Online Adaptions: CONGRESS- If you do not have a webcam at all I understand entirely and will not penalize you. However, if you do have a webcam and it is not on during the round I will assume that you are no longer in the round i.e. gone to the restroom, went to go grab a snack, face-timing a friend, etc.. You do not need to move for point of personal privilege please just turn your camera off and go do what you need to do.

Online Adaptions: SPEECH- It is to my understanding that many speech rounds will be asynchronous this semester so my only online request would be to double-check your prerecording before you submit it to make sure that your video didn't cut off before you were finished performing and that your audio is clear enough for me to understand.

Congress- I have no preference when it comes to arguments because of the fact that Congressional debaters aren't able to pref judges the same way other events can. As long as your arguments are structured in a way that is cohesive and clear I will be happy. I do prefer that debaters give roadmaps at the beginning of their speeches because of the fact that transitions can be less clear over zoom. I love clash if you aren't addressing things other speakers have said that contradicts what you have said you are doing congress wrong. Congress isn't just about the speeches that you give that is usually only 10 min of the 3 hour long round it is also about your presence in the round. I will largely take into account how involved you were throughout the round and how much you contributed to the quality of the debate.

Pronouns: She/Her

Hi I'm Emma! I competed for Lindale High School Fall 2016-Spring 2020 with almost all IEs and speaking events(POI being my focus). I was a TFA state semifinalist, TOC quarterfinalist, and a 3x NSDA qualifier to give you some background on my experience in IEs. I currently attend The University of North Texas. Here is a list of some things that strike my fancy(in no particular order):

INTERP(DI, HI, POI, PO, PR, DUO, DA, etc):

1) POLISHED! It's easy to tell how much work someone has put into their program. I want to see the effort and love you have given into your piece.

2) PASSION! When I was in high school, interp was a way that I could express my passions in an artistic way. When I can hear, see, feel your passion, I will inherently connect more with your piece.

3) CHARACTERIZATION! If your piece has more than one character, I want to be able easily tell the difference. Whether that is a physical change, vocal change, or both, make sure that your audience knows who, what, why, etc. While it is not a necessity, bold and unique characters are also something I look for.

SPEAKING(OO, INFO) :

1) Again, POLISHED! In prepared speaking events especially, a polished speaking style can easily be something that sets you apart from other competitors. A few stumbles here and there are no biggie, but your overall presentation should be well-prepared.

2) UNIQUENESS! There are definitely trends that exist in all s&d events, so it's refreshing to listen to a speech about something other than those trendy topics.

3) RESEARCH! It's a given that all speaking events require some magnitude of research, but credible, calculated, and interesting research will give you a leg up. Adding to that, I don't want to feel like I'm hearing a bunch of facts over and over again. Look for unique ways to incorporate research into your speech!

While I can say all of these things, this activity is entirely based on YOU(or you and a partner lol), so don't feel the need to conform to my expectations. That would contradict the purpose of s&d as a whole. 

My biggest thing is respect for your competitors. This activity should be for lifting each other up, experiencing new things, and learning from each other!

Questions, concerns, and comments:

cookg.emma11@gmail.com

I competed in Informative, Oratory, Extemp, PF, Congress, and LD in high school. I competed in traditional circuits but have experience on the nats circuit.

PF:

I believe PF should be pretty traditional. I love good clash and an easy flow. I do consider crossfire as an important element, but will not weigh anything that occurs in CX unless you tell me to in your speech. I enjoy being on the chain so include me (kevincraig226@gmail.com). Speed is fine, just make sure you're clear and understandable-I will let you know if you are too fast.

LD:

I prefer seeing a traditional debate but I'm good with CPs and DAs, but don't like seeing Kritiks. Speed is okay, I'll let you know if I can't understand you. CX is important to me, but I don't weigh anything in it unless you bring it up in your speech. Add me to the email chain at kevincraig226@gmail.com.

I have been coaching and judging speech and debate for over ten years. I mainly judge speech events now that I have former debate students who travel with our school to judge at tournaments around South Texas. I have judged at the UIL State Competition in poetry and prose. I also served on the UIL Regional Advisory Committee for speech in 2019, 2021, & 2022.

When I am judging events like poetry, prose, duo, duet, etc., I want the competitor to tell a story. I will listen for variations in tempo and volume. The introduction is the time for your personality to shine through. I want to see the reason you selected this piece and for you to give energy and life to your piece.

