters should use this time to re-iterate their case while pointing out flaws of opponents.

How do you value debate skill over truthful arguments?

Debate skills are important for winning but more so you want to be truthful and avoid appearance of deception

I am a parent judge with very little experience.

Please arrive on-time for your debate and time yourself.

Make sure to signpost and tell me which part of your speech you are on. I won't understand your debate jargon so explain any technical terms when needed.

Please speak SLOWLY and CLEARLY!

I am not familiar with theory, kritiks, or other fancy debate-specific arguments, so please do NOT run these arguments or I will not vote for you. If you truly believe the opponents have broken a rule, then just explain it clearly to me in the round and I will judge based on reasonability.

I would prefer that you weigh your impacts and summarize the debate in your last speeches so that I can evaluate the round.

Don't be rude or try to say anything racist, sexist, or blatantly false to try to win.

When voting, I will most likely consider both the logic of your arguments as well as your overall presentation and preparedness.

Most importantly, have fun! Good luck.

Have judged Parli for 5 years, also some policy and LD rounds.

No preference to speak rate.

So apparently I haven't judged in a while..

not quite familiar with the current norms of parli now

I'm just down to hear some good args and chill

I probably judge reasonably the same as before

Updated September 2020

Mostly everything below still applies. Main update about kritiks: I am pretty down to hear kritiks, but will get sad if the kritik misrepresents source material. Buzzwords and tags only will make me sad, but if you've actually read the source material, actually UNDERSTAND what the arguments mean, and can EXPLAIN CLEARLY the argument, I will be very happy :)) THE K IS NOT A TOOL FOR EXCLUSION. IF YOU DO(and with any other argument as well), THAT IS GROUNDS FOR ME TO INTERVENE IN THE ROUND.

K affs should be disclosed, and if you do not disclose, I am very sympathetic to disclosure arguments.

And because I cannot stress this enough..

On weighing: SUPER IMPORTANT DO IT. PMR should have access to weighing arguments, unless it's a new internal link scenario. I would generally like to see weighing arguments starting in the MO, but will allow LOR to make weighing arguments, but depending on the scope of the weighing, may give it less weight. Generally speaking, whoever does better weighing tends to win the round. Hopefully that incentivizes you to weigh.

ALSO please i love helping people with debate, so if any questions, email me at shirleych@gmail.com

(and i literally mean any, doesn't matter if i've judged you before or not, PLEASE reach out to me)

_______________________________

Background

debated HS parli for 3.5 years, public forum for 2 years, coached MVLA for two years and in my third year of coaching Gunn parli

General

Tabula rasa

tech over truth, but keep in mind subconsciously I may be more likely to believe arguments that are the truth if the tech debate is close

Fine with speed(~250 wpm)

Fine with tagteaming, but only flows what speaker says

will do my best to protect, but you should still call POOs on new arguments in case I do not catch it, if there are things that are kind of new but not really, I will give them less weight in the round

no shadow extensions

no stealing prep

WEIGHING WILL WIN YOU THE ROUND. WEIGHING SHOULD ALWAYS BE COMPARATIVE AND CONTEXTUAL TO THE ROUND. The easiest way to my ballot is to weigh. I don't like bad weighing arguments that are generic and not comparative but if nobody else makes weighing arguments in the round, then I will appreciate your effort in at least trying.

some examples of incorrect and correct weighing arguments

Incorrect: "We win because our adv 1 has the biggest magnitude in the round since they did not refute our adv 1" (does not contextualize and compare to other arguments in the round)

Also incorrect: " " (<- the reference here is not doing weighing)

Correct: "We win because our adv 1 saves MORE lives than their DA 1 due to the fact that [x thing mentioned in Adv 1] affects more people than the potential [y problem in DA] would affect" (note how this is comparative and contextual)

An argument is a claim, a warrant, and an implication, and I am hesitant to vote on only claims

I hate voting on presumption and if I have to intervene a little bit to not vote on presumption, I will do that. This is not to say I just randomly like to intervene. I find that the times when I get close to voting on presumption is when BOTH teams have not made explicit offense but rather have gotten close to making an offensive argument(usually in some implicit form). In that case, if one side gets closer to making an offensive argument than the other, I will generally be okay with doing the work for them and considering that just offense. Note that this is just what I default to, not that I will never vote on presumption if the argument is made.

I generally dislike voting off of arguments that are not in the LOR, even if it's in the MO. I do not need the full explanation in the LOR if it's explained in the MO, but it should at least be highlighted as a tagline in the LOR.

How I judge rounds

to note: for me defensive responses on an arg function as mitigation to the risk of the arg happening (ie I'll be more skeptical of the arg and I will evaluate this as the arg having very minimal risk of happening. Depending on how good the defense is, the risk will differ of course, but it's rare that I will believe an arg has 100% chance of not happening unless the other team straight up concedes it. Because this is how I evaluate args, weighing is super super super important)

Case

I read mostly case in hs. I enjoy seeing specific impact scenarios, warrants, weighing arguments and strategic collapses. I care a lot about weighing. If no weighing arguments are made, I look at strength of link * magnitude. I rarely vote on magnitude in a vacuum.

CPs

I like them and they're cool. not a huge fan of condo, am a fan of pics, these are just what my preferences were when I debated, but I'm open to hearing arguments that go both ways

Theory

I default to competing interps. I don't like frivolous theory and will probably have a lower threshold for reasonability and RVI on friv theory.

Having specific interps is good.

Kritiks

I was not a K debater and am unfamiliar with most lit. I have a pretty good conceptual understanding of cap, biopower, security, colonialism, orientalism, and some nihilism args, but probably won't know the specific author you may read. I will probably know very little about any post modern lit you may want to read. Overall, please make sure to explain your K thoroughly and don’t go too fast, and explain any weird jargon.

Things I have read actual lit on: critical race theory, ableism, and Daoism. I have also read literature that references orientalism and discusses applications of orientalism, but have not read Said's original work. Reading these arguments could go in your favor but it could also not. I like seeing these arguments, but I'll know when you're misrepresenting the argument if you do, and I don't like it when people misrepresent arguments.

I am okay with K affs, but if you do not disclose, I am sympathetic to disclosure theory.

Speaker Points

I do not give speaker points based on presentation. Strategic arguments, warrants, weighing, and collapsing will earn you high speaks. I tend to find that the better and more weighing you do, the better your speaks will be. Hopefully this an incentive for you to do more weighing.

also dedev is cool, will give high speaks if read well

I'm a mix between Bob Dolan and Christian Vasquez.

I am a lay judge. I generally take notes on my computer while you are speaking. I'm persuaded by clear, organized arguments that are well supported by citations to evidence. I don't find spreading to be helpful to the speaker.

Hello Parli debaters,

I’m a parent (lay) judge. I’ve been judging for a few years.

Please speak clearly and not too fast. I can only write so fast.

Please be mindful of the time allotted for your speech in order to keep the rounds on time. I’ll give you a 15 second grace period, but after that I’ll stop flowing.

I prefer straight up case debate, and like good clash. Reasonable counterplans are fine. I like facts, scientific data, and logic. I may fact check and it will factor into my round decision.

One of my pet peeves is raising POIs in the protected time. Please be mindful of debate rules.

Call POOs but not for frivolous purposes. The person calling a POO will have 15 seconds to explain why it was raised, and the other person will have 15 seconds to respond. Assume my decision is “point well taken under consideration” and move on. I’ll go back to my flow later to determine if it’s indeed a new argument, and will discard the new argument or consider the argument in my decision if I deem it not new.

I will need time to deliberate and will only disclose my decision in the elimination round as required.

Looking forward to hearing some interesting debates.

There is no grace time in parliamentary debate!! I stop flowing when your speech time has ended.

When I judge in person, I'm usually waking up like 4 hours earlier than normal, so I tend to yawn a lot during debates. Sorry if it's distracting, and I promise I am not getting bored or falling asleep!

General

These are all ultimately preferences. You should debate the way you want to debate.

For online debate: put texts in the chat for every advocacy/ROTB/interp. Texts are binding.

I'm okay with speed and will slow/clear you if necessary. If you don't slow for your opponents, I will drop you.

I will protect in the PMR but call the POO.

Please give content warnings as applicable. The more the merrier.

A safe debate is my primary consideration as a judge. Do not misgender your opponents. I will not hesitate to intervene against any rhetorically violent arguments.

If any debater requests it, I will stop a round and escalate the situation to Tab, tournament equity, and your coaches. I will also do this in the absence of a request if I feel like something unsafe has occurred and it is beyond my jurisdiction/capacity to deal with it.

Case

Weigh, interact with your opponent's arguments, and signpost!! I prefer when your weighing is contextualized to the argument you want me to vote on, rather than across-the-board generalizations of preferring probability or magnitude. Unwarranted links have zero probability even if they are conceded. Cross-applications need to be contextualized to the new argument.

All types of counterplans are game and so is counterplan theory. Perms are a test of competition. I have no idea what a neg perm is, so if you read one, you have to both justify why the negative is entitled to a perm and also what a neg perm means in the context of aff/neg burdens.

I would prefer it if you cited your sources unless the tournament explicitly prohibits you from doing so. If there is an evidence challenge that affects my ballot, I will vote before I check your evidence, and if I find intentional evidence fabrication, I will communicate that information to tab.

Theory/Topicality

Theory is cool! Please have a clear interpretation and have a text ready. I am happy to vote on whatever layering claims you make regarding theory vs. Ks. In the absence of layering, I will default to theory a priori.

I won't vote on theory shells that police the clothing, physical presentation, or camera usage (for online debate) of debaters. I will evaluate neg K's bad theory, disclosure, and speed theory as objectively as possible, but I don't really like these arguments and probably hack against them. Aff K's bad/T-USfg is fine. I will drop you for reading disclosure in the form of consent/FPIC theory. I'll vote on all other theory shells.

I default to competing interpretations, potential abuse > proven abuse, and drop the argument. To vote for reasonability, I need a clear brightline on what is reasonable. I am neutral on fairness vs. education. I'm neutral on RVIs, but I'll vote for them if you win them. I am good with conditional advocacies, and also good with hearing conditionality theory.

Kritiks

KvK is currently my favorite type of debate to judge. Rejecting the resolution, performance Ks, and framework theory are all fine with me. Please read a role of the ballot. If you are interested in learning more about K debate, please email me and I will send you any resources/answer any questions you may have.

Tech v. Truth

I default to tech over truth, but I probably lean towards truth more than your average tech judge. I'm open to arguments that say I should weigh truth over tech and disregard the flow when technical debate is sidelining disadvantaged teams. I think while technical debate can be a tool for combatting oppression in the debate space, skill at technical debate is definitely correlated with class, income, and whiteness. As such, I'm willing to hear arguments that ask me to devalue the flow in favor of solving a form of violence that has occurred in the round as a result of technical debate.

Miscellaneous

For speaker points, I give 27s as a baseline. I won't go below this unless you are violent or exclusionary. Please answer 1-2 POIs if there isn't flex.

My resting face and my frowning face are the same, and I have very expressive nonverbals– I recognize that this combo can be intimidating/confusing and I strongly urge you not to use my nonverbals as indicators of anything. I promise I don't hate you or your arguments, it's just my face!

Good luck :^)

1. my judging background:

1. I have judged twice before so relatively a novice judge (no pun intended), but I have participated and won Extempore and debate competitions in High school days and have a good public speaking skills. I like eloquence.
2. What do I value most in debate rounds:
1. I value facts and its clear/concise delivery. No lengthy explanations. To the point-crisp and clear facts with reasonable speed. Cannot grasp fast speakers.

3. Speaker Speed

1. Normal speed ..meaning - as long as words are separated, I am okay. If you feel you are running while speaking, you are fast for me. You may jog, I will try to lower my hand to indicate to slow down.

