Email chain: Please add BOTH delbartonpf2020@gmail.com & aralamy717@gmail.com

Pronouns: he/him/his

https://www.tabroom.com/index/paradigm.mhtml?search_first=gabe+&search_last=rusk

important -

i wrote this when i was mostly judging pf, but i'm open to any types of arguments in policy. i pretty much exclusively read Ks when i debated, but i've voted on t-fw, politics disads, and all kinds of other boring arguments in the past too. more policy stuff is at the bottom, but ask questions before the round starts if you have any.

email me docs: griffinamos2@gmail.com

i debated for 4 years at cosby high school from 2016-2020 and did policy, ld, and pf. i also did apda a bit at william & mary. i've judged everything from local pf to NFA LD nats.

let me know if you want to see my flow of your round after it's over - i'm uncomfortable sending flows to debaters that weren't in the round though because i think that unfairly helps debaters w more clout

feel free to postround me respectfully, i recognize that i'm capable of making wrong decisions or understanding arguments incorrectly - i'm here to learn too

don't misgender someone, your speaks will get tanked and you'll pretty much auto lose if they make an argument about it

**ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT FOR LOCALS - I'm only going to vote on the arguments in your last speech. Don't expect to win on a contention from your constructive if you just say "Oh and extend contention 1" - tell me the whole story and do comparative weighing.

how do i decide who i vote for?

first - i go through every piece of offense in each final focus and determine if every important piece of the argument is extended (all too many rounds i vote based off a team failing to extend a link, warrant, or impact)

next - i look at the defense on each of these - if no weighing is done, i default to whichever argument is the path of least resistance - if both teams have no offense left, i presume the first speaking team - this is also when i call any cards i'm told to or that i think are sus

then - assuming there is weighing, i vote based on whichever weighing mechanism is best justified - if none are justified, i default magnitude first, probability second, and timeframe third - i think lots of other mechanisms used in pf fall into one of these (for example, severity is a type of magnitude, strength of link is probability)

what types of arguments do i like?

i will vote on anything that isn't problematic and i don't hack for any particular type of argument - i'm comfortable evaluating theory, kritiks, or any type of progressive argument because that is what my background is in.

the substance based debates i find myself enjoying the most generally incorporate some form of structural violence framing, i won't hack for or against it, that's just what the most interesting rounds to me look like. i find myself enjoying rounds where teams collapse on turns in the latter half too, this seems to happen pretty rarely in pf

the kritikal arguments i'm most familiar with are queer-pess, baudrillard, psychoanalysis, and afro-pess but i think you should always explain every kritikal argument as if i'm a lay judge because i think kritiks in pf are too often run against teams that don't understand the arguments.

the theory arguments i find myself agreeing with the most are disclosure, any type of gendered language bad, paraphrasing bad, and trigger warning theory - again i won't hack for or against any of these, i'm just as willing to vote on disclosure bad as i am disclosure good - the exception for this is trigger warning theory, if you trigger someone and they make it clear they don't feel safe, i will drop you, end the round early, and give you the lowest speaks i can w/o having to justify it to tab.

i'll also begrudgingly vote on frivolous theory or trix if they're won - i'm super open to impact turns based on this type of argumentation though and feel like most of them tend to be true

technical stuff?

defense is sticky - i've been asked to include that turns are not defense

frontline in second rebuttal

don't read offensive overviews or disads in second rebuttal

i won't vote on a piece of offense unless it is in summary, and final focus - that includes the warranting for it, not just a blippy extension

theory?

read disclosure theory its just a true argument

i don't care if you read theory in shell format or more simply - all that's important is that all the crucial parts of the argument are there in some capacity - that means i want some interpretation on how you think debate should look, how the other team violates this, the reasons that debate should look this way, and why i should drop the other team for it

if you're going to read theory that is just like i should drop someone because they break x rule (maybe like "this tournament says u can't read counterplans so drop them for reading one"), you need to justify why the rule is good or following rules in general is good. just the fact that it is a rule is not persuasive to me, i don't care

defaults:

no rvis

competing interps

drop the arg

policy

mostly read Ks on aff and my 1ncs tended to be like a K, some dumb argument like the sorites paradox, some form of theory, and just dumping impact and link turns on case

open cross is chill, flex prep and using cross as prep are cool too

i hate the trend of just reading a string of cards on case in 1ncs. i love uncarded, but warranted arguments on case. solid warranting that comes from you is just as persuasive, if not more so, than warranting from some random card you stole from the wiki or camp files.

please stop going for every argument in your 2NR. respond to offense on arguments you're going to kick and then just give me a really persuasive story for why whatever you're collapsing on wins.

- Be confident in round

- Be respectful of your opponents

- Please speak slow and clear

I am a parent judge and truth > tech.

I competed in Public Forum debate for a number of years at Loyola High School. Personally, I view debate as a game in which I look at arguments in an offensive/defensive structure. It is up to the debaters to define the rules of the game through framework, observations, etc. However, I also focus highly on real-world and logical impacts for arguments and certainly weigh the policy implications of any contention brought up in round.

Regarding speaker points, I focus on the overall flow of a speech, eye contact, posture, etc. I am fine with speed so long as I can clearly understand what is being said.

I'm a parent judge, so please speak slowly and clearly. I don't know too much debate jargon, so I probably won't understand it if you refer to it in speech. Please try to be engaging during crossfire.

I like it when teams clearly articulate and present their arguments. The last few speeches are really important for me and are what I vote off of.

Please time yourselves.

During prelims, I probably won't disclose unless it is required.

Good luck!

Monica Batra

Judging Experience

I have judged at a few tournaments for both Public Forum and Lincoln-Douglas events.

Judging Preferences

I would prefer if debaters did not attempt to spread, or speed-read. While reading a little faster to get through lot of content, please try to refrain from speaking too quickly for me to understand. If I don’t understand what you are saying, then it is likely I won’t take note of it when deciding the winner of the round.

Make sure to have strong, clear impacts that I can take note of when deciding the round.

Make sure to keep track of your prep and speech times and don’t go too far over your speech time if you don’t finish in the time granted.

Don’t be rude to your opponents no matter what.

Speaker Points

Don’t talk too fast and be respectful if you want to earn good speaker points.

"historically incompetent" - aaron tian

2024 Update

im super old at this point. i like fast substance rounds with smart collapse strategies and unique implications. i do not appreciate the current K debate meta (almost always cut poorly) and i am not very compelled by discourse links in lieu of a real alt/method. i am also staunchly anti arguments about debaters as individuals/out of round actions and WILL probably intervene on them on principle.

im super lazy, i will not intervene if i can help it. if it takes me >2min to vote im probably intervening.

every round is decided by determining what the highest layer of offense is -> who links into that best

i don't think PF debaters execute theory or K debate well, so i think i would prefer you talk about the topic but i'm fine with/can evaluate whatever

yes i want on the chain if it’s varsity at a TOC bid tournament, email dylan.beach01@gmail.com

full paradigm: i am the beach

Hey y'all-- I'm a sophomore in college and I debated Policy for 4 years at La Costa Canyon HS. Here are some general notes I would like you to read:

~ I mostly debate policy rather than K arguments, so if you read a K (which is 100% fine), then please impact it out. And I consider myself a very open-minded judge so please don't shy away from any arguments. Take risks in your argumentation but still be logical.

~ For spreading, I can keep up

~ In terms of cards, quality of evidence is so much more important than quantity.

Argument Stuff:

Case: Spend time on this. If these arguments go untouched, the probability of you winning goes down.

K: Don't trivialize the issues of marginalized groups for the sake of winning a debate. That being said, I respect K's & hold K debates to high standards. Please be sure the link is there/contextualized and the K has an impact that you should make clear.

DA/CP: I love me a good DA paired with an arguably cheating CP. Honestly though, take time to evaluate these arguments and be sure the link is clear.

T: I LOVE T debates. But, I am pretty reasonable about most of these arguments. Disclosure theory needs to take a hike. And if you read neg ground on a popular aff, you best be jokin.

Overall, have fun in the debate round, be kind and make a genuine effort. You'll do great.

If you have any questions, please email me: gcboyd@stanford.edu

About Me:

My name is Indranil Chandra and I work in IT. My son goes to Dougherty Valley HS, and I have been judging for 2 years for debate.

Paradigm:

Don't be overly aggressive in cross or I'll immediately dock points. I would like all debaters to speak at a slower level, so I can understand the true extent of what everyone is saying. I may interject with the occasional "clear" if I feel like I'm not understanding what you're saying.

I may take notes on what I think is important in the round. Please make voting easy for me, and do some serious impact calc. in final focus. I like to see the real world effects of these topics, and I'm going to vote for the side that has impacts that are clear and outweigh their opponents.

The following is a rating system that says how much certain aspects of the debate will have a say in my final vote:

Clothing/ Appearance: 1 : Literally doesn't matter, express yourself however you want

Evidence: 3 : Specific cards may not have a say in the final vote, but strong evidence will win me over. However, don't just cite the card as a refutation, please briefly go over the card and what it entails

Impacts: 4 : As I said before, I like good impact calc.

Cross Ex: 2 : Doesn't affect my judging decision. Keep it clean, be courteous and you'll be fine.

Debate Skills vs. Arguments: 4 : I will vote more off impacts rather than speaking style.

Remember to keep the debate a safe environment, but most of all have fun :)

Try not to spread, otherwise have fun!

I have judged a few tournaments and have no debate experience myself. When judging, I look for powerful delivery, clear logic, and skills of handling questions.

1. Speak clearly and at a normal pace. Do not rush or I won't keep up. Do not sacrifice your clarity, otherwise I will miss the main point of argument.
2. Always be respectful to your opponents.

I'm a senior at Brown studying economics who debated 4 years of Public Forum for Acton-Boxborough. I'll flow to the best of my ability, but I've definitely become more flay as time goes on. In particular, I believe that the debate round can serve as a space for meaningful discourse around important issues, and as a result, I'm not afraid to admit a preference for arguments based in truth as opposed to squirrelly ones meant to catch your opponents off-guard without any basis in the real world. That being said, I have no qualms voting against my own beliefs or for untrue arguments that are insufficiently rebutted. If teams make claims that directly contradict one another, I'm often compelled by evidence comparison that specifically explains why one argument should be preferred. However, please still extend the warranting underlying the research throughout the round.

2nd Rebuttal: Must frontline turns, everything else is optional.

