Coach for 20 years- judged all events. Important- link of claims back to value structure, moderate speaking pace is very much appreciated. I flow rounds and use the flow to guide my decision but do not drop debaters just for not extending all arguments cleanly. I like to hear logical fallacies called out as much as I like to hear logic employed in a round.

Hello!

I competed for four years in Congressional Debate for Asheville High School. I qualified for CFLS, reached the semifinal round in the Senate at NSDA Nationals in 2020, and have had a solid local career. I currently compete in British Parliamentary Debate for the University of Edinburgh Debates Union. Additionally, I was the co-captain of my team and have recently worked with novices, therefore, I know what a quality speech looks like.

Here is what I value most when judging a round:

I was a presiding officer throughout all four years of competing, and I recognize and appreciate its value. Therefore, I highly consider presiding officers when looking at rankings. If you preside well, I will likely rank you in my top 8.

I appreciate funny intros, but make sure they’re topical. It's important to not use "canned" intros, or intros that you can pull out at any time that apply to any topic. An example would be the quote "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result." We’ve all heard it before, please don’t make me hear it again.

Keep in mind that Congressional Debate is just that - debate. While I do appreciate and consider fancy rhetoric and fluent speaking, I will rank someone who makes clear and valid points over someone whose speech sounds pretty, and I will rank someone who does both of those things along with solid refutation above anyone else. I will also value quality of speeches over quantity. If you are passed over on a bill in some way, you will still be considered with everyone who gave a speech on that bill. Please make sure to be interactive with the chamber, though. I will be looking at engagement with the chamber in my rankings. With that in mind, please do not be afraid of moving to previous question if the debate has become rehashy. I can promise that I will like your speech more if it's an early round, unique speech on the next bill than if it's the fourth affirmation speech in a row. Again, Congress is debate, and when the debate has ended, previous question should be called.

Speaking of, there is a difference between refuting speakers and simply name-dropping them. Refutation is legitimately engaging with the material in someone else's speech. For example, saying “Rep. X said this, but my two pieces of evidence prove why they’re wrong,” is refutation. Meanwhile, saying "Rep. X’s point was non-unique so their point falls,” is not refutation. Furthermore, nothing makes it more obvious that you haven’t been listening to the round than saying “representatives on the negation have brought up [blank].” It’s always more impactful to bring up a specific competitor, but make sure you’re bringing them up for a reason and not just because they were on the opposite side and you need to refute someone.

Nothing is more important to me than equity. Inequitable structures and behavior are a huge problem in the debate community, and as a judge, I will take action to ensure that all chambers that I judge are as fair as possible. With that in mind, if you make an outwardly racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, or ableist comment, I will drop you. I don’t care how well you were doing otherwise, there is no excuse for that behavior. In that same vein, I know that we all love a good, aggressive questioning session, but do make sure that you aren’t speaking over another person. That isn’t fun for the judges to listen to, and it’s not fun for competitors to interact with.

Additionally, when addressing other competitors, make sure to address them as “Representative” or “Senator.” Too many times in this event, I’ve seen men be acknowledged by one of those titles, while women are addressed as “Miss.” I won’t dock points if you forget whether you’re in the Senate or the House, but please address everyone by either “Representative” or “Senator” to ensure equality in the chamber.

Please let me know if you have questions. After a round, feel free to get in contact with me for any additional advice you may want or questions you may have. Good luck!

I'm a former speech competitor that has been judging speech, PF, LD, and CX rounds for 5 years. I am currently a public speaking teacher at the collegiate level as well. The things that I look for are consistent throughout both speech and debate events, recent and unbiased information, clear definitions, and NO SPREADING! The point of debate is to cleanly debate topics as educated individuals and to not devolve into a rude, talking over type of argument. There is a difference between debating and arguing.

The long and short of it all: I want a good, clean and fair fight!

PF/LD:

Hi, I'm Jakob Lucas and I just graduated last year. I was involved in debate all 4 years of high school and did Congress for every year. I like all different types of arguments and weighing mechanisms. It's up to you to determine how I should weigh the debate, I will make the decision of how to weigh the debate myself ONLY IF no weighing mechanism is provided. Overall I think I'm pretty well-versed and you can run almost anything you'd like I just have two requests:

- Please no spreading.

- Please no kritiks (Ks).

I am the debate coach of a high school team for 20+ years now. I used to do Lincoln-Douglas debate when I was in high school as well. I'm very familiar with both LD and PF. I'm not big into policy terms or speed. If you speak too fast for me, be forewarned that you will probably lose speaker points and possibly the round if I can't understand you. While we do offer Student Congress at our school, I'm not as confident in my abilities as a parliamentarian. However, I can easily judge Congress through the Lincoln-Douglas lens.

Lincoln-Douglas Debate

I flow each speech and, as a result, use my flow as my primary decision-rendering tool. The flow is especially important to me when deciding between two debaters with nearly equal performances. I also value clear, distinct voter issues and look for debaters to use voter issues to connect multiple ideas across the debate. Additionally, I look for clear frameworks to set up the round for each debater and for each debater to use these frameworks to present deep analyses of the main issues in the round.

In general, I prefer you speak no faster than a brisk, conversational pace. Trying to “out-speed” your opponent or overwhelm them by spreading will not earn you points in my book. If you speak so quickly I cannot easily gather your main points, how am I supposed to flow them and weigh them in the round?

Final Thoughts

At the end of the day, I am just one judge with one set of opinions. Speech and debate is meant to be a fun and educational activity. I hope your experience is rewarding, educational, and, above all else, fun.

Good luck!

Greetings: I have been around the Carolina West District for approximately 10 years. At one time or another I have judged every event. Although we are a very small school, we have had many students place in their respective events and go on to use their speech and debate skills in college and the work force.

Policy: All 5 elements must be clearly addressed. Spreaders should ensure I have their taglines or at least sign post before they start to rock-n-roll. I pay special attention to topicality, sources, cross x, and solvency.

Lincoln-Douglas:The AFFIRMATIVE has the burden of proof of the resolution as presented and should provide fair definitions. The NEG can and should challenge unfair definitions. I pay special attention to sources, cross x, and contentions coming full circle as well as defense and rebuttals.

Public Forum: Simply looking for which side presented the more compelling case with viable sources and confident defense.

Congress: I see two major elements here: speech content & speech delivery. I focus on well organized speeches with quality sources and ability to address questions. The P.O. should run a tight fair chamber. Outstanding =6 pts, Very good=5 pts, Average=4 pts.

IEs: The first presentation I see is in first place of that round til someone beats them and so on down the line. I look for all literary elements, appropriate use of: hands/body/posture, facial expressions, and vocal variety as the piece dictates. As OI, POI, Novice Reading, or Children's Lit do not require memorization, nor do I. I neither reward students who have memorized, nor penalize students who haven't. My personal favorite events are: Extemp and Informative Speaking.

I do NOT disclose my decisions and I do NOT share oral critiques in the room. I will gladly answer student's questions with their coaches permission to speak with me. I will generally challenge all Extempers with a short questions following their speech.