4. Do you understand debate jargon, or should students be careful to spell things out for you?

1. Please do spell out for me for now. May be I will get a hang of it soon.

5. How do you view speaker points?

1. Speaker points are judging your abilities as speaker so if you are eloquent, clear and concise - you get it. On the other side, too much repetitive stuff or too fast in speed (to the point, I cannot understand what you are saying) goes against. Using effective use of time is important. I view negatively, going over time limit or underutilizing time (more than a minute of time not used)

6. How do you view cross-examination time?

1. It is an important segment as other way to put across your point.

Hi, this is my second year judging parliamentary debate, last year I judged parliamentary novice for my twins. I don't have prior parliamentary debate experience (like in high school), but I do understand many world topics that might be discussed in the debate round. I also have picked up knowledge of debate terminology when discussing them with my sons. Here is my stance on certain parliamentary debate aspects:

Theory: I understand the fundamental steps of the theory shell, but it needs to be well explained for me to flow it through in a debate round. I don't have any issue with a team running theory, but it just has to be well structured and explained.

K's: I do not have much knowledge of K's so you would have to explain it well to me if I am going to flow it through in a debate round. I am always open to learning new things so if you can explain it well I might vote on it.

Permutations: I understand what a permutation is, and the idea of mutually exclusive plans. You don't have to explain in large detail what a perm is, just explain to me why you can perm it.

PICs: I understand the idea of a Plan Inclusive Counterplan, you might go into a little detail on what it is, but then again like permutations, I understand the basics.

Overall I am not going to vote against you just because I don't like that you are running theory, K's, etc. I am open to any aspects of parliamentary debate being run in a round, they just need to be logical and well explained for me to vote on them.

Ok, moving on to other things I like debaters to do in a round:

I tend to give feedback on how well a debater can address something to me. For instance, if a debater is moving around a lot or making other distracting gestures, I definitely tell them this in my feedback (harder to do online though), but it won't have any real bearing on my flow. Overall the main things debate has to offer in life is knowledge of world events and practice articulating your point of view. If a speaker cannot speak in an orderly and smooth fashion this will definitely be considered in my flow. I am ok with debaters talking a little bit fast, but if you are spreading I might not catch all your points. I would suggest talking at a moderate pace and taking up most (if not all) of the allotted time.

Overall have positive energy in the round and act like you want to be in the debate round. I know 4-5 rounds can be a lot of debating so don't stress it.

Speed

I'm not a very fast writer but feel free to talk however fast you need to and I'll call slow/clear as necessary. If I notice you spreading out your opponents, I will tank your speaks and be very inclined to vote on spreading bad theory, regardless of how well it's read.

Case

Please terminalize your impacts and weigh them in the context of the round. I probably won't believe you if you try to tell me that your opponents have no impacts left standing so it's very important for you to tell me the order I should evaluate them in. If you don't do any weighing, I default to probability > magnitude > timeframe. However, please don't make me rely on those defaults because I'll probably be slightly biased towards preferring the impacts that I think matter more. Policy rounds are much easier and more enjoyable for me to judge so feel free to read a plan with any resolution.

Theory

I'm not a fan of frivolous theory but I'll still vote on it if it's read well (you probably won't like the speaks that I give you though). Because of this, I default to reasonability. Please give me a brightline if you don't want me arbitrarily decide what I think is reasonable and feel free to still argue for competing interps. I'm open to theory out of the PMR if your opponents are abusive in the MO, but you should go all in and be really clear as to why I should drop them.

Kritiks

I mostly only ran cap and orientalism so I'm not familiar with most literature. Feel free to read Ks that I'm not familiar with, just please make sure to explain your thesis clearly and provide specific links. If you go for a generic "reject the aff" alt, please have analysis as to why rejecting this ideology again adds more solvency compared to all the other times the K was successfully read in the past. Also, I don't think I'm qualified to evaluate K affs, performance-based Ks, or other more techy Ks so while I'll definitely try my best, please read them at your own risk.

Misc.

I'll do my best to protect against new arguments, but please still call POOs, especially for iffy cases (I promise I won't get annoyed)

I'll consider shadow extensions but will give them much less weight when evaluating

Tag-teaming is fine in moderation but I'll only flow what the speaker says

Please read important things like interps/alts twice and be prepared to pass texts if asked (not sure how this works online but maybe message it in the chat)

Please take at least 1 POI per speech if your opponent has any, open to theory if that doesn't happen

Please provide any applicable content warnings before you start your speech

Please do not intentionally use any oppressive or violent rhetoric, I will be very easily persuaded into dropping you if your opponents argue for it and give you the lowest speaks possible

Please do not make up any evidence and feel free to call your opponents out if you think they are! I strongly prefer logical reasoning over dubious facts. There is no advantage in having arguments that are only backed by oddly convenient stats and no analysis.

Feel free to ask me any questions that you have about my paradigm before the round starts! :)

I am a parent judge. I have been judging for 3 years.

Please speak at moderate pace and with clarity. Be respectful to your opponents and keep track of your time so you can end your arguments. When I am judging, I look for:

- Critical thinking about the arguments and supporting your arguments

- Rebut your opponents

- Don't go in circles and keep repeating

- Be logical and realistic with your arguments

- Eloquent communication of your arguments

Good luck and have fun.

2019-20 is my 3rd year as a parent judge. Please speak clearly and not too fast.

This is my first time judging debate, and I have very limited experience with high school debate in general. I recently graduated high school and I have some knowledge of the basics like not bringing my personal bias into my decision. Overall, do not expect me to have any knowledge of debate specific terminology.

Hi!I am a first-year PhD student at the University of Tennessee studying nuclear engineering and doing research at the Tennessee Ion Beam Materials Laboratory. I competed in parliamentary debate at the university of Illinois on the NPDA circuit, and did congressional debate for three years at Hampshire High School in Hampshire, IL in ICDA, NSDA, and IHSA tournaments. At the University of Illinois, I was the president of the Illini Forensics speech and debate team, and help coach parli and LD.

In terms of personal politics, I won’t let them influence my voting decisions or speaker scores that I give out. I’ll definitely push back against any dumb ideas in my ballots, but I’ll definitely try my hardest to not let that reflect in speaker scores or my RFD (of course no judge is perfect at this and they’re lying if they say they are). Only exception is blatantly racist, sexist, homophobic, any kind of -ist or -ic arguments will cause me to dock speaker points and will be a voting issue, but it should be addressed by the other team in their speeches if it comes up regardless.

Congress

1. Clash - This is a form of debate and I expect to hear a battle of ideas. This also indicates that you are listening.

2. No spreading - Congress is as much about clearly communicating ideas as it is about content.

3. Research - State your sources; I will judge based on research quality, both the source and date of the research cited are important. Along with this, youneed analysis on your research. Stating quotes or stats without any reason for why I should care will get you docked speaker points and speech score.

4. Content - Make sure when you give a speech that you are bringing in new arguments, if you get up and only restate other debaters' arguments you are missing the point of debate. As debate evolves, make sure you evolve with it. If the focus of the debate starts to center around one pivotal thing, make sure you bring that up. If you make a claim without a link or quote evidence without any analysis, I generally take that as if the evidence was not brought up at all. Link both to the bill and to other speakers' arguments.

5. Questioning - This is not a time to give a speech or preempt your speech. Point out flaws in logic, or clarify certain terms, but don't just ask them to restate their contentions.

Parliamentary:
1. No/minimal spreading. Without cards and without shared documents, it's incredibly hard to hear clearly. Online debate exacerbates this issue, as mic quality is terrible. I won't necessarily vote on spreading, but if you're speaking fast enough to where I can't understand you, I won't be able to completely flow your argument, so you'll appear to have dropped arguments on my flow.

2. Kritiks must be absolutely rock solid and grounded in reality for me to vote on them. I generally despise Ks, especially in parli, because they are almost always prepared ahead of time and just minorly adapted for the individual topic. If you do decide to run a K, make it understandable and realistic, don't start quoting obscure theory that is beyond a reasonable level of familiarity. THAT BEING SAID I try my best to vote on the flow, so if you run an annoying K but the other team doesn't respond properly, I'll have to vote for it but I won't be happy.

3. I will only vote on theory if there is proven abuse that is not sufficiently responded to by the other team. Big fan of RVIs, run them if the other team runs frivolous T.

4. I am much more concerned about the quality of arguments than I am about the technicality of your arguments. Better arguments = better communication.

5. Signpost please! Be clear when moving onto different advantages, disadvantages, counter plans, etc., and give a roadmap of your speech before you give it, you can do this off time if you like.

6. Have fun, don't get angry at each other. We all do debate for fun, no need to make it overly competitive.

Policy and LD

1. I’m fine with speed (to an extent). In policy you have cards and the arguments are usually predictable enough to follow along. The only time I dock speaker points for spreading is if I think your case or your own personal speaking style would be helped by slowing down. If you’re spreading so fast that I can’t understand your arguments, that’ll reflect on the flow not because I don’t like spreading but because I can’t flow arguments that aren’t clear.

2. Kritiks must be absolutely rock solid and grounded in reality for me to vote on them. Don’t run a K because you want to shoehorn your grand political ideology into every single debate you have. If you don’t prove that voting for the K has real world impacts and that it’s not just trying to fiat mindset, 99 times out of 100 it’s just cringe. Ground your Ks in a very tangible voting issue that I can feel good voting about. If you run it, also be aware that I will DEFINITELY vote for a T that attacks a stupid K for making the debate non-educational. THAT BEING SAID I try my best to vote on the flow, so if you run an annoying K but the other team doesn't respond properly, I'll have to vote for it but I won't be happy.

3. I will only vote on theory if there is proven abuse that is not sufficiently responded to by the other team. Running theory/topicality and the other team responding badly does not automatically mean you won the debate on theory/topicality if you haven’t proven that you’ve lost ground or the educational value of the debate. I love RVIs on pointless T.

4. Signpost, please. I am not a policy judge first and foremost, I’ve only ever competed in Congress, Parli, and a little IPDA, so please tell me where you are in your arguments because with spreading (which again is fine) and the different format, it’s very easy to get lost.

5. Probably the most important one for me, clarify any policy/LD specific jargon. Again, I’m not typically a policy judge so if you come at me with acronyms that I don’t know, probably not gonna help your case!

6. Cross-ex- I flow it, but please make sure to apply what you asked in cross-ex in your speeches. Respond to it in your speeches as if I didn’t flow it. Don’t just ask questions for the sake of asking questions, make them all intentional.

7. Have fun! If you take debate so seriously to the point where you actually get mad or tilted at an argument, that’s probably more on you than it is on the other team. We all do debate for fun.

If you have any questions for me before/after a round or want clarification on feedback, feel free to reach out to me at stevenf3@illinois.edu, I’ll keep an eye on my email before rounds during prep for parli if you have any questions during prep and try to respond during prep.

If the topic is complicated and less in news, it is OK to spend a few moments educating the audience/me (judge). If providing context helps you build foundation for your arguments, go for it.

Quickly listing your position/arguments during the debate a few times is a good strategy. Ability to list, at a high level, your arguments and what you have covered helps the judge and you. It also reflects a methodical approach on your part.

If you have limited number of arguments, it is OK. You can explain why your argument(s) have the weight and why your argument(s) matter more than the number of arguments that the other side may be making.

If you notice that the other team introduced a new argument late in the debate and/or cited a source, when sources are not to be given credit for (say, in late rounds), I would notice that too. You are free to point out. I would prefer that you make your point quickly, and move to discussing substance. Also, you are free to tell me what arguments "flow" and what do not. As I am listening, I am making up my mind and such suggestions form the speaker do not generally make a difference in how I perceive the debate.

Above everything else, I look for:

* how you assign weight to your arguments,

* how critically you think about the impact of both side

* do you acknowledge obvious weaknesses and weigh them against the benefits

* how well you address what your opponents bring up

Many times, I do not know immediately at the end of the round who the winner is going to be. I take notes aggressively during each round. I review my notes after the round, some times agonize, and then decide. Regardless, of when I make up my mind, I do not prefer to share the results immediately after the round with the teams.