1st Summary: Please extend defense! If it wasn't frontlined in 2nd rebuttal, you can be very quick about it—just be clear and concise.

Theory/Ks: I'll evaluate any argument you make in the round, but I'm not very receptive to these types of arguments and have never voted for a team that's read one. I don't believe theory/Ks belong in PF and strongly prefer a substance debate.

Trigger Warnings: Please provide them if you're going to discuss any sensitive topic. If you're unsure, read one.

Topic-Specific Jargon: Although I'll try to have some level of understanding of the topic, please define any topic-specific acronyms or jargon for me (or avoid using them completely).

I will always analyze the round to the best of my ability, so please don't post-round me—the burden is on you as the debater to win my ballot. Asking me questions is totally fine though, of course.

MOST IMPORTANTLY: Please be kind to your opponents. If I think you're disrespectful or making the round an unsafe space, I'll tank your speaks with no hesitation and potentially drop you. Good luck everyone!

Experience

Current Affiliation = Campbell Hall (Studio City, CA) & Notre Dame HS (Sherman Oaks, CA)

Prior Experience: Debated policy in HS at Notre Dame HS in Sherman Oaks, CA (1979-1983); Debated NDT in college at USC (1983-1987) competed in the NDT 1984,1985,1986,1987. Served as Director of Forensics at Notre Dame High School from 1991-1994; Served as the Director of Forensics at The University of Southern California Trojan Debate Squad from 1994-2007; Qualified teams to the NDT, CEDA National Championships; Teams participated in International Debates, and Individual Events. Qualified 27 teams to the National Debate Tournament with numerous "At Large" teams and top speakers.

General Note

I am an "old school" debate coach. Your arguments need to be at a reasonable speed with logic and evidence. I default to a policy-making paradigm if left to my own devices. I will follow whatever debaters paradigm they advocate so long as it has a logical connection to the topic in some way. I will follow my flow and your lead as best I can. I expect critical reasoning, real evidence and the goal of a debate is to find good clash and learn as much as possible. If you go to far I will not buy undreaonable positions. If you advocate that the world is "flat" I am out. My defaults go into effect when left to my own devices.

Major Notes

Topic familiarity

I am very familiar with the topic public forum topic M4A. I coached and debated similar topics in years past. I am well read in the literature as I have a personal interest in the topic. As a lawyer I have dealt with legal issues around this topic and have a deep background in the economics of the topic area. It is a great topic especially during this worldwide pandemic.

Positions: (more for policy / LD Debates I imagine) I like a good topicality argument when it is thoughtful and well developed. Topicality is an a-priori issue and a voting issue if you tell me it should be. One line topicality argument rarely wins...unless completely dropped I guess. Disadvantages with good links and impacts that outweigh the case or cut against it are great. Counter plans are fine and a kritic linked somehow to the topic area are interesting and fine too. I love good and reasonable theory that enhances the educational value of debate too. I love a great strategy. Try and be strategic and lets save lives or avoid a nuclear holocaust or save the environment together!

Delivery, Persuasion & Organization

You should have a strong, persuasive delivery and advocate for your positions in the debate. There is reasonable speed and bad speed. Bad speed is where you drop your head and read as fast as you can. I am pretty easy to "read" as a judge. I just stop flowing when you are incoherent. Be clear. If you are not a clear advocate, you are not debating. Delivery rate should be governed by your clarity; WARRANTS in the evidence should be clear, not just the tagline.

Organization is a place were many debates are won and lost. If you are not clear and organized, I will be lost. I like clear simple road maps. Unorganized debates get messy and the messages which are important are lost. That is the debaters job to watch the judge, make sure your arguments clash and explain those fine line distinctions why your positions/evidence are better.

Cross Examination: Cross examination is a great part of the debate where you can do so much good. Unfortunately, many cross examination periods are poor when debaters are rude, lack logic and become a series of constant interruptions. Poor behavior will be illustrated in poor speaker points. Be thoughtful and aware of triggers and other issues which may cloud a debate for all the wrong reasons. Respect all debates, their coaches and their school. Do not make personal and irresponsible comments about your opponents or society. You will be judged by your choices and behavior. Try to be smart and thoughtful and all participants will enjoy the cross examination periods.

Evidence: Evidence should enhance your positions and reflect what you say it reflects. Stretches and false inferences lead to bad evidence references. Be Clear with your author and the evidence, and why it is important. Logic at times can trump evidence. Just because some author said something in an article does not mean that assertion will always be better than good logic. This is where persuasion in debate can go a long way.

Rebuttals: This is where debates are won or lost. Help me write the ballot the way you see the world. Tell my why I should vote for your positions. Tell me if morals are more important than "lives" and why. If you leave it up to me, you have not really been a fierce advocate for your position. Persuade me based upon the arguments in the debate and your critical thinking skills. Be logical and organized.act comparison.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Offense wins debates, defensive positions come in second place. I do not want to have to call for all the evidence and positions of a team in a debate. This is an activity of oral persuasion. I do not want to have to piece together a debate from my flow and all your evidence. You need to weave the debate and your positions together to help we write a decision which reflects the total sum of your advocacy. Teams that do this well usually win my ballot. They have great logic, great evidence and advocate well.

Favorite Debaters: (All much older than you!)

I have seen some of the finest debater for decades. Some of my favorites (for fun and yes many/all Trojans) are Kate Schuster, Paul Skiermont, Lenny Gale (amazing) Armond Revelins, George Kuros, Greg Bevan, Roger Stetson, Adam and Jordan Hurder (of GBN fame), Lindsey Harrison, Christina Tallungan (Phillips), Jeff Leon, Matt Whipple, Andy Silverman, Corey Turoff, Chris MacFarlane, Alex Iftimy, Michael Smith, Aron Berger, Michael Klinger, Dan Shalmon, OMG...I could go on for pages...so many greats!

Favorite Coaches: Ted Belch, Linda Oddo, Matt Whipple, Jason Peterson, Paul Derby, Anne Marie Todd, Tom Hollihan, Gordon Stables, Jon Sharp, John Day, OK ALL Trojan Debate Coaches, Dallas Perkins, Jeff Parcher, Sam Nelson, David Smith, Jack Roper, Bill Southworth, Jay Bussee, Matt Frasier, Richard Sodako, Matt Conrad, Susan Foley, Mike Beatz, way too many friends to mention here too...but a dear friend whom I really miss Charles "Chuck" Ballingal...rest in peace pal.

Matthew Dean: idc what you call me, I called the judge “your honor” because I was in Mock trial for four years. But besides that, I really don't care. You can pick a random name to call me in round honestly, literally anything, just be consistent. I'll probably find it funny and give you higher speaks.

Email: Mhadd.eon@gmail.com

I try my best to be tabula rasa but don't try to convince me death is good.

I originally had a really long paradigm on here but, realized no one's gonna read that, so here ya go. I'm a flow judge and I will accept plans in LD, I hate K's and k style debate. However, I will accept them.

Real quick, if you feel the need to run a K I gotta be given the K, unless its off the cuff, which then idc. Progressive argumentation is something I am painfully used to, I did policy debate and some LD though mostly policy. I understand progressive debate just not overly fond of it. However, if you want to do it just do it right and there will be no problems!

I'm fine with unique arguments and really have fun with your rounds ok?

If your case needs to be disclosed because you are going to spread, please give it to me, but be warned I flow, and will only judge you off of what I can HEAR, so if you're too fast and I have to shout clear you've lost speaker points. I did Policy for multiple years and am adept at good spreading I know what bad spreading sounds like. In events like LD please focus on value debate, If I don't hear about it you don't win. I cannot stress this enough if your argument says that not voting for you is racist, sexist, or some other stupid ism that somehow I am for not choosing you, I won't buy it. I want to hear you win on the merits of your ability nothing more. Try to stay away from attacking opponents verbally you will lose the round if you do. I expect people to avoid flimsy link chains (but if you can back it up I don't care how long that chain is). I truly love clash, the more arguments clash the more engaged I will be in the debate. The number one voter in every round is impact calculus, and how you prove to me the effects and true weight of your impact on the world, and/or the negative impact of your opponent. I did debate during high school, I did policy and went to nationals twice in it, I did PF for every year. I did parli for every year and went to states twice in it, I did LD and went to the NCFL national tournament in it. I know every debate event both on the circuit and off of it, feel free to ask clarifying questions as I'm not going to type everything out on here.

tl:dr: flay

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pls email me cases with ur cards, this makes life easy for all of us: sylviaelizabethduarte@gmail.com. if you have any questions about my paradigm, message me on fb

i debated on the pf nat'l circuit in high school and am now a college sophomore.

quick bio:

i would say i'm tech>truth but that is a lie. i like args within the realm of topical possibility. not necessarily probability since most debate args do not work irl anyway lmao. more like, i give less credence to args like nuke war or existentialism and will be looking for any excuse of a response to turn it down (obvs this depends on the topic like yk what i mean). obvs if there is no ink on ur arg or your frontlines are fire and ur debating is of a high caliber, that is different. but idk if ur that guy + why risk it?

i give more credence to your args 1) the earlier they are introduced in round, 2) the more warranted they are, 3) the more likely/severe/quickly/generally more important your link chain or impacts are vs your opponents'.

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best ways to win my ballot (in order of importance):

- effective, consistent, *extended*, good ol warranting. absent good weighing/impact calc, i will likely prefer one well-warranted arg over multiple unwarranted args (yes it will be strategic to collapse in front of me). **this will be to your benefit if you want to go progressive and run something funky like theory and can articulate amazing reasons why it's good to do so.**

- complete claim-warrant-impact (frontlined when necessary) extensions in the second half for args you want me to vote for. anything i vote off of in your final focus must be in the summary btw

- GOOD weighing. weighing is inherently comparative. ik you think your arg is important, but why is it more important than your opponents'? why does this mean you win the round?

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things i dislike but am forced to ignore because i don't want to intervene but also will still rly negatively bias my decision to vote for you because i am human:

- speaking at a million words per min. a wise man once said, "why waste time say lot word when few word do trick?" and you're on a computer and wifi can cut out and your super-speed-speaking legit won't matter.

- doing the above but thinking you're in the clear because you sent a speech doc with your tags afterwords. NO pls stop

- heavyyy paraphrasing of your ev. i don't expect you to read card-text in all of your speeches (though that would be nice in constructive... sigh). but like... rly not a fan of debaters taking a quote from their evidence and putting their "spin" on what it says/arguing in the "spirit of the ev"/doing the most with the ev because "it technicallyyy says that"/anything that bastardizes the integrity of your representation of evidence.