When I judge events like extemp or original oratory, I'm looking for a well-organized speech. Support your topic with good points or reasons. Tie everything up in the conclusion.

rileydwing@gmail.com

Debate:

I am a firm believer that this is your debate not mine. As a result I view the round how the debaters ask me to.

The few things I request is professionalism, fairness, and politeness. This stops being an educational experience when you sacrifice any of those 3 things for a win. I ask that all debaters be polite and do not partake in any sort of shady behavior.

I am more than ok with spreading if I have the case in front of me.

Lastly write my ballot for me, tell me why you won. I can make connections mentally, but I vote off the flow so vocalize everything.

Speech:

Speech is equal parts argumentation as it is presentation, I believe that both are imperative to a high ranking. I will always prefer average speaking and great analysis to average analysis and fantastic speaking. If you have both expect a high ranking.

i have a lot of experience and do a lot of tings ‼️ just do whatever you do best and tell me how to evaluate.

Hi y’all!

My name is Claire, I did speech and debate for four years of hs and have been judging since I graduated. I competed some in PF and WSD, but my main focus was in Extemp. Here are a few things that I look for/think about when judging.

Speech:

Outside of standard fluency, I tend to evaluate content over performance for speech events. That being said, I do enjoy when speakers incorporate jokes and have good flow and appreciate when this is done well. Overall though, what’s most important to me is that a speech gives a cohesive and well formulated argument/narrative and that it is delivered with clarity with support from examples and sources.

Interp:

I love when people have energy and really commit to their performances to tell a story. I also really, really enjoy when the pieces are well cut together and the story has a good flow and retains a clear message. I don’t really appreciate when a piece seems like it is just reenacting trauma for shock-value. I prefer when these stories are handled with sensitivity and when performers make an effort to make the narrative more than just the trauma itself.

Debate:

Although I’ve had some experience with debate in the past, I would not at all consider myself a flow judge. To get my ballot, you have to maintain a clear narrative throughout the round and keep clean extensions. You need to explain to me with clear weighing why I should vote for you. If a debate is messy and I have to do all of the work and weighing by myself, you may not like the work that I do, so you should aim to be really clear about your comparatives. I would like to emphasize that I am not good with speed and if I cannot understand you I will not write it down, and I don’t really know how to use a speech doc tbh. I don’t understand anything theory.

This should go without saying but I do not tolerate racism, sexism, bigotry etc. in rounds. I will call you out and dock speaks/ranks.

email: claireemartinez27@gmail.com

Affiliation: Winston Churchill HS

email: s.stolte33@gmail.com

*I don't look at docs during the debate, if it isn't on my flow, I'm not evaluating it*

**prep time stops when the email is sent, too many teams steal prep while 'saving the doc'**

Do what you do well: I have no preference to any sort of specific types of arguments these days. The most enjoyable rounds to judge are ones where teams are good at what they do and they strategically execute a well planned strategy. You are likely better off doing what you do and making minor tweaks to sell it to me rather than making radical changes to your argumentation/strategy to do something you think I would enjoy.

-Clash Debates: No strong ideological debate dispositions, affs should probably be topical/in the direction of the topic but I'm less convinced of the need for instrumental defense of the USFG. I think there is value in K debate and think that value comes from expanding knowledge of literature bases and how they interact with the resolution. I generally find myself unpersuaded by affs that 'negate the resolution' and find them to not have the most persuasive answers to framework.

-Evidence v Spin: Ultimately good evidence trumps good spin. I will accept a debater’s spin until it is contested by the opposing team. I often find this to be the biggest issue with with politics, internal link, and permutation evidence for kritiks.

-Speed vs Clarity: I don't flow off the speech document, I don't even open them until either after the debate or if a particular piece of evidence is called into question. If I don't hear it/can't figure out the argument from the text of your cards, it probably won't make it to my flow/decision. This is almost always an issue of clarity and not speed and has only gotten worse during/post virtual debate.

-Inserting evidence/CP text/perms:you have to say the words for me to consider it an argument

-Permutation/Link Analysis: I am becoming increasingly bored in K debates. I think this is almost entirely due to the fact that K debate has stagnated to the point where the negative neither has a specific link to the aff nor articulates/explains what the link to the aff is beyond a 3-year-old link block written by someone else. I think most K links in high school debate are more often links to the status quo/links of omission and I find affirmatives that push the kritik about lack of links/alts inability to solve set themselves up successfully to win the permutation. I find that permutations that lack any discussion of what the world of the permutation would mean to be incredibly unpersuasive and you will have trouble winning a permutation unless the negative just concedes the perm. Reading a slew of permutations with no explanation as the debate progresses is something that strategically helps the negative team when it comes to contextualizing what the aff is/does. I also see an increasingly high amount of negative kritiks that don't have a link to the aff plan/method and instead are just FYIs about XYZ thing. I think that affirmative teams are missing out by not challenging these links.