Hi I am an experienced parent judge. I have a pretty good understanding of the world and economic systems. I value probability over magnitude for the most part but can be convinced otherwise. I do not want every debate to be about mass extinction or how one economic policy leads to nuclear war. I can understand theory but am not likely to vote on it unless clear abuse in round. No Ks. No speaking fast. I prefer logic over straight facts. Repeating your point does not mean that you responded to their point. Do not say that a team conceded an argument when they clearly did not. POIs are fine but do not ask more than 2 and do not be obnoxious while doing it will drop your speaks. It is fine if you choose to decline a POI but between the two partners, you have to accept at least one. CPs are fine even PICs but if you are running CP you have to prove that your CP solves better. I do buy mutually exclusive arguments through net benefits but you have a harder job to me proving that the aff does not just do the same by perming the CP. If you want to perm do it as a test of advocacy as that is easier to understand as a judge. All advocacy/rhetoric is binding do not try to kick anything. Try not to run new contentions in the second speech. I do not protect the flow. Try to use less jargon while actually debating. I can understand some of it but not all. Have fun.

I've debated for three years in high school parli and three years in college parli. I have experience with varsity LD in both hs and college circuits. I coach debate for Illini Forensics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I will go for most arguments you can think of if the other side doesn't respond to them (strategy agnostic save for explicit/intentional verbal attacks). I don't like most K's in parli (especially not lazy stock ones) but I'll still write a K ballot if it's well-connected to case/provides a good pre-fiat level debate. Don't spread if you're in a limited prep event, and generally don't be an ass hole in round. Any other questions feel free to ask me.

Hi everyone,

I am looking for quality over quantity. Please make sure not to speak too fast and note I will be flowing but will not keep word for word flows. Please be respectful and treat others respectfully.

lay judge, please do not spread

i have judged a few rounds before, I look for -

1. Deep of understanding about the topic
2. speakers points and how many evidences are provided.
3. Everyone should be respectful

I am a first year parent judge so keep spreading to a minimum. Also signposting will make it easier for me to track your arguments across the flow. I do the best I can to protect the flow(keep in mind I am a new judge), but if your opponents make a new argument when they are not supposed to, make sure to vocalize it. If you cause an equity issue in the round(IE: being racist, homophobic, xenophobic, or sexist) I will drop you from the round and give your team an auto loss.

TLDR: I am a parent judge who did high school policy debate in the 80s. I won state (WA) my senior year. OK to speak fast, but a little above conversational speed is probably what I am most comfortable with. I will tell you slow/clear as needed. I am unfamiliar with theory and the K, so if you run these please explain them very carefully and justify them. If I do not understand your argument, I will probably not vote for you. Weigh in the rebuttals and tell me how I should evaluate the round - this makes my job easy and makes it easier for you to win my ballot. Homophobic/sexist/racist comments and other abuse will not be tolerated. If you abuse your opponents in any way I will drop you and tank your speaks.

Case: Please weigh in the rebuttals, it makes my job and yours a lot easier. Make clear, concise arguments.

Theory: I have a rudimentary understanding of T and how it functions in a round, but please explain your shell very well. Give me a clear interp, standards and voters as well as how I should be weighing T(ex. apriori). Do not run friv T. Prove to me that abuse has happened in the round and that you have an actual reason for running T other than to get an easy route to the ballot and dodge your opponent's case.

I do not understand RVIs and IVIs. Please do not run them. If you do, I will most likely not understand it and vote you down anyways, so it is in your best interest not to.

K: I have virtually zero knowledge about K lit and the structure of the K in general. I would prefer you not to run K’s but if you must, explain how it is relevant to the round. Still, keep in mind that there is a high chance I will not understand your argument and will vote against you as a result.

Speaks: I judge speaks mostly on substance and persuasiveness, not much on individual style. If you are abusive in any way/attempt to spread your opponents out of the round (although a certain amount of speed is fine - just don't be abusive with it), I will dock your speaks.

I’m a parent and volunteer judge, have been judging for just over 6 years. Have judged some speech events but mostly Parliamentary Debate, and some Congress events. I like logical, reasoned and well developed arguments. Dislike aggressive speech style, frequently raised POIs, tag teaming. POIs raised should be concise and well articulated. Granting at least one POI is encouraged. Like quality over quantity with respect to arguments. I mostly use flow to decide the outcome. Given the remote format imposed by Covid-19, would appreciate it if participants look at the camera other than when they are reading from / writing notes.

I have been judging Parli rounds for 2 years and enjoy the diverse topics I hear during the tournaments and how students bring their viewpoint to convince me to give their arguments maximum weightage.

I have been impressed by data driven arguments as that gives evidence versus just empty statements made to prove your opponents wrong. Sometimes these evidences are the winning factor for events I have judged without any bias in my decision.

Good eye contact, voice modulation to stress important points and body movement can help to justify the points as needed. You don't have to have a shouting match to win an argument but rather prove it based on evidence stats. I don't prefer theory or K arguments, although I will acknowledge any valid points given.

Good luck to all participants and continue to keep learning and improving as you debate your peer students.

Background:

My name is Jessica Jung. I won NPDA in 2018-2019 with my partner, Lila Lavender as a hybrid team (the first all transwomen national champion team yay!!) I also did NPDA Parli for four years in college for UC Berkeley where I competed on and off. I was mostly a kritikal debater personally but I dabbled in case and theory every so often. I generally believe that debate is a game and should be treated like one. This means that I am content agnostic (for the most part and with a few exceptions such as instances of violence in the round) and that I see debate from a more technical standpoint. Technical debate was what I learned at Cal and is what I am most familiar with and thus, that tends to affect my judging. That being said, one of my goals in debate when I competed was to turn debate into a spectacle (whether that was good or not has yet to be seen) but as such, I am very open to new arguments, new types of debate and pushing the envelope for what NPDA parli is or could be. That being said, anything that is new takes some getting used to so don't be surprised if I find these cool new novel arguments difficult to evaluate.

A few personal requests:

1. Please read trigger warnings or content warnings before discussing any topics related to sexual violence. Please do so before the round and not at the top of the PMC so that if I or anyone else in the room needs to take a second, or abstain from the debate, there is a moment to exercise some amount of personal privilege.

2. Do not misgender your opponents, intentional or otherwise. I would generally recommend defaulting to "they" if you do not know someone's pronouns and to use "my opponents" in the round as I find using people's first names in the round to be kind of uncomfortable.

3. I would prefer you do not give me a "shout out" or refer to my personal history during your speech or during debates. Not sure exactly how to phrase it but I find it uncomfortable for debaters to refer to me via first name or reference my debate history in the round. Before or after is fine, we can make small talk etc but please just don't be weird about it during the round.

4. Please debate however makes you the most comfortable, I have zero preferences whether you sit or stand, what you wear etc as long as you're respectful of your opponents and your partner.

TL;DR fine with theory, K’s, case, explain your arguments with warrants and explicit implications, will default to tech evaluation on the flow, don’t be bad to your opponents

Evaluative Framework:

- I'm comfortable with case, theory, K's etc. I'm fairly content agnostic in this regard.

- I'm fairly comfortable with speed but if I call clear or slow, please heed these requests, otherwise I will just miss things on the flow because I can't write fast enough.

- I evaluate the debate based on the flow, which generally means I will vote in whatever way minimizes my intervention in the round. I think that some amount of judge intervention is inevitable but I will still aim to make decisions with the least amount of intervention possible.

- I stole this from Trevor Greenan but we got a similar debate education so this should be totally justifiable: I vote in this order:
1. conceded arguments
2. arguments with warrants and substantive analysis
3. arguments with in-round weighing/framing
4. arguments with implicit clash/framing
5. arguments I am more familiar with

- In round articulation of arguments is very important. Even if conceded arguments have certain potential implications for the round, unless those implications are made explicit or within the original reading of the argument, I am unwilling to grant you those implications as that feels interventionist. This generally means you should be more explicit than not. This applies to: concessions, extensions, impacts, weighing etc.

- I generally don't like voting on blippy arguments or underdeveloped arguments especially if these arguments are just claims with no warrants or impacts. I have a high threshold for these types of arguments and am also willing to grant late responses if the original argument or its explanation was unclear or massively underdeveloped.

- I do not grant shadow extensions, or at the very least, treat them as new arguments. This means that arguments not extended by the MG cannot be leveraged in the PMR, arguments not extended by the MO cannot be leveraged in the LOR etc. While grouped/blanket extensions are fine, for example if an entire advantage/DA is dropped or extending a section of the flow like all the impacts, but for the most part if you want anything specific from these extensions you should do them in the MG/MO. This also includes new cross applications from extended arguments onto other sheets/layers of the debate as these cross-apps should have been done by the MG/MO.

- I protect against new arguments but you should call Point of Orders just in case as I am not perfect and can/may miss things.

- I have a high threshold for voting on presumption and presumption is a portion of debate I may not be the most comfortable on. I'm still willing to evaluate the layer, just don't assume that I'm following your presumption collapse 100%.

- I don't mind conditionality. That being said, my preference is towards less wide, more tall/deep debates but whatever floats your boat.

Argument Specifics:

Theory:

- have a stable and clear interp text
- read theory arguments with explicit voters
- if not explicitly articulated, I will default to drop the argument
- I default to competing interpretations
- read brightlines for reasonability
- generally friv T is fine by me but I'll be honest and say I don't find friv theory debates to be all that interesting
- I might have a lower threshold for voting on RVI's than other judges on the circuit but I am still generally unwilling to pull the trigger on them unless they're substantively developed, even if its conceded (see the point about implications/explanations above)
- if standards are not articulated in substantively different ways or are not given different implications (like terminalizing out to fairness or education) then I am unwilling to auto-vote on a conceded standard if the other similar standards have answers to them or if the other team has some amount of mitigation.

Ks:

- sequencing arguments such as prior questions or root cause claims need to be warranted and substantively explained as well as interacted with the other portions of the debate
- clear links please, not links of omission, try and make them specific to the 1ac
- I evaluate links via strength of link. comparative work on the links done by the debaters would make me really happy! be sure to weigh relinks and links against each other
- rejecting the resolution in front of me is fine as long as you defend and justify your choice
- I believe that I can follow along with most K arguments you read in front of me but don't assume I'm intimately familiar with the literature
- do not assume that because I did mostly kritikal debate in college that I am exclusively a K hack, if anything I am likely to expect a lot from K debates and may have higher evaluative thresholds for K's because that's what I am most familiar with. that being said, I love kritiks so feel free to run them in front of me.
- I evaluate permutations as a test of competition and not advocacies unless told otherwise. I also prefer to have explicit perm texts and I'm talking like "permutation: do both" as a fine example of an explicit text. Just saying the plan and the alt are not mutually exclusive does not count as a perm argument.
- I'll evaluate/vote on severance permutations if there is substantive explanation and if there's no argument why severance is bad/unfair.

Case/CPs

- not sure if there's really such a thing as terminal defense but am still willing to buy these arguments
- prefer less generic case arguments than not (who doesn't really) but am still fine with your generic advantages and DAs.
- more specific and warranted the better
- CPs need to stable texts
- I evaluate permutations as a test of competition and not advocacies unless told otherwise. I also prefer to have explicit perm texts and I'm talking like "permutation: do both" as a fine example of an explicit text. Just saying the plan and the CP are not mutually exclusive does not count as a perm argument.
- PICs/cheater CP's are fine with me but so is PICs bad and CP theory

Introduction:

Hello, my name is Pavan Katragadda. I have been involved in the world of speech and debate for over five years, serving as a parent judge. My journey in this field has been enriching and enlightening, and I am eager to continue learning and growing with each debate I judge.

Communication Style:

Clarity of speech is of utmost importance to me. I believe that the essence of a good debate lies not in the speed at which arguments are delivered, but in the articulation and structure of those arguments. Therefore, I encourage debaters to speak clearly and at a pace that allows me to follow their line of reasoning. If you choose to spread, please be aware that if I cannot follow your arguments, it may impact my evaluation.