- do not take that to mean that i dislike analytics. on the contrary, i reward thoughtful, well-warranted analytics. but i punish analytics passed off as evidence.

- defending any potential social prejudice that comes up in your args, attitude, treatment of opponents, etc. i don't just dislike this, i will tank your speaks and speak to your coach if necessary.

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i am familiar with theory. lmk if you're unsure if you should run something in front of me. i will not BS you, if i cannot evaluate an arg / don't think it's likely i'd vote for it, i will 100% lyk.

good rule of thumb is that you can run theory if you can effectively explain (i.e. warrant) your arg's necessity in the space, my role as a judge, your arg's role in education/accessibility/etc, and more. if your theory warranting is not up to par with substance warranting, you should probably stick to substance in front of me.

I am an experienced judge. I have participated in numerous tournaments over the past three years judging the following forms of debate LD, PF, and Congress.

I prefer a typical conversational speed rate of delivery; rate of delivery does heavily weigh on my decision making but I will not vote against a student solely based on the rate of delivery. Criterion rarely informs my decision; I do not consider it to be a required element but it may become a factor depending on how it’s used in a round.

Your final rebuttal should include voting issues or arguments and line by line analysis. I prefer students provide a coherent way for me to put it all together.

· Voting issues should be given as you move down your flow and at the end of the final speech.

· Voting issues should be arguments, not general ideas and are considered necessary.

· Jargon or technical language should be kept to a minimum.

· Evidence is necessary.

I keep detailed notes throughout the round, so please do not take offense if I fail to make consistent eye contact.

The way I decide who won a round is by the person who persuades me more on their position overall.

I am a parent judge for PF.

Please explain your arguments clearly and slow down. Signposting is preferred and slowing down is very important. I listen in cross-fire, and it plays a big role in your speaker points. Be nice to your opponents and keep cross-fire civil.

A little about me:

Currently coaching: Sage Hill School 2021-Present

Past Coaching: Diamond Ranch HS 2015-2020

I also tab more tournaments, but I keep up with my team so I can follow many of the trends in all events.

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I prefer all of my speakers to make sure that any contentions, plans or the like are clear and always link back to the topic at hand. You're free to run theory or K at your peril. I've heard great rounds on Afro-pessimism and bad rounds on it. I've loved a round full of theory and hated rounds full of theory. All depends on how it's done, and what the point of it.

I am a social studies teacher, so I can't unknow the rules of American government or economics. Don't attempt to stay something that is factually inaccurate that you would know in your classes.

Be respectful of all parties in the room - your opponent(s), your partner (if applicable) and the judge. Hurtful language is in not something I tolerate. Pronouns in your names are an added plus.

Speaking clearly, even if fast, is fine, but spreading can be difficult to understand, especially through two computers. I will say "Clear" if I need to. In an online format, please slow down for the first minute if possible. I haven't had to listen to spreading with online debate.

For LD, I don't mind counterplans and theory discussions as long as they are germane to the topic and as long as they don't result in debating the rules of debate rather than the topic itself. In the last year most of my LD rounds have not been at TOC bid tournaments, but that doesn't mean I can't follow most arguments, but be patient as I adjust.

Truth > tech.

*It's work to make me vote on extinction or nuclear war as a terminal impact in any debate. That link chain needs to be solid if you're doing to expect me to believe it.*

In PF, make sure that you explain your terminal impacts and tell me why I should weight your impacts vs your opponents' impacts.

WSD - I have been around enough tournaments to know what I should hear and I will notice if you're not doing it well. Thinking global always. Models should always be well explained and match the focus on the round. Fiat is a tricky thing in the event now but use it as you see fit.

please please PLEASE stop calling for so much evidence what kind of norm is this

**current thoughts on debate: i think the longer judges take to come to a decision the more incorrect their ballot is**

email: gantlasr@gmail.com

4 years PF @ canyon crest/carmel valley, also championed the prestigious and well-run del norte pf round robin w/ syon iain & maanas

all events:

if you're going to spread, i need the speech doc

no slurring pls and slow down for numerical stats

please no Ks

messy round = long wait for rfd, see above

explain any topic-specific terms clearly

PF specific:

-you're best served debating the way that you normally debate as i can understand pretty much everything within the realm of PF and can adapt to most styles

-that being said, a few things you should know (most important --> least):

i require everything to be frontlined in 2nd rebuttal to access case offense, not just turns - be strategic

dropped defense can go from rebuttal to ff

ideally, no theory/K/etc. i think these types of arguments aren't relevant in most PF rounds -- i have a low threshold for responses

ill probably call for cards but if there's anything you want to make sure i read, tell me to in your speech -- i only read highlights unless you tell me to read unhighlighted parts

misc:

preflow in your own time, show up to round & set up table tote ASAP, flip beforehand etc - please don't keep the tournament waiting

For speaks: if it's a really good round, expect 30s. otherwise, I tend to give out pretty average speaks. Default 25 if you're syon mansur or Yash gupta

if you have further questions, ask before round

Background: I was an LD debater in high school, and I now coach PF.

Pet Peeves: Please don't ask for an "off-time roadmap", either do it or don't. I would prefer you just say what side you are starting on and start the round than a winded explanation.

Time is very precious, it should not take 10 minutes between each speech to transfer evidence in a google doc and get your timer ready - just try to be punctual.

PF Specific: No sticky defense. That means everything you want to be extended or carried through a speech should be explicitly mentioned. Otherwise, I will not extend it.

Paradigm:

I am a tabula rasa judge. This means I will buy any argument as long as you do a good job of convincing me. I love watching how debaters can utilize the resolution to their advantage and create a truly nuanced argument they can call their own. Watching stock cases becomes extremely boring after a while.

Theory: If you can run it well, do it when applicable. You need to tell me why theory is a voting issue, otherwise, there is no reason to run it. I do not mind you reading while speaking, but if your theory is just a pre-cut block of text that you spread and don't explain, I'm probably not going to flow it. I also would prefer you to drop the case if you are going for theory. Having a theory spike can be abusive on the grounds of time skew. It also just muddles the debate.

Kritik: I think the critical debate is very valuable. I will accept aff and neg K's.

Speed: I can handle up to about 250 wpm, but I really don't enjoy it being that fast. My flow gets messy and so unless you plan on giving me a copy of your case, you might want to slow it down a bit. Also, I will only allow speaking as fast as both debaters are comfortable. If your opponent cannot flow your arguments, there is no clash, and that is no fun. Also, I would just prefer a more conversational pace as learning outcomes are much greater when you talk at a speed normal for conversation.

Flowing: PLEASE SIGN POST. When you want me to extend an argument, you need to tell me. Not just that you want it extended, but why. I will only cross apply arguments if you are very organized, and tell me specifically why you are cross applying. It is pretty rare that I do this, so I would just recommend taking the extra step to tell me why your point interacts with multiple parts of their case.

If you have ANY further questions, feel free to ask me before the round starts. I also don't mind giving critiques after the round finishes. Good luck and have fun!

I AM A LAY PARENT JUDGE. Treat me as such in the round. I can understand complex arguments, but make sure it makes sense. Clarity is super important. I do not understand/evaluate Kritiks, Tricks, Spreading, Theory (I won’t understand theory unless it is something really abusive. Run at your own risk). Please weigh, extend, defend your case, and signpost. While generally cross examination doesn't effect my decision, key concessions are important to bring up in speeches.

Random stuff:

• I flow
• Everything said in Final Focus must be mentioned in summary.
• For framework you can read it but don’t spend time on it unless it is very different from your opponent’s.
• You can give me an off time roadmap
• I WILL NOT EVALUATE DISCLOSURE THEORY
• Be cool about evidence. Don’t misrepresent it.
• Have your evidence organized and find it quickly if someone calls for it.

Note about outrounds: I get that I am lay and if I am on a panel with two tech judges I might just get dropped/ignored, try not to do this though, PF is designed for the general public to understand (ie lay judges) so try to keep it that way.

Lay Judge

* Speak slowly and clearly. Keep things simple and logical. Don't use debate jargon.

* When you read evidence, please say reasons behind it also (don't just say we have _ card and move on).

* I prefer reason over evidence. I like when teams remind me of their final case arguments but don't spend a whole minute on it - just say it in one or two sentences.

* If you collapse, please say clearly that you are collapsing.

* I don't believe improbable arguments like nuclear war and extinction. A piece of advice is to run smaller impacts for me to believe and vote for it.

* Please be respectful to each other

Thx and have fun.

I commit to being objective. That said, I do not care for persons "eye-rolling," signs of disrespect or use of profanity to make a point. In business, a person showing physical gestures of disrespect will make your path to success more difficult than it needs to be. I am not bothered by a persons speed, flow of how a person presents, speaking challenges or dress. I am familiar with a number topics at these debates and will not give you negative marks if a person misquotes a fact. However, if your opponent picks up on the misquote, then I will give the opponent credit for recognizing it.

Be confident. I really appreciate all the work you do. Be known for your accomplishments and not what you may or may not believe in.

I'm a former Nationally ranked Public Forum debater who qualified for both silver and gold TOC. In particular, I focus on the strength of a given argument's warrant, reasonably terminated impacts, and direct crossfire. Please assume that I have no prior specified knowledge about the resolution.

If the speaker's pace is too fast and I can't understand, I'll stop taking notes.

Let's have a clear, straightforward, respectful debate! Best of luck~

I am a lay judge who has started judging this year. I will do my best to understand the arguments and the logical reasoning and judge on that basis.

(not available to judge 1/25)

I vote on truth over tech on arguments. Clear and concise arguments will win.

I do flow the case. Be clear on warranting/linking and have credible evidence.

Use clear structure and signposting in your speeches. Best to number your contentions for clarity (i.e. contention 1a, contention 1b, 2a, 2b, etc.)

Don't spread: if you talk so fast that I can't understand you, you will lose.

I am a parent judge who is lay.

Please speak slowly and clearly; if I cannot understand you I cannot vote for your arguments.

I place importance on cross ex along with speeches, but I mainly vote off the second half of the round. Make sure your summaries and final focus write out my ballot for me-explain your arguments again and explain why you win. "Weigh" your arguments for me.

Don't use ANY debate lingo: explain what you mean to say before spouting words such as de-link and short-circuit. Don't run any progressive arguments with me either since there is no assurance that I shall understand them.