FOR LD PREFS (may be useful-ish for policy folks)

All of the below thoughts are likely still true, but it should be noted that it has been about 5 years since I've regularly judged high-level LD debates and my thoughts on some things have likely changed a bit. The hope is that this gives you some insight into how I'm feeling during the round at hand.

1) Go slow. What I really mean is be clear, but everyone thinks they are much more clear than they are so I'll just say go 75% of what you normally would.

2) I do not open the speech doc during the debate. If I miss an argument/think I miss an argument then it just isn't on my flow. I won't be checking the doc to make sure I have everything, that is your job as debaters. This also means:

3) Pen time. If you're going to read 10 blippy theory arguments back-to-back or spit out 5 different perms in a row, I'm not going get them all on my flow, you have to give judges time between args to catch it all. I'll be honest, if you're going to read 10 blippy theory args/spikes, I'm already having a bad time

4) Inserting CP texts, Perm texts, evidence/re-highlighting is a no for me. If it is not read aloud, it isn't in the debate

5) If you're using your Phil/Value/Criterion as much more than a framing mechanism for impacts, I'm not the best judge for you (read phil tricks/justifications to not answer neg offense). I'll try my best, but I often find myself struggling to find a reason why the aff/neg case has offense to vote on

6) Same is true for debaters who rely on 'tricks'/bad theory arguments, but even more so. If you're asking yourself "is this a bad theory argument?" it probably is. Things such as "evaluate the debate after the 1AR" or "aff must read counter-solvency" can be answered with a vigorous thumbs down.

7) I think speaker point inflation has gotten out of control but for those who care, this is a rough guess at my speaker point range28.4-28.5average;28.6-28.7 should clear;28.8-28.9 pretty good but some strategic blunders; 29+you were very good, only minor mistakes

I have a background in acting and usually coach/judge interp & public speaking. I am looking for those hallmarks that make a story complete. In extemp, even as a person who has no knowledge base of the topic should at the end of your speech have a firm grasp of its background and you argument in the matter. Informative speeches should be clear and should include creative visuals, interesting takeaways, and a concise train of thought. Oration should be a place to share experiences either personal or researched. The personal experience should be authentic and tied to the topic. Oratory should be a place to advocate for the things you believe to be important. Hi, Di, Duo, Duet, Poi, etc, should have a story that through the acting/blocking is easy to follow and enjoy. Contestants should always be courteous in the round and respectful of competitors and judges. Final interp ranks are factored between story, technical blocking, acting, and overall effect.

All speech events:

For virtual, please stay in the camera frame. It is best if your hands are always in the frame as well; otherwise, gestures seem extreme when your hands suddenly enter the frame. Make sure you adhere to the constitution. For recorded (asynchronous) events, you are not allowed to edit the video.

Extemp/OO/Info:

I need a clear structure. You should have at least one source for each point. The biggest thing I look for is your explanation - you need to explain things in a way that makes it easy to understand without sounding condescending. Your examples and explanation should help me understand your ideas. Movements (5-point walk and gestures) should be smooth, helpful, and make sense. The constitution states you cannot be ranked first if you go over grace.

Interp:

Rankings most often are based on who creates the most believable moments and characters. There should be different levels to your characters and pieces—not everything should be intense, not everything should be quiet, not everything should be rapid, not everything should be slow, etc. If you use an accent for a character, then you need to be consistent with it. It is not necessary for you to have multiple characters; however, if you do, you need to create distinct characters. You should add meaning behind the lines through your voice, tone, and inflection. Cussing doesn’t bother me; I do prefer for it to make sense within your piece. I do not mind if you take a serious piece and put a humorous spin on it or a humorous piece being given a dramatic spin as long as it is not creating a caricature or making fun of a group of people. Movement should also make sense. Introductions should help clarify and set the scene; many events also require the author and title to be clearly stated in the introduction as well. The constitution states you cannot be ranked first if you go over grace..

For POI specifically: there are some judges who want to be able to tell a difference between the different pieces you use and will make a comment that your program “seems more like prose or poetry than POI”; I disagree with this—If we cannot tell a difference between your pieces, I think it shows how skilled you are at weaving your pieces together to create one coherent voice.