Technical Terms:

While I am familiar with the general rules and format for most of the Debates, I may not be well-versed in all “technical” terms from the debating vocabulary. If you plan on using any such terms, I would appreciate it if you could explain them during your speech. This will ensure that I fully understand your argument and can evaluate it accurately.

Post-Round Process:

After the round has concluded, I like to take a few minutes to reflect on the arguments presented and enter my feedback and results. Please understand that this process takes time, and as such, I will not be able to disclose the results or provide judge’s feedback immediately after the round.

Expectations:

I expect all debaters to come prepared with strong arguments backed by solid evidence. A good debate is not just about winning or losing; it’s about learning, growing, and enjoying the process. So let’s have a fun and engaging debate!

Pronouns: She/they

Tldr; It is important to me that you debate the way that is most suited to you, that you have fun and learn a lot. While I have preferences about debate, I will do my best to adapt to the round before me. The easiest way to win my ballot is lots of warrants, solid terminalized impacts (ie not relying on death and dehumanization as buzzwords), clear links, and a clean as possible collapse.

• For more lay/policy-oriented teams: Please sign-post, give warrants, and solid impacts. There is value in drawing attention to death and dehumanization but I would prefer that you speak beyond death & dehumanization as buzzwords -- give me warranted impacts that demonstrate why death & dehumanization are voting issues. Please make your top of case framing clear and try to stay away from half-baked theory positions. I would prefer a full shell with standards and voters, please.

• For critical, tech, and/or speed-oriented teams: I love it all -- I am open to the criticism, policy, performance, theory; whatever you want to do. Please keep in mind that my hearing is getting worse and being plugged into the matrix makes it even harder to hear online. I may ask for some tags after your speech if you spread. I probably default to competing interps more so now on theory than before but I’ll vote where you tell me to.

• For non-NorCal debaters: I recognize that debate varies by region. I’m happy to accommodate and do my best to adapt to your style. That said, I’m more likely to vote on a clear and consistent story with an impact at the end of the round.

Longer threads;

• RFDs: I’m better with oral feedback than written and I will disclose. The brainpower to write RFDs is substantially more draining than talking through my decision. I think it also opens up opportunities for debaters to ask questions and to keep myself in check as a judge. I learn just as much from you as you do from me.

• Kritiks: are important for opening up how we think about normative policy debate and a great way to challenge the performance/role-playing of policy debate. Given that many kritiks are an entry point for students to access policy-making/the debate space I am less enthused about opportunistic or abusive kritiks and arguments (which mean it's safe to assume I see debate as a pedagogical extension of the classroom not as a game). Please do your best to explain your position, especially if it’s somewhat obscure because the farther I get away from being a competitor, the less familiar I am with some of the stuff out there. For reference, I was a cap debater but don’t think I will just vote for you if you run cap. I actually find my threshold on cap ks is much higher given my own experience and I guess also the mainstream-ness of the cap k. I have a strong preference for specific links over generic ones. I think specific links demonstrate your depth of knowledge on the k and makes the debate more interesting. Please feel free to ask questions if you are planning on running a k. I think identity-based kritiks are * very * important in the debate space and I will do my best to make room for students trying to survive in this space. I’m good with aff k’s too. Again, my preference for aff k’s is that your links/harms are more specific as opposed to laundry lists of harms or generic links. It’s not a reason for me to vote you down just a preference and keeps the debate interesting.

• Theory: Please drop interps in the chat and make sure they are clear. As stated above I probably default to competing interps, but I’ll vote where you tell me to. RVIs weren't a huge thing when I was debating in college so I'm honestly not amazing at evaluating them except when there's major abuse in round and the RVI is being used to check that. So if you’re sitting on an RVI just make sure to explain why it matters in the round. I have a preference for theory shells that are warranted rather than vacuous. Please don’t read 9 standards that can be explained in like 2.

• Other items

• I do not flow after the timer. I've noticed this has become more and more abused by high school teams and I'm not into it. So finish your sentence but I won't flow your paragraph.

• Off-time roadmaps are fine.

• Very specific foreign policy debates are fun and extra speaks if you mention what a waste the F35 is.

• I will drop you or nuke your speaks for racist, transphobic, sexist, or just generally discourteous nonsense.

• POOs -- Since we're online, I don't pay attention to chats (unless reading interps) and I don't recognize raised hands. So, please just interrupt and ask your question. It's not rude, just makes things easier.

If you've read this far lol: sometimes knowing a little about my background helps debaters understand how I approach debate. I debated parli (& a little LD) at Santa Rosa Junior College for 3 years. My partner and I finished 4th in the nation for NPTE rankings and had a ridiculous amount of fun. Then we debated at San Francisco State University for our final year with the amazing Teddy Albiniak -- a formative experience and a year I treasure deeply (long live the collective! <3). Our strengths were materialism and cap, and very specific foreign policy debates.

Go gaters

basically: weigh weigh weigh! the impacts sign my ballot

the round is yours! do as you please as long as it is not exclusionary.

hi, i hope everyone is doing well

some things to consider for Parli:

uniqueness + link + impact = a strong, functional argument. include all of these things and clearly signpost as you go. if i don't know where you are on the flow, i won't be able to flow it!

weigh impacts and do the comparative analysis (especially in the 1NR/AR)

collapse as you go, but don't forget to extend defense!

i am not super familiar with the K process/literature, so if you are running something make sure to explain it thoroughly

i am most receptive to theory that is run against in round abuse or abusive norms, but other forms are ok. if you don't have the technical know-how, i am totally fine with lay theory.

important: do NOT ever use theory/Ks to skew your opponent out of the round. it's not cool

please take at least two POIs (tag-teaming is ok, but i won't flow what your partner says, you have to say it too). if you don't, your speaks will probably reflect it. that being said, POIs won't be flowed so use them strategically!

speed is generally fine, I'll tell you to slow down if you're going to fast (again, don't exclude your opponents)

i will not keep time. ten second grace period (no new arguments) and then feel free to call time

if you are very clearly problematic, you will be dropped regardless of the flow.

if you have any questions about my paradigm or the round, feel free to ask me before or after the round! other than that have lots of fun :)

I have some experience with Judging Parli at JV & Varsity levels. I value quality of arguments with good references. I may fact check before I put down the ballot. Make sure you organize your thoughts and go in order. I would generally take notes during the debate so appreciate if you can speak at moderate speed. Please show respect to your opponent teams and have a healthy debate. Good Luck!!

@tanishkumar@berkeley.edu

I did circuit LD, parli, and Congress in high school for Mitty and I coach there and at Athens debate now (qualled to states, nats, and was pretty highly ranked in parli), and I graduated Cal doing CS and Business (tanishkumar@berkeley.edu). I can judge any event except like platform speech at a pretty tech level, so just be yourself and have fun!!!!

I'm too lazy to write my argument preferences out, so I'm fine with anything. I'm fine with any argument (phil, Ks, theory, CPs) and any arguments against them. I'm pretty tabula rasa; in calc terms, the limit approaches infinity for how tab I am.

You do you, just don't be rude. Also, be clear and don't go like 300+ WPM, I'm probably tired.

School Affiliations:

Dougherty Valley Lay Judge

How many years have you been judging?

I've been judging for 2 years.

How will you award speaker points to the debaters?

I award speaker points based on fluency and ability to maintain the overall structure of their case throughout the debate.

What sorts of things help you to make a decision at the end of the debate?

I examine what points were made from each side and which ones may have been conceded or dropped. I also think about which points I bought more in terms of plausibility and magnitude.

Do you take a lot of notes or flow the debate?

I do take notes during the debate, but it is definitely not flow. I mostly just take notes to help myself follow each side's arguments and rebuttals.

Preferences on the use of evidence?

I do find arguments more compelling if they are backed by reputable and up-to-date evidence. However, depending on the resolution, it could hold the same value as an argument based on reasoning.

How do you value debate skill over truthful arguments?

I find truthful, credible, and comprehensive arguments more valuable than mere debate skill. It is definitely helpful when a competitor is good at explaining concepts in a way that's easy to follow as a lay judge, but at the end of the day, truthful arguments are what provide the substance in the debate.

I'm a lay parent judge with little judging experience. I will flow and take notes.

1. please signpost

2. no spreading please, I'm not good with speed

3. Be courteous - no profanity

4. Make well-explained arguments that are warranted and have clear impacts

5. Give me a clear reason to vote for you (weigh in your last speech)

6. You can try theory but it has to be really well explained (explain the abuse) or I'm not voting on it and please no Kritiks

I am a parent judge with some experience judging parlimentary debates in the last five of years. Starting with a road map is helpful for me to follow your round. I value clarify over speed. I appreciate strong reasoning and data/facts-supported analysis to make it clear for me to decide who wins the round. It is also important for me to see you are respectful to your opponents.

I am a parent/lay judge. I do flow your arguments by taking extensive notes. My judgment is based on the strength and scope of your uniqueness, links, and impacts. Having sign posts as you make your speech is very helpful to me. I have little knowledge about theory and kritik and would appreciate that you debate the actual case.

tldr: Treat me as you would any other lay judge.

A little bit of background information: I have been judging parliamentary debate for about 7 years. I prefer arguments that are simple and well reasoned.

Homophobia, transphobia, racism, etc. will not be tolerated and you will be dropped and receive low speaker points if you exclude anyone from the round.

Otherwise:

⁃ Numbered arguments are easier to follow

⁃ Quality over quantity when it comes to the number of arguments

⁃ I would prefer if you didn’t spend too much time debating things on the top of case unless it has a significant impact on the rest of your round

⁃ Impact out your arguments and tell me why you outweigh the other side

⁃ If there are any specific abuses in the round, please tell me slowly and clearly what rule they broke and why they should be dropped, and I will consider it

I am a judge who has some prior experience long ago in parliamentary debate.

Courtesy: Please be respectful to everyone at the debate.

Overall Judging: I am fine with any type of argument, but encourage you to not speak super fast. I will be taking notes and while I can write fast to keep up, as long as you go reasonably fast I can keep track of the debate's arguments.

Reasoning: I am also willing to fact check evidence if points are raised about the credibility of evidence during the round. I will keep argumentative points at a lower regard if they are shown to be wholly or majorly sustained by wrong evidence. I encourage debaters to use strong and solid evidence and reasoning to validate their arguments.

Road Maps are fine, and I even encourage them since they help me keep track of your arguments in my notes. However, road maps won't improve or decrease your chances of earning my ballot, so don't feel inclined to use or not use them.

Have fun, be nice to your competitors, and try to learn more about complex topics during preparation and during the debate!

Occupation: Software Engineer

School Affiliations: DVHS

Years of Judging : None

How will you award speaker points to the debaters?

Talk clearly and slow. Make eye contact. No stalling. No Public Forum jargon.

What sort of things help you make decision at the end of the debate?

Who most effectively argued their position. How they handle counter and interactions

Do you take lot of notes or flow the debate?

Flow the debate

Clothing / Appearance - Somewhat (5)

Use of Evidence - Weighed Heavily (10)

Real World Impacts - Heavily (8)

Cross Examination - Somewhat (5)

Debate Skill over truthful arguments - Weighed Heavily (10)

I am a parent judge. Avoid technical arguments, jargon, and spreading. I’ve been judging debates for around 5 years now so I have some familiarity with how Parli works. Call the point of order just in case. I’ll flow your round so try your best to keep the flow clean.

Please talk clearly and at a reasonable pace. Please don't speak too fast. Theory is fine.

I am a lay judge.

1. Please explain your arguments thoroughly.

2. Please signpost and use off-time roadmaps.

3. Please talk slow, it is in your best interest that I understand your speech.

4. Please be organized in your speech and give me an easy time flowing.

5. I value facts, and well-supported arguments

Who is this cat?- I graduated from the University of Illinois in May after doing Parli for three years ('19-'22). I was the assistant coach at Ronald Reagan College Prep in Milwaukee. I debated policy at Reagan for four years, (`15-`19). (he/him/his).