I do not have much topic knowledge, so make sure to explain the arguments in clear and simple ways so that I can understand them.

Please have evidence ready. I do not want to waste more than 5 minutes to gather evidence, and if you cannot find it in that time it will impair your chances of getting the win. There is no need to add me on email chains, but if a team is accused of misconstruing evidence, I will take a look at what the evidence says. However, I hope it never comes to that in a round because I trust and rely on you to do the evidence interpretation.

While I place importance on cards, please also explain the logic behind it. Just saying "CNN says this" does not make me understand why this is important. Try to quantify things to the best of your ability because it does make it easier to weigh; however, I do understand that some things cannot be quantified so explain why I should vote on that.

Try to give me a map of your speech before giving it; it helps me understand which case you are talking about. Also, please state what side you are on at the start and end of every speech. If possible, also try to have the sides in your name on the video call.

Lastly, please be respectful! I will immediately drop any team that does not respect their opponents or the debate space. Please don't yell or accuse your opponents of anything unless you reason to do so.

Feel free to reach out with any questions you have before your round starts! Good luck

Conflicts: San Marino

Experience: HS/Circuit- LD 2 years, PF 3 years, CX 1 year (2016-2020)

As of 3/13/2024: I have not been involved in debate since 2020. Most of my knowledge of debate has atrophied; if you plan on running technical arguments be prepared to explain them thoroughly.

Send me speech docs: j4ng.debate@gmail.com

discord: j4ng#0099

If the panel includes other lay judges - I am a lay judge. Please adapt to the other judges.

Speed is OK but don't exceed 350 WPM. I can't vote for a team if I cannot understand what they are saying. Spreading is not accessible and I prefer that everyone in the room can actively participate in the round :)

I ran generic, stock, LARP, and Ks in HS. If you are running anything else, I will do my best to evaluate them.

This is the paradigm that I wrote in 2021. It is wordy and extends into debate lore that I barely remember today. You can use it as general guidance. here

Feel free to ask any questions. I do not consider myself the most impartial judge, but I promise everyone that I will do my best to facilitate a fair and educational round.

Hello!

I am a lay judge and would just like to see a CLEAR and CLEAN debate.

CLEAR:

- Don't speak fast and don't be too aggressive

- Explain your arguments well and don't expect me to know everything you know about the topic

- Have an order to your speeches, don't jump back and forth between different parts of the debate and expect me to easily follow along

- Don't use technical debate terms. Keep everything simple.

CLEAN:

- Be respectful to your opponents

- Don't bring up new arguments late in the round

- Make sure to interact with your opponent's arguments instead of just listing off random ideas

At the end of the day, debate is an educational activity so have fun and be respectful.

About Me

I have 10 years of experience judging for various schools. I have mostly judged for Mission San Jose High School and periodically for independent entries like Stonewall Academy. The majority of my judging has been in Public Forum and I am familiar in the fundamental concepts of the format.

Preferences

I always come in with an open mind and vote based off of each side's arguments rather than personal bias. In order to win the round it is important that each side weighs each of their impacts. If impacts aren't weighed I won't flow them. If you want higher speaker points and want me to be able to flow your arguments, it is important that you speak clearly and at a good pace. I also appreciate it if you give me a little background into the topic and clear up a few things. Each side should provide a standard for me to weigh on so I can vote for a side based on the impacts. Both sides can also argue which standard is more relevant to the debate and which I should be judging on. If neither side proposes a standard for the debate I will just be judging on which side makes the world a better place. As for links, make sure that your links are logical and aren't huge jumps. If you suddenly jump from the EU joining the BRI to a nuclear war, I won't buy it. Please don't run theory. I will only take it into account if it is actually justified and reasonable (which it almost never is). Lastly, if a side brings up a new argument or point in Final Focus, I will ignore it. You're just going to be wasting your time.

Speaking Points

I will reward a debater with more speaker points if they remain clear and speak at an understandable pace. I dislike spreading as I feel its unnecessary. It is also important that each speaker is respectful in crossfire and other speeches. If any debater starts yelling and is overly aggressive I will lower their total speaker points for the round.

If you have any other questions feel free to ask me during the round. I hope you provide me with an interesting debate!

I am a parent judge. I value truth over tech. Please go slow and be engaging. Never judged ld before.

Hi, this is Tianliang’s son.

My dad is your standard lay judge. Don’t assume he knows a lot about the topic.

English is also not his first language, so I recommend you speak slowly and explain things clearly - he really likes listening to politicians talk and audiobooks as well. He isn’t too politically knowledgeable but he knows a lot of stuff about famous people because he listens to so many audiobooks. If you try to act knowledgeable and hnderstanding of the topic, he will be inclined to vote for you.

Most of all, he likes respectful and nice debaters. Do this, and it will help your speaker points a lot.

I am a freshman at Scripps College(a liberal arts college in Claremont). I am a lay judge, my only exposure to debate is through my little brother who does it. This is my third time judging, please speak clearly and civilly and warrant everything. Automatic 30 speaks if you rap your debate, but only if your rhymes are good. I will not listen to or judge anything you say overtime.

Good luck! You got this, give it your all!

Email/contact for evidence: ellalehavi@gmail.com

I have been a debate judge since this year. I don't have any preferences on debate.

Christina Lim- Los Osos High School

Background: Predominantly spent my 4 years doing PF and Congress and Parli occasionally. I have judged a few tournaments when I could in college.

I can judge LD but I'm not great at it.

If you get me for policy, lol

To get me to vote for you, tell me why I should care about your side and what you're doing better than your opponent to achieve your means/goals.

General notes (mostly applies to PF):

-PF is the people's debate and a good team is the one whose arguments can convince me, convince my mother, or convince a random person on the street that their side is right. The best debaters don't use speed or information dumps to win but rather choose the strongest, most efficient arguments to convey in a way that is understandable by all.

-I value framework and concise, logical arguments that tie into your framework. Right off the bat, I want to know what your weighing mechanism is, why it's better than your opponents, and how each of your arguments supports that wm. Tell me why I should care about what you're saying. I like creative, unique arguments but my plausibility can only be stretched so far.

-I will not accept any new contentions outside of the 1AC/1NC so make them count. I think it's perfectly fine to drop minor arguments that don't serve the big picture of what you're trying to argue for but if you're on the opposite side and want to capitalize on the drop, please tell me why it's actually important (i.e. just saying an argument was dropped isn't enough). Summary and final speeches should be centered around voter issues and it's important you prove why your side addresses the resolution the best and your opponents did not.

-Signpost, signpost, singpost. Guide me to whatever conclusions you want me to come to. Don't let me make them myself because it might not be the one you want. Off-time roadmaps are ok with me.

-I love evidence and I think it's crucial to supporting arguments but you need to tell me why it's more important/better than whatever evidence the other side brings up. The side that has 10 impactful pieces of evidence will always win over the side that dumped 1000 headlines on me and expects me to know what to do with it.

-I believe more in arguing the spirit of the resolution and less in the letter of the resolution so if the debate gets too into the weeds with definitions and technicalities, I will give the win to the side that was able to best argue the idea of the resolution. I don't care for the more progressive debate styles and I don't like how it takes away from the core aspect of PF which is supposed to be a format that can be accessible to the general public.

-Fairness is important to me so if you think it'll be fun to run framework/arguments that are too abusive or narrow (especially if you're trying to flex on a less experienced team), just don't.

-I will flow only what I can actually understand so spread if you want to be impressive, don't spread if you want to win.

-Be aggressive, but civil especially in CX. Rudeness nets you low speaks.

-I trust you to keep your own time and will allow a few seconds to finish up your last sentence if you go over. Don't do this too often.

That is just about it when it comes to my preferences and things I look for in a debate. Anything I didn't address you may ask before the round starts. I look forward to hearing you debate!

updated for la costa 2020:

I'VE BEEN OUT OF DEBATE FOR MANY MONTHS. i used to judge practice rounds pretty often but i haven't in a while, so apologies if i'm not flowing everything very fast or i take a while for my decision.

--------------------------------------

canyon crest '20, georgetown '24

justinliu92130@gmail.com or jyl79@georgetown.edu

There is no "o" in "Public" so if you call it "PoFo" within earshot of me then I am calling the police.

I'll shake your hand unless you're sick or a GW/AU commit.

I submit my ballot after giving my RFD, so my Venmo is @liujustin1 if you're unhappy with my RFD. Don't post-round, just handle it like someone over the age of six would.

About myself:

I have four years of PF experience at Canyon Crest Academy/Carmel Valley (SoCal) with three years on the circuit. Please don't pander to me outside or inside of round, don't be racist, don't be sexist, don't be classist, but flaming your opponent is fine as long as it doesn't get personal. I'll probably boost your speaks if you do.

I was president of the team in my senior year, so please tell me if CCA/Carmel Valley has made anybody uncomfortable or been rude so I can complain to the new team leadership like a boomer. The speech and debate community was very close to a second home for me in high school and I want to keep it healthy.

I got a silver bid once. Don't ask me how STOC went - you'll just ruin my day.

MY LD/POLICY/PARLI/CONGRESS PARADIGM:

hehe

MY PF PARADIGM:

Short version:

tech > truth

please signpost

no new offense after first summary

no theory/k, i know real abuse when i see it

if you want something evaluated, have it in summary and also final

i am the rare judge who doesn't actually care too much about weighing

i am very big about accessing impacts, so make sure you extend accurately and signpost clearly

Long version:

General guidelines:

i judge how i want to be judged.

tech > truth.

no crazy theory/k. i know abuse when i see it. if i can't see it, it's probably not bad enough for you to sacrifice round content to read a long shell about something.

no plans or cp's either.

i think that pf debate is about what you say and not who you are, and any identity-based self-activism that isn't topical but that you want to affect the ballot is probably better for the ld or policy spheres. but if there's microaggressions or something egregious, i'll be more than happy to drop your opponent for it, especially if they're rude or dismissive about it.

coin flip while i'm present. the flip tension is the most exciting part of pf.

i'll only allow new evidence in summary if it's for a frontline or a frontline's frontline (so A2A2 or A2A2A2 for some people). no new evidence in final.

if it isn't in summary, it doesn't exist. continuing off of this, if it isn't in final, it doesn't exist either. if your partner only extends warrant 1 in summary but you only extend warrant 2 in final, you don't get either warrant.

if you don't terminalize your impacts, i will do it myself (probably to your detriment, since every debate impact is over exaggerated).

debate should be fun, so i will happily evaluate meme cases/weird args unless sensitive topics are emphasized in round.

please signpost.

if both teams have exactly no offense at the end, i default to the first speaking team. this will probably never happen.

no card-checking during crossfire (unless you give it to your partner - the non cross participant - to read). if you're wondering "what about during grand cross, when all four debaters participate?" then you're calling for a card after summary. please don't call for a card after summary.

call for a card, but read it during your own prep if you won't give it to your partner during cross. wi-fi is fine to pull up cards that you have linked.

i'll time your speeches (5-10 second grace periods after each speech), but not your prep. that's your opponent's job.

speak as fast as you want to, but do not sacrifice clarity for speed. "turn their impact" makes more sense than "aslkdjflkjaslejjfiowjejflkdfj".

if you spread, email me and your opps a speech doc. if you're going to speak faster than your opponents can comprehend - even if you aren't spreading - please give them a doc or slow down so they can understand you. inclusivity is priority #1 for debate. i will not allow you extra time to type up a doc, even if for accessibility purposes.

