BCFL Summer Debate Challenge III
2020 — Online, BC/CA
Public Forum Novice Paradigm List
All Paradigms: Show HideQualification: I have about 4 years of Public Forum debate and speech experience from my high school years and have judging experience.
Judge Paradigm:
1. I don't mind the general speed of the debaters but please be clear and coherent while speaking.
2. I would like to see an organized and smoothly flowed debate round.
3. Please support your arguments and refutations with thorough explanation and strong evidence.
4. Please make sure to tell me why you think you won the round by weighing out the arguments and refutations during your summary and final focus. Be sure to connect the dots of the round for me by telling me if any points are dropped or still standing.
5. Please do not be rude.
Qualification: I've competed in Speech and Debate for approximately six to seven years and have coaching and judging experience before and after my High School years. Most of my debating experience comes from Public Forum but I do have some involvement in World Style, CNDF, and British Parliamentary.
Judging Paradigm:
1. Speed is not a huge issue for me, but be considerate to everyone in the round so that contention taglines and pieces of evidence are clearly presented. (Be extra clear with presenting your contention taglines and refutation titles)
2. I will be flowing throughout the whole round, but refutations and reconstructions should be extended to the summary and final focus speeches. If contentions or refutations are dropped somewhere during the round, make sure to mention this in one of the speeches.
3. Summary and Final Focus speeches are the most important speeches in relation to making my decision at the end of the round. This also means that the team that can weigh-out arguments and present voter issues most effectively will most likely win the round.
4. Only have a framework if you are going to use it throughout the round.
5. Don't be rude.
tl;dr: I am a flay judge who votes on 1) weighing and 2) clean narrative and analysis.
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Below is my detailed paradigm:
• I prefer clearly articulated arguments with logical links, warrants, and impacts.
• I will not have the same level of understanding of the topic as you do, so don't expect me to catch everything if you're rapid-fire-spitting content. I prefer you speak more conversationally and keep the event a "public" forum. The faster you speak, the more likely I am to miss content.
• Repetition is key to understanding. Make sure you're extending points you want me to vote on until the final focus.
• Weigh impacts and links through direct comparison. Tell me why your impacts are more significant and why your links are clearer and stronger than your opponent's. The clearer, the better and the more likely I am to vote for you.
• Please do not read theory, Kritik, or other progressive arguments. I have a shallow understanding and won't make a good decision should I evaluate them.
• Please read content warnings or have an opt-out form for sensitive topics and ask if the opposing team is okay with you reading the argument. You must have an alternate case if they aren't. I have the right to drop you if I think you're making the round an unsafe space.
I'm currently a university student studying computer science at the University of Toronto. In high school I debated for 4 years, in PF, CNDF, BP, and Worlds style, and I am currently a coach. I have been judging for almost 4 years now.
On evidence/logic: I will buy logic over evidence in certain cases, and I'm very sympathetic towards logical analysis due to my background in BP/Worlds. If a logical argument is more substantive and is able to explain why a piece of evidence is reasonably flawed/untrue, I will take the logical analysis. When challenged on statistics, teams should be able to defend their numbers by explaining exactly how those numbers were found or what study produced the numbers. For example, if an increase in the capital gains tax leads to a decrease in the size of an economy by 10%, then a team should know exactly how that 10% was measured, and under what conditions it was measured (if challenged).
On argumentation/structure: I'm very standard on structure. Do all the general things: extend arguments and refutations in summary, and weigh in final focus. I strongly value engagement with arguments: directly respond to arguments and responses, and shift the debate to a scope that better reflects the clashes in the debate. Note that I have zero tolerance for bringing up new material in final focus and I will immediately drop teams that do this. I give lots of credit to teams that can weigh effectively, and paint me a clear picture of exactly what their world would look like vs the world of the other team, and characterize the harms on either side. I strongly believe that a team doesn't have to win every single argument in the debate in order to win the round.
Crossfire: I don't flow crossfire, but I will try to remember what was said. If you want me to flow something that transpired in crossfire please mention it during the speech. Example: "during crossfire, our opponent conceded that... "
In general: Treat me as a standard flow judge, but one that accepts logical argumentation and considers it strongly. I am generally non-interventionist in rounds, so I don't have exact speed preferences as I believe that there are times for both fast speaking and slow speaking. Please adjust to your discretion and what you deem to be most effective.
Hi there! This is my fourth year debating in Public Forum; I also have minor experiences with CNDF, BP, etc.
For email chains, please remember to include me at b.moon@columbia.edu!
Preferences:
Content comes before style for me; I want to see a solid debate with credible cards to back up your claim. With that being said, I would also like you to cut your cards at your pace, or else I'll be cutting them for you at my own discretion.
I hate debaters that spread, so please don't spread.
When you extend your argument, explain how you're extending your argument instead of saying "extend". I won't take it into my consideration if I encounter this during the round.
Weighing does not mean repeating your arguments, but please weigh your arguments so that things are easier for me.
Time yourself, especially during the crossfire. You may finish your question, but the opponent will not get a chance to answer. I won't be taking notes, so if you want me to put something into my flow, mention it in the next speech.
I am fine with speed but do not rush during the round. That's how I lost all my arguments from my own experience.
I prefer impacts over warrants.
Pet peeves
“Okay... time... starts... NOW”
“As an off-time roadmap I’m going to be extending the turn of their third contention, then going to our case and extending the CBO evidence off of our first contention and responding to the delink, and then outweighing on timeframe and magnitude.”
"Honorable judge", "They dropped the argument so that means they agree with it"
Nitty-gritty
Debate is all about having fun. Refute your opponents' arguments, but refrain from personal attacks. You'll experience magic in your speaker score if you don't.
My speaker score ranges from 25-29.5; a meme reference (not an attack though) or a physical 'turn' will get a 0.5 speaker boost :)
Be respectful to your opponents and your judge. As a debater myself, I don't want a rude opponent coming up with random numbers without any logic and evidence whatsoever.
I love giving feedback - feel free to email me after the round at b.moon@columbia.edu with your team name, and I'll be more than happy to provide you with feedback! Make sure to ask specific questions as well, or else I'm going to ignore your email.
Cheers!
Good luck winning your round, and have fun!
Hello everyone! I am a university student studying Criminology at Simon Fraser University.
I am currently a PF coach, but my main focus of teaching is younger students in PRO-CON debate.
Tips on receiving higher points and winning the round:
1. I personally like off-time road map for easier flow.
2. Please have your camera on AND time yourself. It is important for you to get in the habit of timing yourself and being able to adjust to the timer.
3. I am HEAVY on frontlining (reconstruction) during second rebuttal AND summary. If I don't hear a frontlining in the second rebuttal, I will be disappointed.
4. I like clear weighing mechanism and USE the weighing mechanism terms in your speech. (ex. we outweigh on ____).
5. If your case is a sole contention, make sure to emphasize the subtopics AND impact and terminal impact.
6. Make sure your contention title is related to your argument and what you are talking about.
7. I highly favour quantifiable evidence over ANYTHING ELSE. So, use numbers!
Not Do's :
Any type of racism, sexism, discrimination, rude comments and negative behaviour will give you very low speaker points. So please be polite to one another :)
Do not talk over people OR cut people off during crossfire. I care a lot about mannerism and etiquette during the rounds. It is important to get your idea addressed, but please let others talk.
Lastly, Have Fun:)
Please extend your points and rebuttals throughout the entire round. Don't ask me if you're allowed to do or mention certain things during the round. Time yourself. Any speed is fine. I'm not exploring or making assumptions based on where I think you are going, you guys have to explain everything to me.