Yes, email chain- thenimajn3b@gmai.com

TL;DR- Debate is a game. Analysis and argument-making win my ballot. Stay organized, consistent, and strategic and you'll have success in any round. My paradigm is quite lengthy, but don't let it deter you from running what you are the best at. There isn't a single way to win my ballot, there are arguments that I prefer, but that doesn't mean you should run them just to fit my vision of a debate round. A good rule of thumb is to do what you're the best at.

Specific Arguments- Don't get too caught up in all of this, it is just my preferences, I think if you tend to run a specific argument, then look into my preferences on this, but if not, this really isn't all too important. I tend to judge policy, but if you want to look into my preferences in LD, Parli or PF, that's near the bottom.

CP- It isn't too easy to win on a CP unless it is abusive. The debate community, in general, has seemed to forget something- perms are tests of competition. This is a saying that's been said and resaid a hundred times, without much of an understanding of its meaning. Perms do not offer any advocacy. Thus, the affirmative team cannot gain anything offensively from running a perm. One cannot perm a counterplan and make speeches centered around "The world of the perm." A perm is not advocacy, it is merely a test of competition, and a means to hinder the offense that the negative team can gain from running a CP. Also, CPs do not have to be topical. It is difficult to think of a CP that is not mutually inclusive, thus, it does not have to be topical. Presenting a Net Benefit in terms of a DA or a means to solve the Aff's contentions better than they are able to is one of the few ways I believe that offense can be gained by the negative team. A CP needs to have reasons why to vote for it, just CP text isn't going to move the needle for me. I think PICs are pretty cool, but also they're pretty dangerous if you're bad with theory. Related to this, I am a huge fan of theory in response to CP's. CPs tend to be pretty abusive if they aren't permeable, so take advantage of this!

DA- Admittedly, I've become more and more policy since graduating high school. I really like DAs- I think they're the easiest way for the neg to win in any round. With that being said, the ease is double-sided, as this non-complex nature doesn't hide any true motives, meaning they aren't very difficult to respond to. Putting it simply, a reliance on a DA as the neg's sole offense in a round makes my ballot very easy to fill out. Thus, if you plan on, and you want to run a DA, do it well. Missing an argument missed by either side not flowing makes it quite simple for one side to win quite easily. When it comes to big stick impacts, I am not going to bring any personal biases to conflict with the round. You're going to have to do that yourself on framework. Tell me why nuclear war doesn't matter, or why to prefer structural impacts. Please run framework that runs best in line with your impact, as it makes it easier to write my ballot.

Framework- Somehow I've managed to include the importance of framework in almost every single rundown of arguments. I think framework should be a thing in every single round. Run it well, respond to it well, and tell me what viewing the round under your framework means. I think unless it comes down to t or completely dropped arguments, I am going to use framework to decide my ballot on which impacts I see as important, and what mechanism is the most important to vote under. Framework should be the base of any well-built case, even if you are relying on low-probability, high-magnitude impacts. Please run this, as it makes the round make a lot more sense, and it makes it possible to remove any covert biases I have towards arguments or impacts.

K- I was a K debater in high school. I understand that something like Wilderson or any Capitalism K can be run against any affirmative. This is not necessarily a bad strategy, but it relies on the negative team winning and expanding upon the link debate and the alt debate (I don't think I've ever seen a K impact be contested). The weakest part of the K is generally its alternative. I do not require the alternative to be ontological per se for the negative team to win on a K, but I expect that the alt is well expanded upon and actually explained. Unless the aff is losing on case, I find it difficult to vote for a world that I don't really understand, and a muddy alt presents a confusing world. The same ideology about perms for CPs holds true for K's. The affirmative team cannot win on a perm without also winning case. The best-case scenario for the affirmative if their contestation on K/CP is a perm is that this perm is a wash. Because perms are tests of competition and not advocacy, offense cannot be gained by the perming team. Please tell me what voting for the K does. If it isn't anything out round, that's fine, but I want a ROTB on the K.

On Case- I think one of the most important parts of a debate is the affirmative team's framing of the round. To offset the neg getting the neg block, and back to back speeches, the affirmative teams get the first and last speech. Your should make the best use of this by telling me, and contesting what is the most important argument to vote on, or what theoretical lens to view this round through. I think this goes both ways- rounds have the most clash, meaning the best education and competitiveness when on case is responded to thoroughly and throughout the round. I understand it could be a team's strategy to completely disregard case and argue completely for their case or k, but by abandoning any argument on case, the framing of the round needs to be won as well. When it comes down to it- I'm going to go back on my flows and view the framing of the round in the 1ac. Even if case is a nonfactor, framing by the affirmative team, and contestation of this framing is incredibly important. On case proper- I love case turns. It's a lot easier to make turns when they're based off of your knowledge of the topic, and the current political happenings, as teams tend to rely too much solely on reading cards for case. Watch the news, read articles, and stay updated- this makes it easier to base case-specific turns around, and an easy way to take out a ton of aff offense. Flowing is probably the most important when it comes to responding to case. Flowing, and line by lines is what separates good and great debaters, and this is most important on case, as it is what the majority of rounds can come down to.

Speed- Speed is fine. If the other team can't handle it, speak up, please. I understand that rounds being online makes it quite difficult for those who had trouble with speed in person. Feel free to "clear" your opponents during the speech. If they don't change, then this is grounds for in round abuse if you want to run with an argument similar to this. In general, spreading your opponent out of the round isn't a very good strategy, but to each their own. If you start talking prior to the round, and your audio quality is poor, then I might ask you not to spread, because it isn't fair to anyone. If you don't adapt to your situation, then poor speaks should be expected. Just because you can spread, doesn't mean you should.

T- In order to win t, I think you have to be winning the argument convincingly. If rounds are close and the neg goes for t, then it was likely the wrong decision. Neg should go all in on t, at least eight minutes in the neg block and all five minutes in the 2NR. Explain to me what abuse occurred in the round, and have specific standards. I want contextualized abuse and voting issues if you expect me to vote for you on topicality. Is t an RVI? I don't know, but I'd love to find out. Do the work for me.

Theory- Since high school, I've fallen more and more in love with theory. I think that t can be run in basically any round, but it also can very easily be run poorly. One of the most important parts of either running or responding to t is making sure you flow. I don't think a team should go into a round expecting to run theory, but it is something that one may have in their back pocket in a response to a specific argument. One of the best parts about theory is that it hinges on thinking on the spot, as blocks really aren't a thing for most theory analysis. I think very little is off the table for theory, and this goes for the response to it. I'll listen to an RVI, but a lot of it just comes down to the work that you put in, and how well you flow.

LD Specific
-Do what you're the best at
-Frame how I should vote and see the round, I'm not going to do too much work for you
- I don't understand the hullabaloo about being nice, especially in LD; this isn't a manners class. We're here to debate, not to make each other feel better about ourselves and brown-nose the guy who's writing the ballot. Be aggressive, be confident, and just give me a competitive round where you are the best debater version of yourself.
- A climate of judging debaters based on how they dress or present themselves makes me sick to my stomach, please just do what you're the most comfortable with within the round.

Parli/NPDA Specific
-I'll pause POO's but not POI's
-I don't expect either side to accept more than two POI's during a speech; it is your side to advocate for yourself and be specific. Prior to answering a POI, I like to say "One out of two" or "Two out of two," just so I am blatantly consistent.
-If you're more comfortable with policy jargon, don't bother correcting yourself. I still view it as the Aff v Neg, rather than Gov v Opp.
-Give me a weighing mechanism or I'll just vote on net benefits.

PF Specific
-I'm not a big judge intervention guy in a round. I'm not going to step in if belittling is occurring. The majority of you are nearly adults, and I'm sure you can act like it.
-Please don't make me intervene in cross-fire
-Please just keep me posted on where you're going. Do whatever you want honestly.
-Don't interrupt or use crossfire to make arguments; it's not another rebuttal, it is a questioning period.
-Straight policy rounds get dry, throw some crazy philosophy in there if you feel like it.
-I've done PF, but I'm a policy debater at heart, aff is pro and neg is con

Policy Specific
-Open cross-ex is fine, utilize this however you want. Debates can be won and lost in CX
-Tech>Truth
-Impact calc in 2NR/2AR
-Splitting the block is a thing
-Don't be an a-hole. I understand that policy is generally one of the more competitive types of debate, but keeping your calm is important in CX. You can be witty without being mean
-Stay organized, signpost

A Final Word
I'm a white male, and debate is a community that has long been monopolized by people of my same race and gender. I have privileges that I may not be completely aware of and I may commit microaggressions within a round. Please tell me, privately or publically if I do something that makes anyone in the round uncomfortable.

Post-rounding is fine, I'm flawed as a person and a judge, and my paradigm is constantly adapting to the experiences I have and the rounds I have. I'll make mistakes, and miss analysis, and I apologize if I do. I try to be a good judge, but I'm a flawed human being just like you. I seem to update my paradigm after every tournament. My paradigm is far from ever complete, and I have rounds and experiences which shape what I value in a round, and what preferences I have.

If you have any questions about my ballot, or you want any extra advice, my email is thenimajn3b@gmail.com

Debated PF for Nueva when I was in High School. Graduated two years ago. Haven't flowed in a min but read whatever you want and I'll do my best to evaluate it.

Don't call me judge please.

Current: Bishop O'Dowd HS

Questions left unanswered by this document should be addressed to zmoss@bishopodowd.org

Short Paradigm:

tl;dr: Don't read conditional advocacies, do impact calculus, compare arguments, read warrants, try to be nice

It is highly unlikely you will ever convince me to vote for NET-Spec, Util-spec, basically any theory argument which claims it's unfair for the aff to read a weighing method. Just read a counter weighing method and offense against their weighing method.

I think the most important thing for competitors to remember is that while debate is a competitive exercise it is supposed to be an educational activity and everyone involved should act with the same respect they desire from others in a classroom.

Speaks: You start the debate at 27.5 and go up or down from there. If you do not take a question in the first constructive on your side after the other team requests a question I will top your speaks at 26 or the equivalent. Yes, I include taking questions at the end of your speech as "not taking a question after the other team requests it."

Don't call points of order, I protect teams from new arguments in the rebuttals. If you call a point of order I will expect you to know the protocol for adjudicating a POO.

I don't vote on unwarranted claims, if you want me to vote for your arguments make sure to read warrants for them in the first speech you have the opportunity to do so.

Long Paradigm:

I try to keep my judging paradigm as neutral as possible, but I do believe debate is still supposed to be an educational activity; you should assume I am not a debate argument evaluation machine and instead remember I am a teacher/argumentation coach. I think the debaters should identify what they think the important issues are within the resolution and the affirmative will offer a way to address these issues while the negative should attempt to show why what the aff did was a bad idea. This means link warranting & explanation are crucial components of constructive speeches, and impact analysis and warrant comparison are critical in the rebuttals. Your claims should be examined in comparison with the opposing teams, not merely in the vacuum of your own argumentation. Explaining why your argument is true based on the warrants you have provided, comparing those arguments with what your opponents are saying and then explaining why your argument is more important than your opponents' is the simplest way to win my ballot.

Speaker points (what is your typical speaker point range or average speaker points given)?
My baseline is 27.5, if you show up and make arguments you'll get at least that many points. I save scores below 27 for debaters who are irresponsible with their rhetorical choices or treat their opponents poorly. Debaters can improve their speaker points through humor, strategic decision-making, rhetorical flourish, SSSGs, smart overviewing and impact calculus.

How do you approach critically framed arguments? Can affirmatives run critical arguments? Can critical arguments be “contradictory” with other negative positions?