Round tactics:

Please extend cards as name (date only necessary if there's multiple cards with the same name) and some substance (in context of the flow is fine if you're accurate and clear. ex: "the second carded response on their second warrant that says xyz"). I will still extend cards if they are only named, although it won't help you if things get muddled and I get confused.

Any ink still left on your flow gets evaluated at the end.

If you extend an argument, summarize how you access it and its impacts (with numbers, preferably). Don't extend a contention without frontlining or at least acknowledging all critical links. I will notice if you drop your opponents' responses.

If you decide to kick out of an argument, tell me. I'll know when stuff is dropped, but it fares better for your speaks and my feedback when I know whether a drop was done purposefully or on accident. The easiest way to do this is to explicitly concede a delink.

Both summaries should frontline. Because of the new PF speech times introduced in 2019, first summary now has to extend defense to access it.

I will evaluate analytical (cardless) rebuttals, but only with solid warranting. This is where truth could come in over tech. Depends on how accurate you are and also what I know.

I "like" crossfire whether it goes "well" or "poorly." I like a good cross but I probably won't be paying attention, because a good cross to me is one I don't have to worry about. I won't evaluate anything said in cross, but every time you destroy your opponent based epic style with facts and logic in cross, I boost your speaks. If you're cringe, you lose speaks. Grand crossfire works one of two ways for me: 1) It isn't a yelling match and it gives me a general idea of who is winning what voter. 2) It becomes a yelling match and it's stressful for you but very funny for me.

Evaluation:

I default to lives > econ. Convince me otherwise.

I will evaluate policy-type big impact turns like "nuke war good" or "death good" if you warrant sufficiently, but I'm not inclined to agree with them. I won't evaluate "nazi good" or things like that because it's just racist and stupid. Please don't turn racism/sexism/etc.

I study politics, international relations, and warfare/military history and strategy. Please don't say something dumb like "China has more soldiers than America so they will win in a war" or "deficit spending causes recessions." Actually warrant stuff like this. Again, tech > truth overall, but I'll be less likely to buy this kind of stuff when things get muddled.

I won't intervene unless someone asks me to call a sus card or there's a medical issue.

I will try to clarify facts or topic knowledge to the best of my ability after round for your own educational benefit if I'm familiar with the topic (and so you don't get screwed in later rounds by someone who may know more about something), but mistakes or unknowns that aren't capitalized on by your opponents won't be weighed on my ballot.

I would appreciate if you weighed for me, but I will weigh arguments myself if you do not. I prioritize probability, which is followed closely by magnitude. If you want to use some less-known weighing mechanisms like reversibility, tell me in your speech why it is more important than probability.

If you run a non-CBA (cost-benefit analysis) framework, spend ample time on why it is the better framework. I think frameworks like "The resolution says 'United States' so we should only weigh impacts on Americans" are stupid and you should not run them. You would need to do a lot of warranting and explaining to even remotely justify these types of frameworks to me and it would be hard without sounding like an ultranationalist.

Narratives are cool.

Deception:

If you go up and say "unresponded to," "unrefuted," or "never responded to," but your opponents did respond adequately, I'll be less inclined to vote for you if the round is close. I won't vote you down for "lying," but I will not frame the round the way you want me to because you're demonstrating that you're snaky and deceptive. Please DO NOT be that team that only speaks well and can't debate. Spend your energy on argumentation - you won't have to worry about coercing my ballot with speaking unless I literally cannot understand you.

If you bring up new evidence or arguments in final focus, I will be very sad.

If you powertag intentionally or if you clip evidence in a significant way, I will be very sad and report you to your coach and tab.

Speaks:

If you're one of those teams, you might find yourself asking me "What's the easiest way to get a 30?"

Unless you go 6-0 regularly and want to get first seed or something, don't worry about your speaks. You'll win the round if you beat your opponent on the flow.

The easiest way to get a 30: Don't fumble your strategy or words and display solid partner synergy. Make it seem like you and your partner have debated this round a million times prior to now.

30: You're alright.

29.5: oh yeah yeah

29: oh yeah

28.5: yeah

28: nice

27.5: ok

27: hmm

26.5: hmmmm

26: yash gupta

25.5: yash gupta

25: yash gupta

0: just stop doing debate man

Hello Debaters,

I have been judging Public Forum debate tournaments since fall of 2020.

I look for clarity, consistency and quality of delivery. Please try not to speak too fast so it is easier to follow. It is important to be respectful to your opponents. Also, please explain your arguments in plain terms.

Please ensure your data and stats are factual and supported by credible sources.

Finally, don't forget to have fun!

Thank you and good luck!

I am a lay judge who has been judging speech and debate for about a year. I will vote for the debater(s) who extend their argument and clash with their opponent's case the best. I (and perhaps your opponent too) will not be able to understand your arguments if you spread, so do not or I will vote you down. Besides that, keep it respectful. As for speech events, just try to make a genuine connection with me. If you're able to do so, it will reflect well on your ranking.

No Ida Behrouz Vazeri

I don't have a lot of requirements when it comes to judging, but please keep these few things in mind:

-speak slowly and clearly so I can understand what you are saying (no spreading)

-be dynamic and articulate your arguments well

-be respectful to your opponent(s)

-please don't cut your opponent(s) off during cross examination periods

Thank you for keeping these things in mind, and I can't wait to judge you!

Background:I am a second-year law student at NYU and work with Delbarton (NJ). He/Him/His pronouns.

Email Chains: Teams should start an email chain immediately with the following email subject: Tournament Name - Rd # - School Team Code (side/order) v. School Team Code (side/order). Please add greenwavedebate@delbarton.org to the email chain. Teams should send case evidence (and rhetoric if you paraphrase) by the end of constructive. I cannot accept locked Google Docs; please copy and paste all text into the email and send it in the email chain. It would be ideal to send all new evidence read in rebuttal, but up to debaters.

Evidence: Reading Cut card > Paraphrasing. Even if you paraphrase, I require cut cards. These are properly cut cards. No cut card = your evidence won't be evaluated in the round.

Main PF Paradigm:

• Offense>Defense. Ultimately, offense wins debates and requires proper arg extensions, frontlining, and weighing. It will be hard to win with just terminal defense. But please still extend good defense.
• Speed. I will try my best to handle your pace, but also know if you aren't clear, it will be harder for me to flow.
• Speech specifics: Second Rebuttal -- needs to frontline first rebuttal responses. Anything in Final Focus should be in Summary (weighing is a bit more flexible if no one is weighing). Backhalf extensions, frontlining, and "backlining" matter.
• Please weigh. Make sure it's comparative weighing and uses either timeframe, magnitude, and/or probability. Strength of link, clarity of impact, cyclicality, and solvency are not weighing mechanisms.
• I'll evaluate (almost) anything. Expect that I'll have already done research on a topic, but I'll evaluate anything on my flow (tech over truth). I will interfere (and most likely vote you down) if you argue anything racist, sexist, homophobic, or fabricated (i.e., evidence issues).
• I will always allow accommodations for debaters. Just ask before the round.

"Progressive" PF:

• Ks - I'm okay with the most common K's PFers try to run (i.e. Fem/Fem IR, Capitalism, Securitization, Killjoy, etc.), but I am not familiar with high theory lit (i.e. Baudrillard, Bataille, Nietzsche). But please don't overcomplicate the backhalf.
• Theory - Debate is a game, so do what you have to do. If you're in the varsity/open division, please don't complain that you can't handle varsity-level arguments. *** Evidence of abuse is needed for theory (especially disclosure-related shells). I will (usually) default competing interps. I generally think disclosure is good, open source is not usually necessary (unless your wiki upload is just a block of text), and paraphrasing is bad, but I won't intervene if you win the flow.
• Trigger warnings with opt-outs are necessary when there are graphic depictions in the arg, but are not when there are non-graphic depictions about oppression (general content warning before constructive would still be good). Still, use your best judgment here.
• ***Note -- if you read an excessive number of off positions that appear frivolous, I will be very receptive to reasonability and have a high threshold for your arguments. So it probably won't work to your advantage to read them in front of me. Regardless of beliefs on prog PF, these types of debate are, without a doubt, awful and annoying to judge. I'll still evaluate it, but run at your own risk.

Misc: Please pre flow before the round; I don't think crossfire clarifications are super important to my ballot, so if something significant happens, you should make it in ink and bring it up in the next speech; I'm okay if you speak fast (my ability to handle it is diminishing now though lol), but please give me a doc; speaker points usually range from 28-30.

Questions? Ask before the round.

hi! I did PF in high school. Here's some things about my judging.

1. Do whatever you want. I suggest you frontline in second rebuttal, but I don't really care. Just don't be racist, sexist, or otherwise problematic.

2. I want to make the debate as accessible and fun as possible. If there's anything you want to try or that you've seen in other rounds or in other people's paradigms that seems fun, we can try it as long as your opponents are okay with it.

3. My knowledge of K lit is very limited. I'm down to judge a K round but act like I don't know anything.

4. Debate is meant to be a communication activity. While I will judge any style of debating, I will give speaker points based on your communication skills. I will only vote for an argument if it’s warrant is clearly extended. It’s your job to make sure I catch everything you want me to flow throughout the round.

5. If you think I made a bad decision or just have questions, please feel free to ask me after the round (just don't be too aggressive). I'd rather have a discussion than have you walking away feeling unsatisfied.

Also please weigh. Please. Feel free to ask me any other questions!

Occupation: Computer Engineer

School Affiliations: Dougherty Valley High School

Years of Judging/Event Types: I do not consider myself an experienced judge, but I have judge Public Forum, Parli, and Policy at a few tournaments over the past two years.

Speaker Points: I understand things only when spoken clearly and at an understandable speed. I will award speaker points based on how well I understand what you are saying,

Voters: I will vote off of things that you clearly depict to me that you have won in your last few speeches. Make everything as clear as possible please!

Flowing: I try my best to note down what I can. I cannot promise an organized flow, but I do take notes.

Clothing/Appearance: Just dress appropriately!

Real World Impacts: I will often weigh impacts based on what I think has a bigger magnitude, but please don't run things that are out of proportion as I will view them as having close to no probability of occurring.

Cross Examination: Be respectful! I do not like when people don't let others finish talking or talk over them.

A little about my preference for rounds. I do not tolerate any form of discrimination, inappropriate and bullying. I prefer debates which are respectful to each other. Second, I prefer students to go speak clearly and not fast where speed makes the argument no longer understandable. I would also encourage students to not make assumptions in their arguments, think about how so you know what’s happened in the past will happen again. I am a strong believer in connecting the dots and in scientific evidence.

In addition, I do expect cards to be shared with teams and me. I also expect teams to manage their own time and call out if time is mishandled.

My best wishes for the debates!

*Varsity Speaks: Boost in speaker points when you compliment your partner in-speech - the more fun or earnest, the higher the speaks boost :) I've found this gives some much needed levity in tense rounds.

*Online: Please go slower online. I'll let you know if you cut out. I'll try on my end to be as fair as possible within the limits of keeping the round reasonably on time. If the tournament has a forfeit policy, I'll go by those.

Background: 3 years of college super trad policy (stock issues/T & CPs) & some parli. I coach PF, primarily middle school/novice and a few open. She/her. Docshare >

PF:

Firm on paraphrasing bad. I used to reward teams for the bare minimum of reading cut cards but then debaters would bold-faced lie and I would become the clown emoji in real time. I'm open to hearing arguments that penalize paraphrasing, whether it's treating them as analytics that I shouldn't prefer over your read cards or I should drop the team that paraphrases entirely.

Disclosure is good because evidence ethics in PF are bad, but I probably won't vote for disclosure theory. I'm more likely to reward you in speaks for doing it (ex. sharing speech docs) than punish a team for not.

“Defense is sticky.” No it isn’t.

Ex. Fully frontline whatever you want to go for in second summary in second rebuttal. Same logic as if it's in your final focus, it better be in your partner's summary. I like consistency.

If you take longer than a minute to exchange a card you just read, it starts coming out of your prep. Speech docs make sure this is never an issue, so that's another plug.

Collapsing, grouping, and implicating = good, underrated, easy path to my ballot! Doc botting, blippy responses, no warrants or ev comparison = I'm sad, and you'll be sad at your speaks.

Cleaner debates collapse earlier rather than later.

I'm super into strategic concessions. "It's okay that they win this, because we win here instead and that matters more bc..."

I have a soft spot for framing. I'm most interested when the opposing team links in (ex. team A runs "prioritize extinction," team B replies, "yes, and that's us,"), but I'll definitely listen to "prioritize x instead" args, too. Just warrant, compare, etc.

Other "progressive pf" - I have minimal experience judging it. I'm not saying you can't run these debates or I'm unwilling to listen to them, but I'm saying be aware and slow down if I'm the one evaluating. Update: So far this season, I've voted down trigger warning theory and voted for paraphrasing theory.

I'll accept new weighing in final focus but I don't think it's strategic - you should probably start in summary to increase my chances of voting off of it.

All else fails, I will 1) look at the weighing, then 2), evaluate the line-by-line to see if I give you reasonable access to those impacts to begin with. Your opponents would have to really slip up somewhere to win the weighing but lose the round, but it's not impossible. I get really sad if the line-by-line is so convoluted that I only vote on the weighing - give me a clean place to vote. I'll be happy if you do the extra work to tell me why your weighing mechanism is better than theirs (I should prefer scope over mag because x, etc).

LD:

I’m a better judge for you if you're more trad/LARP. The more "progressive," the more you should either A) strike me if possible, or B) explain it to me slowly and simply - I’m open to hearing it if you’re willing to adjust how you argue it. Send a speech doc and assume I'm not as well-read as you on the topic literature.

All:

If it's before 9am, assume I learned what debate was 10 minutes ago. If it's the last round of the night, assume the same.

Open/varsity - time yourselves. Keep each other honest, but don't be the prep police.

On speed generally - I can do "fast" PF mostly fine, but I prefer slower debates and no spreading.

Content warnings should be read for graphic content. Have an anonymous opt-out.

Have warrants. Compare warrants. Tell me why your args matter/what to do with them.

Don't post-round. Debaters should especially think about who you choose to post-round on a panel when decisions echo one another.

Having a sense of humor and being friendly/accommodating toward your opponents is the easiest way to get good speaks from me. Be kind, have fun, laugh a little (but not at anyone's expense!!), and I'll have no problem giving you top speaks.

If I smile, you did something right. If I nod, I'm following what you say. I will absolutely tilt my head and make a face if you lost me or you're treading on thin ice on believability of whatever you're saying. If I just look generally unhappy - that's just my default face. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I debated LD for Hunter College High School for four years and recently graduated from Pomona. I went to TOC a few times and reached finals my senior year. I graduated in 2017. My email is ninapotischman@gmail.com—put me on the email chain! If you have questions, feel free to email me or ask before round.

TLDR; please weigh (a lot), one good argument > four blippy arguments, be nice to your opponent!

*FOR PF*

Hi PF! I have coached LD in various places. I now coach PF for Oakwood. I will try to adapt to PF norms for judging, though my LD background will inform how I perceive rounds. I prefer to do as little work for debaters as possible. The best debaters will write my ballot for me.

TLDR; I have a high threshold for warrants and extensions. I'll vote on policy style extinction scenarios if done well, but they're often executed poorly—be sure you can tell a clear story with warrants in later speeches.

General:

• Send speech docs before your speeches; if you paraphrase, include all the cards at the bottom of the doc.
• The best final speeches have a clear narrative arc/story of your impact scenario with many kinds of weighing—i.e., don't just say that nuclear war is worse than poverty—you should also have a number of arguments comparing your/your opponent's internal links. Extend warrants into final focus.
• People in PF have started to read LD/policy type arguments with long link chains. Often, these arguments don't have proper uniqueness/link/impact. If you can't tell a clear story establishing a brink for impacts that would require a brink, it will be hard to get me to vote on these arguments against something with a clearer narrative. I also tend to find these arguments unpersuasive since the strength of link to your terminal impact is always pretty low, and often some of the links are barely warranted. You can execute this well, but be cautious that the links are well-articulated.
• I have a lot of trouble with signposting in PF. Be extra clear about where you are on the flow at all times. I tend to miss card names, so don't use those to signpost. If you're spreading, slow down more.
• Be as explicit as possible with things like weighing.
• I won't vote for arguments that I don't understand or arguments that are clearly unwarranted. I believe I have a somewhat high threshold for what counts as a warrant—one sentence cards usually aren't enough.
• I'm relatively technical, but I am less inclined to vote for you're not persuasive
• I do not understand how the economy works..... if you're using technical economic terms please explain what they mean! And be extra-extra explicit about how you reach your impacts. Examples help.

Evidence exchange takes much too long. If the round takes over an 1 hr 10 min due to evidence exchange, speaks are capped at a 27.5. If one team sends their evidence before every speech, this only applies to the other team. If one team seems to excessively ask for evidence, this rule will only affect the speaks of the other team.

Theory/ks:

• I can flow spreading, but I'd rather not and I'll probably miss things—especially if you don't send speech docs/make 1-2 line arguments. Use spreading as an opportunity to make more in-depth arguments, rather than spewing blips
• I will not intervene unless I believe you are engaging in a practice that excludes your opponent—for example, reading theory against novices/a team that clearly doesn't know what theory is, particularly if the arguments are frivolous. Use your judgment & debate with the best intentions.
• I will vote on kritiks that are executed correctly, but please make an effort to ensure your opponent understands your positions and err towards over-explanation. Kritiks should be disclosed
• If both teams seem to want to have a theory/k/etc. debate, then I will evaluate this argument as if it is an LD round. If you miss necessary argument components, that's on you—e.g., I won't pretend you read a theory voter if you did not
• Good, true arguments > highly technical bad arguments
• If you read disclosure theory and don't disclose your disclosure theory shell, you should lose, though your opponent must point this out.

Evidence ethics:

• I have a low threshold for ev ethics violations. If you think your opponent did something bad, they probably did. Feel free to stop the round, or make a brief argument explaining the violation, and I'll vote on it if I think the violation is clear. You can read a full theory shell if you want to, but it's not necessary
• Things that are bad: clipping, miscutting, misattributing evidence, broken links, changing the meaning of the cards with brackets, lying, not reading things that change the meaning of the evidence, etc.