I approach critically framed arguments in the same way I approach other arguments, is there a link, what is the impact, and how do the teams resolve the impact? Functionally all framework arguments do is provide impact calculus ahead of time, so as a result, your framework should have a role of the ballot explanation either in the 1NC or the block. Beyond that, my preference is for kritiks which interrogate the material conditions which surround the debaters/debate round/topic/etc. as opposed to kritiks which attempt to view the round from a purely theoretical stance since their link is usually of stronger substance, the alternative solvency is easier to explain and the impact framing applies at the in-round level. Ultimately though you should do what you know; I would like to believe I am pretty well read in the literature which debaters have been reading for kritiks, but as a result I'm less willing to do the work for debaters who blip over the important concepts they're describing in round. There are probably words you'll use in a way only the philosopher you're drawing from uses them, so it's a good idea to explain those concepts and how they interact in the round at some point.
Affirmative kritiks are still required to be resolutional, though the process by which they do that is up for debate. T & framework often intersect as a result, so both teams should be precise in any delineations or differences between those.

Negative arguments can be contradictory of one another but teams should be prepared to resolve the question of whether they should be contradictory on the conditionality flow. Also affirmative teams can and should link negative arguments to one another in order to generate offense.

Performance based arguments
Teams that want to have performance debates: Yes, please. Make some arguments on how I should evaluate your performance, why your performance is different from the other team's performance and how that performance resolves the impacts you identify.
Teams that don't want to have performance debates: Go for it? I think you have a lot of options for how to answer performance debates and while plenty of those are theoretical and frameworky arguments it behooves you to at least address the substance of their argument at some point either through a discussion of the other team's performance or an explanation of your own performance.

Topicality

To vote on topicality I need an interpretation, a reason to prefer (standard/s) and a voting issue (impact). In round abuse can be leveraged as a reason why your standards are preferable to your opponents, but it is not a requirement. I don't think that time skew is a reverse voting issue but I'm open to hearing reasons why topicality is bad for debate or replicates things which link to the kritik you read on the aff/read in the 2AC. At the same time, I think that specific justifications for why topicality is necessary for the negative can be quite responsive on the question, these debates are usually resolved with impact calculus of the standards.
FX-T & X-T: For me these are most strategically leveraged as standards for a T interp on a specific word but there are situations where these arguments would have to be read on their own, I think in those situations it's very important to have a tight interpretation which doesn't give the aff a lot of lateral movement within your interpretation. These theory arguments are still a search for the best definition/interpretation so make sure you have all the pieces to justify that at the end of the debate.

Counterplans
Functional competition is necessary, textual competition is debatable, but I don't really think text comp is relevant unless the negative attempts to pic out of something which isn't intrinsic to the text. If you don't want to lose text comp debates while negative in front of me on the negative you should have normal means arguments prepared for the block to show how the CP is different from how the plan would normally be resolved. I think severence/intrinsic perm debates are only a reason to reject the perm absent a round level voter warrant, and are not automatically a neg leaning argument. Delay and study counterplans are pretty abusive, please don't read them in front of me if you can avoid it. If you have a good explanation for why consultation is not normal means then you can consider reading consult, but I err pretty strongly aff on consult is normal means. Conditions counterplans are on the border of being theoretically illegitimate as well, so a good normal means explanation is pretty much necessary.
Condo debates: On the continuum of judges I am probably closer to the conditionality bad pole than 99% of the rest of pool. If you're aff I think "contradictory condo bad" is a much better option than generic "condo bad". Basically if you can win that two (or more) neg advocacies are contradictory and extend it through your speeches I will vote aff.

In the absence of debaters' clearly won arguments to the contrary, what is the order of evaluation that you will use in coming to a decision (e.g. do procedural issues like topicality precede kritiks which in turn precede cost-benefit analysis of advantages/disadvantages, or do you use some other ordering)?
Given absolutely no impact calculus I will err towards the argument with the most warrants and details. For example if a team says T is a priori with no warrants or explanation for why that is true or why it is necessary an aff could still outweigh through the number of people it effects (T only effects the two people in the round, arguments about T spillover are the impact calc which is missing in the above explanation). What I'm really saying here is do impact calculus.

How do you weight arguments when they are not explicitly weighed by the debaters or when weighting claims are diametrically opposed? How do you compare abstract impacts (i.e. "dehumanization") against concrete impacts (i.e. "one million deaths")?
I err towards systemic impacts absent impact calculus by the debaters. But seriously, do your impact calculus. I don't care if you use the words probability, magnitude, timeframe and reversability, just make arguments as to why your impact is more important.

Cross-X: Please don't shout at each other if it can be avoided, I know that sometimes you have to push your opponents to actually answer the question you are asking but I think it can be done at a moderate volume. Other than that, do whatever you want in cross ex, I'll listen (since it's binding).

I am a lay judge with little judging experience. I am quite a logical person and would appreciate if your points were laid out clearly in a structured manner so I can clearly follow your line of reasoning. I would prefer if you had warrants to back up all of your points and flesh everything out as much as you can.

No spreading please. You can speak quickly, but it may be hard for me to keep up.

I will not vote on T's or K's as I have very little experience in that realm as well. However, if there is abuse in the round, you can just point it out to me without running a T.

Other than that, I hope that we can all have a fun debate and I look forward to judging you!

I am a parent judge who started in 2019. I have judged mostly parli bc that is my child's format, but I have been roped into LD and PoFo, so I have familiarity with those events as well. I am most comfortable judging parli. I do my best to understand and properly flow debaters’ arguments. I want to give everyone a fair chance in debate, based on the merit of their arguments and the delivery to me. I have a few requests and guidelines for you, as debaters.

Content

truth>tech

I don't really buy the whole If You Give a Mouse a Cookie string of events, like offering AP classes in HS will lead college TAs to all end their lives. (not being disrespectful or flippant regarding suicide - this is an actual argument I have heard). I have heard so many prepackaged arguments about the most benign policy leading to mass poverty, poverty is cyclical, it takes seven years off your life, etc. If it is something that a reasonable person could see would lead to everyone falling into abject poverty, I would buy it, but I don't buy the overterminalizing. Funding playgrounds will not lead to nuclear war. Adding Finland and Sweden to NATO will not lead to extinction of humanity. (One really good, intelligent debater who was in the unfortunate circumstance of finding herself on the Opp side of an Aff skewed res in octos or quarters had to actually resort to that as a last ditch effort, and while I appreciate the endeavor, I could not buy it.)

Theory

Please don't be theory-happy. Use it only if other side has made an egregiously irrelevant or extratopical argument or interpretation. I feel like teams have gotten all too eager to use this and of all the theory shells that have been run by me, I have not found a single one compelling.

Kritiks

Big risk in front of lay judge - I don’t expect that you’d try it in front of me. am not smart enough to understand these. If you choose to read one, I'll try to understand it, but you are likely wasting your time (and may fry my lay judge brain!). From what I see, people spend a lot of time working on these and just waiting for a time to bust them out rather than actually putting work into a good debate. But go for it if you feel like it.

Lying

Please don’t lie or fabricate evidence. It’s better to lose a round for a lack of evidence than to lie your way to victory. The whole point of debate is to be educational to both sides of the argument and lying voids that altogether. Lying is cheating. It can get you in trouble. If I catch you lying, I will take appropriate action. Without lying, debate is much more enjoyable and fair for all parties.

Signposting

Please signpost! Since I am new and rather inexperienced at flowing, signposting is very useful. Signposting allows me to be more organized. If you do so, I will be able to judge your debate more fairly, with more understanding of each argument.

Format

Please be clear with every aspect of your arguments, from links and impacts to delivery. This helps me understand and judge the round properly.

I understand that non-speaking partners may need to support speakers when it is not the non-speaker's turn, but I find too many interruptions, constant and audible feeding of content, and taking over for the speaker to be irritating, distraction, and signs of poor preparation and lack of professionalism. At best, I will not flow or consider any content presented by team member when it is not their turn and at worst, I may dock you for it. If you must provide your speaking partner with your thoughts, please try to do so quietly, unintrusively, and if possible, non-verbally.

My Style

I take judging seriously, but am not power trippy. I am pretty relaxed and understand that you have put hard work into this tournament and into this round and have gotten up early to do it. I appreciate that. I think it's great that young people are doing this and you have my respect and admiration. I understand that it takes guts, even for more experienced or less shy debaters. If you are new, I want to encourage you, so please do your best, but if you are struggling, I will not look down on you. Use these tournaments, especially when I am your judge, as learning opportunities to work on shedding inhibitions and becoming a stronger debater.

I write A LOT. I try to get down every word a speaker says, and thank goodness, because I have had to use my copious notes to decide whether an argument or stat was brought up previously when an opponent claims it was not! Since I am scribing away, I may not look up at you much or make eye contact. If I don't return your eye contact, please don't take it personally. I encourage you to look at the judge and at your opponents and audience since this is what is intended for a real life application of debate, such as in an actual parliamentary, political, or courtroom setting. Especially for those who are more shy or new, please take advantage of this smaller and perhaps less intimidating setting to practice making meaningful eye contact to help you in the future.

If I look at my phone during a round, I am not texting or playing 2048, as I most likely am every minute between rounds ;-) I am checking exact wording of a res, time, or something regarding the content. I take my judging duties very seriously and am always mentally present during rounds!

Other Notes

I appreciate you putting your time and energy into debate. I want to do my best as a judge to make it fair and enjoyable.

Please Don't:

Interrupt others

Run racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, or other hateful arguments

Be overly invasive or picky with POIs (one novice debater used one in her first tournament to question the speaker about his discrepant use of 72% and 74% when referring multiple times to what portion of the US's cobalt imports come from China - c'mon. In this case it didn't warrant a POI.)

Speak too quickly for me or your counterparts to understand

Be a jerk to your opponents, even (or especially) if they are struggling and especially if you are a stronger team/debater or older or more experienced. I appreciate that it takes guts to get up there and speak. If you snicker or smirk with your teammate or send (zoom) or write (in person) each other rude messages about the other team and share derisory laughs, I will go exothermic. I will let your coach, your school, and tournament directors know.

Please Do:

Follow the norms of Parliamentary Debate

Feel free to remove your mask if tournament rules allow it

Be respectful

Have fun and not be overly aggressive

Thank your opponents

Be ready on time for the debate

Parent Judge.

I have judged at many middle school tournaments and high school tournaments including JV and Varsity but explain your contentions.

Do not spread. If you do, I will most likely stop writing on my paper and give you an auto-loss.

I like to evaluate on your method of weighing and your ability to provide reasonable arguments with support. Lots of debaters use net benefits, but if you want to use something different go ahead! Just make sure arguments actually tie to it.

Otherwise, have fun!

1. Please make sure you signpost your contentions.

2. I like to follow logical and clearly structured arguments.

3. I expect to see good engagement and effective rebuttal of your opponent’s arguments.

4. I’m open to Kritik- take whatever rebuttal strategy you think will maximize your chance of winning. But, as I mentioned earlier, my decisions are based exclusively on the arguments and counter arguments presented with strongly backed-up concrete facts or examples.

5. No Spreading, be respectful of your allotted time, your audience and have fun!!

Milpitas High Speech and Debate 2010-2014

Mostly did Parli, Extemp and Congress.

Capable of flowing including moderate speed with clear headings but not the best.

I don't really judge anymore. If you are a debater and want to see my paradigm for some reason, email me firstname dot lastname at gmail.

Hello. I'm a parent judge.

Please speak at a moderate speed and enunciate. The slower the better. I'm looking for substance in argumentation, content is more important than speaking skills.

I follow the news very closely and am up to date on current events.

Please try not to run theory or kritiks as I will not able to follow.

I have been judging debates (mostly parliamentary debates) for over 8 years, as a lay (parent) volunteer judge.

If possible, please avoid speaking too fast (so that I can follow and track your arguments in my mind).

Also, if you are going to use any "technical" terms from the debating vocabulary, please don't assume I would be familiar with them. It would be appreciate if you explain any such terms to me.

I am familiar with the Parliamentary Debate format and its general rules. You will not need to explain those to me.

Usually I like to take a few minutes after the round has ended, to enter my feedback and the results, so please do not expect me to disclose the results or provide you judge's feedback immediately.