*FOR LD*

General

I’ll vote on anything as long as it is warranted. Although I debated a certain way, I would much rather see you do what you do best than to try to adapt to what you think I want. I’ll try to evaluate the round in the way I think the debaters see it, so I’ll do my best to avoid defaulting either way on any particular issue. My biggest preference is just for intelligent well-thought out arguments, whether that's a kritik, a plan aff or a framework. That said, here are my preferences:

• Please please please do not be late :(
• Full disclosure: if you send me your Aff, I'm probably just gonna back flow it later and zone out during the AC . So if you're extemping things in the aff (idrk why people do this...if ur opponent will have a hard time flowing, I will too) give me a heads up
• The biggest reason people lose in front of me is because they do not explicitly weigh. WEIGH WEIGH WEIGH WEIGH WEIGH, PLEASE, OR ELSE I WILL HAVE TO INTERVENE. And then we will all be sad. If you do not weigh in your speech, and then you lose, that is on you.
• Prep time ends when your flash drive leaves your computer or when you email your opponent
• I have a high threshold for extensions if your arguments are contested or if you're doing any interaction between the arguments you're extending and your opponents. It’s not enough to say “extend the aff” or “extend advantage one” — you need to articulate some warrant so I know what specifically you’re extending. If you don’t explicitly extend offense in the last speech, I won’t vote for you.
• I reserve the right to not vote for arguments that I don’t understand/that are not warranted. Your opponent shouldn’t lose for dropping an incoherent sentence with no justification
• I won’t vote for any responses to arguments that are new in later speeches, even if your opponent doesn’t point it out
• I’ll vote you down if you say anything actively racist/sexist/homophobic etc.
• I’ll time your speech — if you go over time (besides if you finish a sentence), I’ll discount your arguments even if your opponent doesn’t point it out
• I think embedded clash is good — you can make arguments that say otherwise and I’ll evaluate them, but that’s my default
• It's really hard to flow spreading on Zoom. I'll yell clear, but if I have to say it more than a couple of times I am missing arguments you've made and I won't fill in the blanks

Theory

• If paradigm issues are conceded, you don’t have to extend them
• I strongly dislike offensive spikes, but I’ll vote on them if there’s a warrant and the argument is conceded. Just know your speaks will suffer.
• Slow down for interps/counterinterps
• If someone reads theory in the 1a/1nc without an implication it’s enough to say “don’t vote on it — there’s no implication” and I won't — you can't then read voters in the next speech. However, if there's no voter and no one points that out and acts like theory is drop the debater, I'll vote on it

Framework

• I prefer well justified syllogisms to super blippy fw preclusion arguments
• Please weigh

Ks

• I think people think I don't like Ks?? This is not true. Kritiks, run well, are one of my favorite kinds of arguments. I'm pretty familiar with most K lit, with the exception of POMO stuff, so please go slower if you’re reading something super dense. If I have no idea what you’re talking about, I won’t vote for you. Concrete examples are always good.
• My defaults for kritiks are the same as other positions, which is: please weigh, and please be explicit with interactions. Don't expect me to know what arguments your position takes out without an explicit implication. (I.e. you have to say, this takes out theory, and why).

Speaks

Things that will get you high speaks

• Innovative and interesting arguments that you’re clearly knowledgeable about
• Good strategies
• Using CX effectively
• High argument quality
• Good overviews/crystallization
• Good case debate. Please don't drop the aff!!!!

Things that will get you low speaks:

• not disclosing
• tricks
• being shifty
• lots of spikes/blippy arguments
• super generic dumps (especially on K v theory debates)
• clearly not understanding your own positions
• being mean to a novice/someone clearly worse than you. You don’t have to debate down, just don’t be rude and go slower so that the round is educational for everyone
• academic dishonesty

1. Please don't speak very fast. Speaking fast is fine. Very fast will be difficult for me to follow.

2. Please don't take lot of time to share your evidences.

3. Please respect each other and have fun.

I am a parent judge.

I will vote off arguments I understand/are best argued.

Be clear.

Signpost.

I am not familiar with the topic, so make sure to explain your arguments well.

Keep track of your own prep time.

Time yourselves during speeches and crossfire.

I give speaks based on clarity, organization, and how well you explain your arguments.

Be respectful throughout the whole debate.

Always include me in the email chain'

Email: israel.debate.email@gmail.com

Affiliations: LAMDL - CSUN

Speaker Points:

I do not disclose speaker points. Overall your speaks will be determined on the quality of speech.

Spreading:

I am okay with spreading, clarity/speed.

Basics rundown for Policy

Every argument/off case will be flowed the same way. What I mean by that the way that you will win a flow is the consistency of your argument and the persuasion of your speech. I have no "bias" or preference of arguments or type of Affs. For the record CP's and Theory arguments are going to be evaluated the same way. I separated them for the sake of alphabetization.

Case: Traditional Affs; I am very familiar with many kinds of Affs (i.e. Hard right and soft left Affs.) You should know the content of your Aff. I have no preference on the type of Aff or content itself. If you persuade me enough to vote for you through out the round then the ballot will ultimately go to the Aff. I run "traditional affs" in LD and have been a USFG centered in high school - still need why youre net better.

CP- Remember that not all Cp's are plan-inclusive and to me at least all you have to prove is that your method solves better than the aff. Its more credible with Net-benefits and show me solvency deficit.

DA- Uniqueness... Link.... Internal Links.... Impacts. Best way and easier for me to flow as a judge. If you don't use the DA as a net-benefit for the CP then I will always think the sqou. is being advocated as well besides the CP.

Kritiks: In this flow I really need to see how your alt and how the Aff links. I'm fine with performance, narrative, etc. If the K is ultimately not ran properly as in the explanation of Links, Impacts, Alt, Alt solves, etc. I will not vote for the K.

Topicality For Traditional Affs: On this flow there should be the most clash on. I need to know why and how the aff is not topical and why it matters to me as a judge.

You decide your fate of the ballot. Tell me why I should vote your way and I feel that you did a good job on executing that then I'll sign the ballot to you.

Debates:   I want you to convince me that your side is the "correct" one.   Please assume I know nothing about the topic, regardless of whether that might be true or not.    I have judged lots of PF, Parli, and LD, but consider myself a "Flay" judge. 

Spread at your own risk!  Quantity DOES NOT equal quality and if I get the sense you are trying to just overwhelm me with information and data vice being "on point" with your arguments it will most likely work against you.  On the flip side providing me lots of relevant information and facts can help you, as long as it is all germaine and meaningful.  There is a subjective aspect to most debates and I value well founded points that are delivered deliberately and effectively more than those that are delivered haphazardly or in a flurry of words.  Take your time and DON'T WASTE WORDS!

I will reward elequent / articulate speakers appropriately with speaker points, but it also isn't unheard of for me to award low point wins, so focus on your contentions and counters to your opponents' points - that is what will decide whether you win or not. 

Be respectful of your opponents during the heat of battle and in particular during cross-ex!  I realize your tempers may flare depending on what your opponents may say or do, but part of what I am looking for is your ability to remain professional and level-headed despite that.  I have been known to "ding" a team if I feel they were excessively rude and/or condescending.    

IEs:   I am looking for a presentation / performance that has a solid underlying message / meaning and I really want to feel that it is coming from your heart vice just being recited.  I believe IEs can and should make people think as well as just be entertaining.  A topic that is "funny", "tragic" or "sorrowful" isn't necessarily thought provoking.  Your use of the whole "stage", eye contact, projection, inflection, etc. really influence how powerfully your message comes across.   I want to sense an aura of confidence and command of your material when you are performing.  Endeavor to "Own the Room!"   

I did speech and debate for four years. Most of my experience was in PF and LD.

I prefer you to stay on topic and not run Ks, but as long as I can understand you I will accept your arguments.

"In terms of speed, I generally don't take it" Josh Baxt

I am a Software programmer who is well educated on technology and politics

School Affiliations: Dougherty Valley High School

I have judged 4 years of Public forum

I will award speaker points from 29 and will go down based off performance in round. It will be based on clarity and cross-examination. I factor clear contentions with lots of evidence as well as cross-examination in my decision. If you do not have evidence when your opponents ask for it, I will have a hard time voting for you.

I will take detailed notes on the round. If you speak too fast or are unclear I will not catch it.

My preferences on a scale of 1-10

1 - not at all 5-somewhat 10- weighed heavily

Appearance:1- I do not have any preferences for clothing or appearance. All I care about is skillful and respectful debating.

Use of Evidence: 7-I will occasionally fact-check. When extending cards explain warrants not just tags. I do not care for tags unless I find the evidence suspicious.

Real World Impacts:10- I look for weighing. If your impact is bigger I will vote off that. You must show me why timeframe and probability matter against magnitude.

Cross Examination:3- I like respectful questioning. I will give you higher speaks if you allow your opponent to speak without interrupting them excessively. Do not waste time.

Debate skill over truthful arguments: 1- I PREFER TRUTH OVER TECH as I believe debate is an educational activity and making false arguments is a waste of time.

Speed: 8- DO NOT spread I value clarity over speed any day as debate is an educational activity meant to be inclusive to everyone.

Jargon: I DO NOT KNOW ANY JARGON. Explain uniqueness to me in lay terms. Same thing for turns, nonunuq, squo, overview

Extra notes:

Do not disrespect your partner in round. I like to see partners working together not against each other.

If this is a Pufo DO NOT explain the structure to me. I already know this and I will view it as stealing prep time.

Stick to a clean narrative. I will not be following you if you jump around on the flow.

Please be within the time limit for speeches.

Be within the limits for prep time.

I like offtime roadmaps but keep them clear.

Please provide evidence in a timely manner

Round Preference: Public Forum should be respected as Public Forum. Do not run a complicated Policy or Parliamentary round simulating a lawyer-judge scenario when you should be running a simple round simulating a lawyer-jury scenario.

Hello All,

Background

I am a business consultant. I judge for San Luis Obispo, and have judged in the past at a few tournaments in Lincoln Douglas and Public Forum. As a heads-up, I do take notes during debate, but not in the usual "flowing" format. I am mostly knowledgeable on the topics provided for these events.

Speaker Points

I will most likely give you 27-29 if you:

a) Speak loudly and clearly. Please no "spreading". I will not be able to understand what you are saying so speaking slower will allow me to process your arguments as you go.

b) Are polite and fair to your opponent. If you are outright rude/unfair (ie. yelling, mocking, laughing, cutting opponents off) you will not get good speaks. Please remember that team work is key and I find that the best debaters can work together efficiently.

c) Explain arguments thoroughly. Remember I do have some background in topics but not in debate so terms such as "uniqueness" should be more well elaborated upon. Another important aspect is organization so try to state clearly what you will be talking about. (ie. Next, lets talk about the first contention.)

Decisions

I will try to be as fair as possible and explain my decision in the best way I can using the above criterion as well as the debate itself. I will vote for the team that explains their warrants and why their impacts matter to me. I do not care as much about evidence but more about which team is able to persuade me more effectively. Additionally, presentation will probably also influence my decision. Be confident, if you make it seem like you are losing then I will think that.

Other

Clothing/Appearance; this will not influence my decision, however, please do respect the tournament dress code. Use of evidence; this will be weighted heavily in the debate, I want to know that your arguments have evidence to back up your claims. If you think that I should look at your/your opponent's evidence, please let me know. Real world impacts; this will also be weighted heavily. If your impacts do not show me why a normal person like me should care, then I will probably be less likely to vote on it. Cross-examination; this does not matter as much to me, although I will be listening.Try not to be disrespectful during this time and remember to look at me, your judge when answering or asking questions. Debate skill over truthful arguments; I value both skill and arguments highly. I do believe that truthful arguments should be prioritized, however, if you lack the presentation skill or argumentation skills to sell your argument, then truthful arguments may not matter as much if your opponent is able to convince me better of their argument.