I'm a parent judge with no experience as judge. Logics and being respectful are what I pay attention to. Please speak clearly.

I am a lay judge.

I am affiliated with Dougherty Valley High School. I usually judge parliamentary debate and am familiar with the event. This is my third year judging. I will award speaker points by looking for clarity of thinking and cogent delivery.

I will base my decision at the end of the debate on strong arguments and good responses. I'm fine with CP's as long as it has solvency. PIC's are a great strat. Don't run conditional cps. TALK SLOW. If you are going too fast, I will say slow once. Don't read K's. Not a big fan of theory either but I default to reasonability. On framework, I enjoy util.

I will take a lot of notes and pay thorough attention throughout the debate. Don't overuse statistics and evidence. Evidence is there to support your argument, so use it when necessary.

Real-world impacts are important. Talk about real-life scenarios as much as possible.

I value truthful arguments over debate skills. Debate skills should help you extend and defend truthful arguments. Don't try to win on technicalities, use logic, and strong argumentation to win the round. If your opponents concede your argument, I will acknowledge it, but don't use that concession to win the entire round. If your arguments are better and you defend them well, you will win. Please weigh in your last speeches.

I have been judging Parli tournaments for 2 years now and I love the energy that the students bring into the debate.

I am a logical person and like to see figures and statistics to back up your claims. I don't like speakers who speak at breakneck speed because it's hard for me or their opponents to understand what they are trying to convince us about. Eight minutes are enough to make your point.

I am not a fan of theory but I will honor any valid points around theory, given that you explain each point. Sometimes it's unavoidable but don't run theory just to distract your opponents or eat into their time. You don't have to take all POIs, but I would suggest you take at least one. You are not obligated to take it right away, you can say you will take it in a bit, that's fine.

Speak at a normal pace, make good use of hand gestures and body language. Make eye contact, don't just bury your head into your notes. Be respectful of your opponents even though you are "fighting" them.

Good luck, and don't forget to enjoy your time!

I am a parent judge judging for the last 3 years. I have been mainly judging LD but have occasionally done other forms as well. I take a lot of notes so please do speak at moderate speeds and explain your arguments logically. I like powerful speakers but please be courteous to other contestants and provide appropriate evidence to substantiate your contentions. Please do not stretch the truth since that could count against you. Have lots of fun!

My Background

I did parliamentary debate and only parliamentary debate for four years, and I mostly attended lay tournaments. I don't have any experience in policy or pofo, and I did try LD for a while, but I definitely don't think I should be judging those events. If you're in a non parli form of debate, please be patient in explaining the rules to me, and explain arguments more clearly than you normally would because I may be unfamiliar with how those arguments work. I generally like case debates, but I'm not opposed to theory if you have to run it. I don't like kritiks or abusive arguments, but I do like creative arguments that are believable.

I am currently an Economics and Public Affairs major, so I understand quite a bit about how government works, and while I try to be tabula rasa, my knowledge may bias the way I judge debate rounds. Make sure you explain all arguments clearly and correctly. I do fact check, so don't make things up.

Case

Make sure all of your points are very clear. Please organize everything into your uniqueness, links, internal links, impacts, and responses. Do not skip links. I run into a lot of debaters who just kind of assume that their plan solves without explaining or giving evidence as to why. Signpost all parts of your argument too. I should be able to figure out exactly which point you're responding to at all times. Also please terminalize your impacts. Every argument you run must have an implication and significance. If you don't explain the significance of your argument, I will have trouble weighing it in the round.

Do not make up evidence. If there is a contentious piece of evidence in the round, I will fact check it. Completely fabricating numbers or quotes will result in an immediate loss. However, reasonable paraphrasing or truncating is okay. Calculating percentages is okay (if it's done correctly).

As much as possible, refutations should be offensive. Try to do link turns more often than no links. I especially like double binds that are explained clearly. I really like interesting impact turns too, but make sure they're substantiated and don't double turn yourself.

Rebuttals

Please use voter issues in the rebuttal speeches. Do not treat it as another constructive speech and spend all your time responding to arguments unless you're the PMR and you have to. Weigh the arguments against each other, and obviously make sure the argument you're winning is given more weight. Seriously, don't try to win every argument. Find the arguments you're winning and explain why they're more important. I also like rebuttals that explain why your argument short circuits their argument. I look at probability, magnitude, and timeframe. When it comes to impact analysis, I kind of like timeframe arguments and sometimes probability arguments. I don't like magnitude arguments that are incredibly unlikely (like nuclear war), unless they can be well substantiated (like if Ukraine joins NATO). Seriously, don't run nuclear war arguments unless you have a good link scenario. Most of the time nuclear war arguments become nonunique anyways. Both sides claim the other side has nuclear war with little to no evidence, and MAD means that nuclear war probably won't happen. Both brink scenarios typically have equal chance of happening anyways.

Plans and Counterplans

I'm not very picky about plans, but they should definitely be topical. Small affs are fine, and I oftentimes finds them to be clever. Avoid extratopical plans, and make sure your plan solves. See my theory category for more information.

In general I'm fine with all types of CPs, but make sure your CP solves, is competitive, and isn't abusive. In other words, your CP alone must be better than the plan and the CP together. This can usually be done with disads to the plan. Make sure you have disads to the plan, do not simply talk about why the CP is better than the plan because that does not generate offense and does not protect against the perm.

No conditional CPs, but dispositional CPs are ok.

Consult CPs are ok as long as you give a good reason why consulting is important and prove solvency.

I'm fine with PICs, but I'll also listen to theory arguments about it. If you plan to run a PIC, be prepared to have responses to theory.

Agent/50 States CPs are fine too, but make sure you have actual evidence as to why 50 states would solve better than the federal government. If there's no good reason why a particular agent or 50 states is preferred, you'll probably lose on presumption.

Theory

Make sure you have all five parts (interp, violation, standards, voters, underview) for every theory argument. If you're missing any of them, you might as well not run theory. There is a time and place theory arguments. I don't like frivolous theory, and I probably won't buy any theory arguments that seem unnecessary. That being said, I think that theory is necessary if a plan or counterplan is confusing or abusive. If your opponents genuinely misinterpreted the resolution, run theory. Topicality and spec are oftentimes the most useful forms of theory. Oftentimes, the aff plan will be so vague that educational debate is impossible. In this case, the neg can easily win on theory.

If you're confused on what's "unnecessary." Think of it this way: if you're running theory because you want a cheap argument to beat your opponent, it's probably unnecessary. If you're running theory because your opponents genuinely did something that shouldn't be allowed, run theory. When in doubt, run theory. The worst that could happen is that you waste your time. I generally don't buy RVIs.

Also, I'm a huge fan of we meet responses to interps. It's probably the best way to quickly defeat theory.

Kritiks

If you're going to run a K please make sure you explain each part of the K clearly. I know a bit about Nietzsche, Sartre, Daoism, and Baudrillard, but that's about it. Everything else you'll have to explain to me clearly.

Misc:

Tabula rasa and tech over truth for the most part. Basically, if you drop arguments (even if they are factually wrong), I have to give that argument to your opponent. This has happened before. You can avoid this by not dropping arguments and making sure you do line by lines if you're the LOC or MG.

Hot take: I don't really care about shadow extensions, but I'm willing to listen to a point of order if the PMR does a shadow extension. For the LOR I feel like the PMR's ability to use golden turns voids the abuse of a shadow extension.

I am fine with whatever speed you want to go at, but do not try to speak so quickly that your opponents or I can't understand you. Make sure you are speaking clearly. I will say clear if you're not being clear enough. I'm fine with tag teaming, but I'll only flow what the speaker says.

I award speaker points based on how well you speak and present, not on the quality of your arguments. That being said, I will nuke speaks for a variety of reasons including but not limited to racism, sexism, and making up evidence. I think you can speak quickly and still be a good speaker.

I prefer cameras to be on while you speak so that I can more accurately judge speaker points. I do judge based on hand motions, eye contact, movement, and stuff like that. If you are able to, please turn on your camera and present your arguments to the best of your ability.

Presumption flows neg unless there is a counterplan in which case it flows aff. Please do not make me vote on presumption. You can do this by making sure your arguments are offensive and not defensive. That means if you're neg talk about why the aff is harmful and if you're aff talk about why doing nothing is harmful and how you solve for those harms. You can also avoid making me vote on presumption by weighing arguments in the rebuttal speech. Seriously, if you weigh an argument you're winning and your opponent doesn't weigh, you'll win.

There are a number of debates I've won from creatively redefining or reinterpreting the resolution. I honestly think this is necessary sometimes if the resolution is seriously skewed against you. I really like these debates, but please make sure your definition or interpretation of the resolution is valid and substantiated before using it. Just remember for any resolution, there exists some creative a path to victory. Do not give up during prep time.

I am a parent judge. Please do not spread, run theory or kritiks. If you need to run theory please explain it clearly and thoroughly. Explain all debate terms/jargon as well. Allow me to judge your round with a proper understanding of what your case actually is, but most importantly have fun :)

- Speak clearly and articulate your words

- I’d appreciate if you avoided jargon. If you do use specialized terms, please define them.

- I take evidence heavily into account. Please provide your evidence clearly and link it to your claim. Don’t make up evidence — if I hear something I know or suspect to be false, I will fact check it and hold it against you.

- If you run a counter plan, please state clearly that you are doing so. I expect the same level of detailing in a counter plan as well as aff’s plan. Being vague will make your counter plan much less viable to me.

- I dislike Ks and Theories, meaning I heavily lean towards on-case debate. You will most likely lose me in any given K or Theory, as I am lay judge.

I was a performance debater so I enjoy performance/critical debates -- but with everything going on in the world I find myself enjoying a good traditional policy debate. Bottomline -- do you! I am here to listen, help, and encourage.

Things I love: overviews, ALT's, framework/framing, ROJ.

Mark my ballot: You do this by telling the best cohesive story of what the world looks like post AFF/NEG.

Also, I enjoy historical examples.

Don't be mean!

HAVE FUN :)

No spreading. I do take notes and flow your arguments, please speak at a speed with which I can do so.

I do not support plan-plus-counterplan strategy.

Be very fastidious with your arguments when using PIC.

I pay attention to Point of Order in rebuttals.

I am familiar with Kritik, Theory, and Topicality.

Please be courteous with one another.

I expect the debaters to time themselves.

Pronouns: He/Him/His.

* note for TOC * judge paradigms that include things like "I will drop you if you run a kritik," you just don't want black, indigenous, and students of color to access this space and it shows.

Specifics for Parli:

I am the Head Coach of Parliamentary Debate at the Nueva School.

ON THE LAY VS. FLOW/ TECH FIGHT: Both Lay (Rhetorical, APDA, BP, Lay) and Tech (Flow, NPDA, Tech) can be called persuasive for different reasons. That is, the notion that Lay is persuasive and Tech is something else or tech is inherently exclusionary because it is too narrowly focused on the minutiae of arguments is frankly non-sense, irksome, and dismissive of those who don’t like what the accuser does. I think the mudslinging is counter-productive. Those who do debate and teach it are a community. I believe we ought to start acting like it. I have voted for tech teams over lay teams and lay teams over tech teams numerous times. One might say that I do both regularly. Both teams have the responsibility to persuade me. I have assumptions which are laid out in this paradigm. I am always happy to answer specific or broad questions before the round and I am certain that I ask each team if they would like to pose such questions before EVERY round. I do not want to hear complaints about arguments being inaccessible just because they are Ks or theoretical. Likewise, I do not want to hear complaints that just because a team didn’t structure their speeches in the Inherency, Link, Internal Link, Impact format those arguments shouldn’t be allowed in the round.