Remember to have fun, good luck!

Hello! I am a parent judge with little experience in Public Forum. I would appreciate if you do the following:

- Be efficient in cross/questioning period. Answer each question quickly and precisely to make the best use of your time.

- Don't spread, speed talk, or talk fast. I won't be able to keep up.

- Refrain from using complicated debate terms. I am not experienced with this so I may not understand what you are talking about.

- Bring up evidence to support your claims, but don't make the entire debate only about evidence. A logical argument backed by research is convincing to me.

- Don't be too rude or aggressive. Appearing confident is good but treating each other with respect is also important.

im a debate boomer now ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

yay it's my annual paradigm update. i hope im not a flay now :(

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

well yes but actually no

lay before 8 AM and after 9 PM

About me: he/him, pf 4 years (2016-2020), got 2nd at silver toc once so that's cool

General Stuff:

-pls pls pls weigh and do comparative analysis

-2nd rebuttal should frontline turns/DAs and not have Offensive OVs

-defense is sticky for first summary

-idc about cross

-if you paraphrase I will expect you to have cut cards

Prog Stuff:

never ran Theory/Ks; there's a good chance that if the round becomes prog stuff at least two of the four people will leave the round feeling unsatisfied with my decision.

Speaker Point Stuff:

-good round strat (making my life easier)

-i was once able to understand 300 wpm but prob capped at 250 now sad

-cool pen spinning

Hi, my name is Jacob Tamkin, I am a sophomore at USC and have been debating and judging public forum for 4+ years. Please talk slow and be respectful to one another. Make sure to reiterate and carry your points through to the end. Good luck !

I'm a parent judge. Please speak clear and a bit slower. I want to hear clear logic and good evidence!

I am a lay judge, I've judged a couple rounds on this topic, but you still should try your best to explain the argument.

By profession, I am a Program Manager with Bank of the West and have worked for 2 decades with several diverse teams with different opinions on matters. I enjoy considering conflicting points of view. I am a PF judge and have a reasonable familiarity with the rules.

- Please do not use extremely complicated debate jargon.

- I try to keep my evaluation exclusively to the flow. In-round weighing of arguments combined with strength of link and conceded arguments. I default to arguments with substantive warranted analysis.

-I strongly encourage debaters to cut cards as opposed to hyperlinking a google doc.

- Please collapse

- Defense should be extended in both summary speeches if you want to go for it in the final focus

- Speaker points are used to indicate how good I think debaters are in a particular round

- Be respectful in cross as I play close attention to it.

- Don't speak too fast but if you do please give me the speech doc

- Time yourself and make your opponents accountable for their speech and prep timings

- Weigh your impacts and explain

- Provide an off-time roadmap

- Have Fun!

Please let me know if you have any questions. My email is dhira.vaidya@gmail.com

I have been associated with the speech & debate program since 2016. I have judged a few competitions - Congress and Public Forum. Here are my preferences:

1. I appreciate debaters maintaining the decorum, at all times

2. Make sure to follow the rules, at all times

3. Treat your opponent(s) with respect and dignity, just like how you would like to be treated

4. Understand and practice the difference b/w speaking affirmatively vs speaking loudly

5. To me, good content is one where there is strong evidence to support your arguments

6. I appreciate meaningful, relevant statistics/data points that support the evidence

7. I appreciate a good summary towards the end highlighting key impacts

8. Speak at an acceptable pace. Being clear and concise is important to me that speaking fast

Wish you best!

I am a lay judge who believes in persuasive debate that adheres to the rules. Style and eloquence are more important than speed.

In debate, I prefer clear, concise, well-expressed, and concrete arguments that are logically coherent and focus on impacts that would be meaningful to the decision makers in the real world. Tell me what to view as most important in your round. If not, I am compelled to make that choice myself. Do NOT read your case off of a screen or a piece of paper--deliver it while making eye contact, using only words you are comfortable using and pronouncing, and expressing yourself clearly. All things being equal, I am persuaded by a debater who knows their stuff rather than a debater who reads a prepared text.

Spreading is very strongly discouraged. If I can't hear or understand the points you are making when you first make them, those points will not figure in my decision. Put succinctly: a case presented too quickly for me to grasp will ALWAYS lose to a case that I can understand.

For speech events, I value fluidity, eloquence, eye contact, and natural expressions that neither over dramatize things or present them without emotion.

Do not be abusive to other competitors. Repeated interruptions, demeaning comments, and other disrespectful conduct will NOT win my vote.

2022 Update

Not coaching anymore, but still running tournaments and judging. Last night I realized that my paradigm was showing up for the CHSSA State Tournament and the NSDA Last Chance Qualifier, and I am judging Congress at both. Do not apply the things below to Congress, with the exception of signposting. Congress is completely different, and I have expectations of decorum, professionalism, knowledge of proper procedures, and efficiency in showing what you can do. Your rank depends on polished speeches, concise questions, knowledgeable responses to the questions you are asked, and demonstrating that you are better at those things than other people in the room. Things like crystallization speeches are awesome if you know what you're doing. We're at higher level tournaments, so I'm optimistic that you probably know what you're doing. Clash is wonderful, as always, but it needs to happen within the realm of Congressional decorum. Not the lack of decorum that many politicians have shifted to, but genuine people coming together to try and make something happen for the greater good. That leads to people being civilized to one another. Keep it classy, Congress!

2021 Update

You must signpost. That will help me follow your arguments better than any roadmap. I'm looking for solid argumentation, with assertions, reasoning, evidence, and impacts.

2/4/2020

Below is some 2015 nonsense, for sure. Written for policy so please don't try to apply it to everything. Some is still true, but let's all have a hearty laugh. Since last updated, I finally earned a Diamond with the NSDA. I still work for the same program, and have expanded my knowledge a great deal. I still love speech. I love Congress more than ever. I was elected VP of Debate and Congress for my league, and have been on the Board of Directors for the California High School Speech Association for the last five years. See the large gaps in judging? I only judge at a couple tournaments a year because I'm helping run the rest. I like rules and procedure. I stopped liking 99.99% of your kritiks. I actually want to hear that you did research on your topic. Don't try to drag circuit policy practices into other events. They are different for a reason. I still flow non-standard. I still think about your mom's hair and car commercials because I am still easily distracted. I still dislike bad roadmapping and pretentious windbags. The later in the day it is, the more likely I am to start squirreling. But wonder if that really is bad, because squirrels are simultaneously awesome and terrifying. Distracted!

4/4/2015

I am currently the assistant coach for the Claremont High School team in Claremont California. My area of expertise is speech, but that doesn’t deter me from being active in judging debate. Before I started coaching anything, I was judging policy. I have judged all forms of debate over the last three years, including at State and Nationals. I frequently judge prelim and elim rounds at West-coast invitationals, including Stanford, Fullerton, Cal Lutheran, and La Costa Canyon.

My philosophy on debate is fairly simple: I want a round that is educational. I try not to limit what debaters will try in a round. Just do it well, and you can win my vote. Make sure you understand what you are trying to do. If you are being slaughtered in cross examination because someone else wrote your case and you don’t understand it, you probably aren’t winning the round. That said, I do like some good clash.

I flow in a non-standard manner. It works for me. Speed is okay, as long as you are loud and clear. If you aren’t, I will let you know.

Because I don’t spend all of my time in the debate rooms, some of the terminology slips my mind. You are already saying thousands of words to me. Please just add a couple more to make sure I am completely following your terms, abbreviations, and acronyms. If you are talking about fiat, please don’t allow me to get distracted thinking about car commercials. Perms are that thing your mom did to her hair in the 80s, right? Keep me focused on your tactics and what you are really trying to do in the round.

I am operating under the idea that you have done a lot of research to write your cases. I haven’t done as much topic research. Please educate me on your topic, and don’t leave blanks for me to assume things. I won’t. I will sit there hoping the opponents will call each other out on holes in the case, and maybe write about it on my ballot after the round. My job as the Judge is to only be influenced by the things that are said in the round, not by what I know from my education and experience.

I really hate people stealing prep under the guise of “off time roadmaps”. I believe they are one of the reasons tournaments run late. Please be concise in the time you have been allotted for your speech. If there are other judges in the room and they want a roadmap, please be brief with your “off time”. Signposting is preferred. Longwinded RFDs are the other reason tournaments fall behind. If we are at the point where the tournament is allowing us to take the time to give a RFD, I will probably only have a couple solid reasons for why I voted the way I did. If I have more, someone has really messed something up.

Don’t be rude to your opponent. You are better than that. But sarcasm is heartwarming.

Warrants should be clearly tied to your contentions and weighing outcomes. My final decisions are often made based on whether I buy your links connection to your weighing outcomes. I don't weigh theory arguments very heavily. I believe you should be debating, not attempting to undermine someone's arguments through technical or formatting issues in his or her case. However, I do want you to adhere to rules, specifically no new evidence introduced in second rebuttal. .

Stylistically, I don't like spreading. You can speak quickly, but if I miss something, I'm not going to try and find it later. Be polite during cross. Especially, online; if you talk at the same time, I can't hear either of you.

I always provide feedback, so don't hesitate to ask.

Overall, I want you all to have a good time and learn through the process. Therefore, insulting the other team (ad hominem arguments) are a particular turn-off for me. So if you use one, it will be at your own peril. Keep it clean and friendly and have a good time!!

Hello! I'm currently a junior at UCSD. I've debated PF for 4 years and LD for 2 years back in high school(Canyon Crest/Carmel Valley - graduated in 2018), mostly at lay tournaments but I do have circuit PF experience(I guess I would describe myself as the average "flay" judge).

I don't like to impose too many guidelines on how rounds should go, but here are some things to keep in mind:

Speed is fine, but if you do choose to spread, I need the speech docs.

I'm pretty flexible with any argument that you run(except for theory/Ks/tricks and stuff like that); just make sure you explain it clearly with weighing and signposting :)

Please don't be rude in crossfire/cross-ex.

Please no new information in final focus :)

Don't be afraid to ask me questions before/after the round! And most importantly, have fun!!!

This is my first year of judging public forum debate. I don't mind fast speeches; just be clear.

Please be respectful at all times,

Thank you.