Resolution Complications: Parli is tough partly because it is hard to write hundreds of resolutions per year. A very small number of people do the bulk of this for the community, myself being one of them. I am sympathetic to both the debaters and the topic writers. If the resolution is skewed, the debater has to deal with the skew in some fashion. This can mean running theory or a K. It can also mean building a very narrow affirmative and going for high probability impacts or solvency and just winning that level of the debate. There are ways to win in most cases, I don’t believe that the Aff should be guaranteed all of the specific ground they could be. Often times these complaints are demands to debate what one is already familiar with and avoid the challenge of unexplored intellectual territory. Instead, skew should be treated as a strategic thinking challenge. I say this because I don’t have the power to change the resolution for you. My solution is to be generous to K Affs, Ks, and theory arguments if there is clear skew in one direction or another.

Tech over truth. I will not intervene. Consistent logic and completed arguments these are the things which are important to me. Rhetorical questions are neither warrants nor evidence. Ethos is great and I’ll mark you on the speaker points part of the ballot for that, but the debate will be won and lost on who did the better debating.

Evidence Complications: All evidence is non-verifiable in Parli. So, I can’t be sure if someone is being dishonest. I would not waste your time complaining about another teams’ evidence. I would just indict it and win the debate elsewhere on the flow. However, there are things that I can tell you aren’t good evidence: WIKIPEDIA, for example. Marking and naming the credentials of your sources is doable and I will listen to you.

Impacts are important and solvency is important. I think aff cases, CPs, Ks should have these things for me to vote on them. If the debate has gone poorly, I highly advise debaters to complete (terminalize) an impact argument. This will be the first place I go when I start evaluating after the debate. Likewise, inherency is important. If you don’t paint me a picture of a problem(s) that need solving, should I vote for you? No, I shouldn’t. Make sure you are doing the right sorts of storytelling to win the round.

If there is time, I ALWAYS give an oral RFD which teams are ALWAYS free to record unless I say otherwise. I will do my best to also provide written feedback, but my hope is that the recorded oral will be better. I do not disclose in prelims unless the tournament makes me.

My presumption is that theory comes first unless you tell me otherwise. I’m more than happy to vote on K Framework vs. Theory first debates in both directions.

I flow POI answers.

Basically, I will vote for anything if it’s a completed argument. But, I don’t like voting on technicalities. If your opponent clearly won the holistic flow, I’m not going to vote on a blippy extension that I don’t’ understand or couldn’t summarize back to you simply.

Speaker points:

BE NICE AND PROFESSIONAL. Debate is not a competitive, verbal abuse match. Debaters WILL be punished on speaker points for being rude (beyond the normal flare of intense speeches) or abusive. Example: saying your opponent is wrong or is misguided is fine. Saying they are stupid is not. Laughing at opponents is bullying and unprofessional. Don’t do it.

Theory:

I’m more than happy to evaluate anything. I prefer education voters to fairness voters. It is “reject the argument” unless you tell me otherwise. Tell me what competing interpretations and reasonability mean. I’m not confident most know what it means. So, I’m not going to guess. Theory should not be used as a tool of exclusion. I don’t like Friv-theory in principle although I will vote on it. I would vastly prefer links that are real, interps that are real, and a nuanced discussion of scenarios which bad norms create. Just saying “neg always loses” isn’t enough. Tell me why and how that would play out.

Counter Plans:

Delay CPs and Consult CPs are evil, but I will vote for them.

The CP needs to be actually competitive. You also need a clear CP text. Actual solvency arguments will be much rewarded and comparative solvency arguments between the CP and the Plan will be richly rewarded.

DAs:

Uniqueness does actually matter. Simplicity is your friend. Signpost what is what and have legitimate links. Give me a clear internal link story. TERMINALIZE IMPACTS. This means someone has to die, be dehumanized, etc.. If the other team has terminalized impacts and you don’t, very often, you are going to lose.

Kritiques:

I was a K debater in college, but I have come around to be more of a Case, DA, Theory coach. I also have a Ph.D in History and wrote a dissertation on the History of Capitalism. What does that mean? It means, I can understand your K and I am absolutely behind the specific sort of education that Ks provide. That being said a few caveats.

Out of round discussion is a false argument and I really don’t want to vote for it. Please don’t make me.

Performances are totally fine and encouraged. But, they had better be real. Being in the round talking isn’t enough, you need warrants as to why the specific discussion we are having in the debate on XYZ topic is uniquely fruitful. Personal narratives are fine. If you are going to speak in a language other than English, please provide warrants as to why that is productive for me AND your opponents. I speak Japanese, I will not flow arguments given in that language.

I would prefer that you actually have a rough understanding of what you are reading. I don't think you should get to win because you read the right buzzwords.

Alternatives:

Alternatives need to be real. If they put offense on the Alt, you are stuck with that offense and have to answer it. Perms probably link into the K, please don’t make me vote for a bad perm.

Impacts:

I am less likely to vote against an aff on a K for something they might do. I am very likely to vote on rhetoric turns, i.e. stuff they did do. That is, if you are calling them racist and they say something racist, please point it out. Your impacts compete, but that doesn’t mean that you don’t have to answer their theory arguments or make your own. I would encourage you to show how your impacts compete pre- and post-fiat. Fiat isn’t illusory unless you make it so and extend it.

There is also a difference between calling the aff bad or it’s ideology bad and the debater a bad person. In general, debaters should proceed as if everyone is acting in good faith. That doesn’t mean that rhetoric links don’t function or that I won’t vote on the K if you accuse your opponent of promoting bad norms--intellectual, ideological, social, cultural, political, etc.. However, if one takes the pedagogical and ethical assumptions of the K seriously, Ks should not be used as a weapon of exclusion. No one has more of a right to debate than another. To argue otherwise is to weaponize the K. We want to exclude those norms and that knowledge which are violent and destructive to communities and individuals. We also probably want to exclude those who intentionally spread bad norms and ideology. However, I severely doubt that a 15-year-old in a high school debate round in 2022 is guaranteed to understand the full theoretical implications of a given K or their actions. As such, attacking the norms and ideology (e.g. the aff or res or debate) is a much better idea. It opens the door to educate others rather than just beating them. It creates healthy norms wherein we can become a stronger and more diverse community.

Framework:

I love clean framework debates. I hate sloppy ones. If you are running a K, you probably need to put out a framework block. I would love to have that on a separate sheet of paper.

Links:

Links of omission are vexing. There is almost always a way to generate a link to your K based on something specifically in the aff case. Please put the work in on this front.

Case:

I love case debate, a lot. Terminal defense usually isn’t enough to win you the debate. But defensive arguments are necessary to build up offensive ones in many cases. Think hard about whether what you’re running as a DA might be better served as a single case turn. Please be organized. I flow top of case and the advantages on a separate sheet.

Specifics for Public Forum:

Please give me overviews and tell me what the most important arguments are in the round.

Evidence:

Unless we are in Finals or Semis, I'm not going to read your evidence. I'm evaluating the debate, not the research that you did before the debate. If the round is really tight and everyone did a good job, I am willing to use quality of evidence as a tie-breaker. However, in general, I'm not going to do the work for you by reading the evidence after the round. It's your responsibility to narrate what's going on for me and to collapse down appropriately so that you have time to do that. If you feel like you don't have time to tell me a complete story, especially on the impact level, you are probably going for too much.

Refutation consistency:

I don't have strong opinions regarding whether you start refutation or defense in the second or third speech. However, if things are tight, I will reward consistent argumentation and denser argumentation. That means the earlier you start an argument in the debate, the higher the likelihood that I will vote on it. Brand new arguments in the 4th round of speeches are not going to get much weight.

Thresholds for voting on solvency:

PF has evidence and for good reason. But, that doesn't mean that you can just extend a few buzzwords on your case if you are going for solvency and win. You have to tell me what your key terms mean. I don't know what things like "inclusive growth" or "economic equity" or "social justice" mean in the context of your case unless you tell me. You have 4 speeches to give me these definitions. Take the time to spell this stuff out. Probably best to do this in the first speech. Remember, I'm not going to read your evidence after the round except in extreme circumstances and even then...don't count on it. So, you need to tell me what the world looks like if I vote Pro or Con both in terms of good and bad outcomes.

Theory:

I haven't come across any theory in PF yet that made any sense. I'm experienced in theory for Policy and Parli. If there are unique variations of theory for PF, take the time to explain them to me.

Kritiques:

There isn't really enough speaking time to properly develop a fleshed out K in PF. However, I would be more than happen to just vote on impact turns like Cap Bad, for example. If you want to run K arguments, I would encourage you to do things of that sort rather than a fully shelled out K.

Specifics for Circuit Policy:

Evidence: I'm not going to read your cards, it's on you to read them clearly enough for me to understand them. You need to extend specific warrants from the cards and tell me what they say. Blippy extensions of tag lines aren't enough to get access to cards.

Speed:

Go nuts. I can keep up with any speed as long as you are clear.

For all other issues see my parli paradigm, it's probably going to give you whatever you want to know.

Specifics for Lay Policy:

I do not understand the norm distinctions between what you do and circuit policy.

As such, I'm going to judge your rounds just like I would any Policy round --> Evidence matters, offense matters more than defense, rhetoric doesn't matter much. Rhetorical questions or other forms of unwarranted analysis will not be flowed. You need to extend arguments and explain them. If you have specific questions, please ask.

I am a parent judge with no debating experience. Have been a lay judge for the last 3 years. I may not be familiar with certain jargon that you use, so where necessary please clarify.

I take notes throughout the round and will try to flow. I like logical, reasoned and well-developed arguments and normally vote heavily on impacts. So let me know why your points matter.

Good luck!

I am a parent judge with some experience judging parlimentary debates in the last couple of years. Starting with a road map is helpful for me to follow your round. I value clarify over speed. It is also important for me to see you are respectful to your opponents.

I'm a parent judge who strongly prefers standard case debates.

As a parent judge, I prefer for debaters to have structure in speeches (ie. roadmaps/order, signposting, etc.) so that I can clearly flow down contentions. It is preferred that debaters time themselves and not rely on the judge to time speeches or give time signal. 

This is my second year of judging. Please do not speak quickly or use jargon. I look for clear logic in the arguments and sensible links. For major impact arguments, I would like to see clear evidences for that. I prefer a few well articulated points than many superficial points.

Judging Parli for nearly 3 years - 1 yr JV and 2 yr Open

Don't:

- spread

- run theory

Do:

- signpost contentions and rebuttals

- weigh impacts

- be respectful to everyone in the room

I have no debate experience.

Updated September 2021

I am a parent judge and it is my second year judging (mostly Parli). Having judged at least a dozen tournaments, I am comfortable with terminology and have heard a variety of styles and strategies. That said,

1. Please signpost - it helps me organize my notes and make a decision

2. No spreading if possible, I have trouble flowing when you speak fast

3. You can use theory but it has to be well explained.

Hi I'm Marco Zepeda (he/him/his), I competed in high school parli for 4 years and I'm currently coaching, both for Bishop O'Dowd :)

Give content warnings for before the speeches start please. I'll disclose and do a verbal RFD and feedback if time and tournament rules permits. LMK if you're not game :).

Theory: I'm open to "friv" t, I think it often leads to important conversations about how we should construct our debate space. I try to evaluate only what is on the flow, meaning I want you to do the work for me. Make sure to engage in the standards debates and talk about fairness and education.

Case: Impacts please! Impact weighing!! I like cp debates, you can get tricksy with them. My biggest, biggest pet peeve with case debates is when people go "our claim is this, we know that because of XY major publication or Professor Name at Z School says so." And then they don't elaborate any more than that! Evidence is great and all, but you really need to elaborate on that warrant with some analysis of the evidence itself, or your own logic as to why its true. Also please do lots of clear sign posting throughout your case, it goes a super long way for me.

Ks: I was a critical media studies major in college and feel like I have a pretty solid understanding of the basics of critical theory. I'm down for k's! But please explain everything well, I don't want anyone to be excluded from the round. There's no honor (or fun) in winning a round because your parents paid for you to go to camp and your opponents' didn't (this is also very true of theory rounds). Please don't read a k on something you're not well versed in, I feel like it defeats the whole purpose of even having the k debate. There must be a clear alt and role of the ballot.

Speed - I probably can flow your speed, I'll call slow if I can't.