As a judge for PF I am looking for participants to work as a team and to be respectful of other teams. I appreciate teams that can use cross to their advantage. I expect you to back up arguments with evidence. I appreciate teams that address each of their opponents' contentions, extend their arguments and weigh.

Speed of speech is inconsequential as long as you are speaking clearly.

email: seungjohcho@gmail.com

PF paradigm:

I did PF for 4 years, and I did Big Questions for a few weeks at L C Anderson High School. I won both NSDA Nats and TFA State.

Just do whatever you planned on doing. Spreading is fine as long as you are clear. If you aren't good at spreading, first of all, you really shouldn't be doing it in PF, but if you really need to and you know you are bad at it, save yourself the L and flash me the doc you are reading. I value "tech over truth", in the sense that I will vote purely based on the ink on the flow, and I am willing to buy arguments that may not be true at all in the real world, as long as they were well articulated on the flow.

I don't flow cross fires at all, so unless you have an audience to please, I'd say just chill out a bit on cross fires. They won't really affect my decision. Also yes, I realize I was an aggressive debater myself, but if you're straight up being rude, I will dock speaks, which you really don't want from me because I generally give good speaks, so getting bad speaks from me will make you look even worse.

Make sure you weigh and you explain to me why you think you won the round by Final Focus, as I do not want to have to do that for you, especially on topics where I probably don't have any prior topic knowledge.

I will call for cards that you have asked me to call for, or cards that seem sketchy that are central to the round. In most cases, however, I will default to whatever the debaters tell me their cards say, so make sure you stay on top of that.

You do not have to extend defense if it is dropped. If it is addressed, however, I will obviously expect you to address it in speech if you are going for it.

Make sure you are sign posting.

Also please let me know where on the flow you will be starting your speech so that I can start flowing it well.

If you read frivolous theory, keep in mind that I probably will not weigh it unless it is completely dropped/inadequately responded to. I am also not a fan of disclosure theory in PF. That is not to say I won't evaluate it by default, but also run at your own risk.

And finally, everything you want me to vote on should be extended all the way to final focus. Even if it was dropped, if you do not extend it in final focus, I will not default you the win on an argument.

If you have any other questions for me, feel free to ask before the round!

LD Paradigm:

Read PF paradigm, should give you a sense of my debate background maybe how you should adapt.

Plans, CPs are all totally fine

Theory, Ks, more tech arguments are all good with me. Just do whatever you planned on doing.

Spreading is totally fine.

I made it to UIL LD State once, so post-round me as hard as you want, as long as it is educational.

I have judged all events, but when it comes to debate most of my experience stems from LD and Congress. I value clash and enjoy watching strategies unfold. Framework is important and so is strong evidence. If you ask me in person what do I like in a debate, I say show me the best you can do and impress me. I don’t mind spreading (especially in CX where it is expected) or traditional and/or progressive debate as long your arguments are sound and adapt to your opponents’ points. Be respectful, professional, and have fun.

This is just my 3rd tournament judging, so thank you for your patience! Please try to avoid talking super fast, it makes it harder for me to digest your points. Also, excessive interrupting can be disruptive and harmful to your overall scoring. I am a lay judge, so keep that in mind in your case presentation and the amount of information you present in summary and final focus.

Hi, I am what debaters would call a "lay judge", and although I will take notes, I am hoping to see a debate with clearly explained/warranted arguments rather than debate technique. To win the debate, you must clearly communicate to me why, and how you win certain arguments and the round overall.

Please keep in mind that excessive aggressiveness, or any sort of disrespect (racism, sexism, homophobia) will result in an automatic loss. Please be respectful.

With that being said, let's have a fun round! :)

I value clear communication, speed at a moderate & measured pace & professionalism at all times. Road maps not necessary.

Hello! I am a parent judge (lay). This is my 3rd year judging PF so I know the structure of a PF round well.

A couple of key things

1. Don’t spread. If you speak too fast, I won’t understand anything you say and you’ll likely lose the round. It will also affect your speaker points.

2. Don’t run theory, K’s, or progressive arguments. I don't know what those are (my son wrote this part) and I don’t know how to evaluate them and it just leads to a confusing round. You’ll also likely lose the round if you do :)

3. It’s okay to paraphrase evidence, but misconstruing it is unethical and not allowed.

4. Don’t run anything racist, homophobic, discriminatory, etc. This is a clear violation of PF rules and will lead to you losing the round and <25 speaker points. Additional consequences may follow.

5. Please time yourself for each speech. Please be honest with your prep time and be responsible for keeping your opponent’s prep time as well.

6. I will be listening in CX but if something important happens in CX, make sure to bring it up in later speeches.

In terms of the argument, make sure to walk me down through the entire argument and explain it in enough depth. I want well-warranted links and evidence. Don’t just say “X causes Y”, tell me why. If your argument doesn't make sense to me, it will be really hard for you to win.

In summary, collapse. Don’t go for everything. You’re better off explaining the 1 winning contention than explaining every single thing that happened in the round. Make sure to defend your case well.

In FF, you should be writing the ballot for me. Everything you said in Summary should be in FF. Tell me your voter points. Don’t bring up new arguments here and abuse 2nd FF. It’s not fair.

At the end of the day, debate should be a fun activity and debaters should enjoy it. I love clashes in the round but don’t be rude to your opponents. Be respectful in rounds to both your partner and your opponents. Enjoy!

I am a lay judge with some experience in public forum and speech, and limited experience in Lincoln Douglas and Congress.

Please don’t spread or do anything that would make it hard for me to understand you.

Tell me why you are winning, tell me what’s important, don’t make it hard for me to figure that out. WEIGH.

If you have a speech document and are comfortable with sharing it, that would ensure that I do not miss anything you say.

My email is djacobs@mytruloan.com if you want to share anything.

Debating is supposed to be civil, polite and respectful. If you are presenting in a disdainful, patronizing or dismissive manner, I will not hear what you are saying, only how you are saying it, and I will hold that against you.

I understand that there are many points to be made and rebutted in a short period of time, but remember that you are talking to an audience, and if you are talking too rapidly or moving around without sufficient transitions, the listener cannot follow your points. And I cannot give credit for points that I cannot hear or comprehend. So slow it down, talk clearly and make your points good.

This is supposed to be fun, so don’t forget to enjoy it. And learn from your opponent every round.

I am a parent judge, but am experienced in judging LD and PF. I’ve also judged speech events. I have a few criteria to highlight which are focused on debate vs. speech events.

· Speak at a pace where you can be understood. If I can’t understand you, I can’t flow the debate whether it is LD or PF. I don’t understand the logic behind Spreading as a reasonable approach to a debate, unless your life goal is to be an auctioneer, but they can generally be understood. If you are going to fast I will drop my pen and stopping taking notes. This will impact speaker points and may impact the outcome of the debate because if I can’t flow one side of the debate my only option is to award the win to the person or team that can be understood.

· Spirited argumentation is a fundamental part of a debate and I’m comfortable with passionate clashes, as long as they are executed in a civil manner. Please do not personally attack your competitor(s) as that will result in loosing points for that round. I’m ok with some interruptions during Cross but will stop either or both teams if excessive.

· Please don’t play the “my card is better than your card and thus judge you must vote Aff or Neg”. I understand using counter evidence to weaken your opponent’s case and strengthen yours, but simply saying Card X trumps Card Y with no further explanation as to why that is the case will not enhance your argument’s credibility.

· Try to research your sources and find ones with counter ideology that also support your arguments. For instance, if you use the Cato Institute as a reference understand that is a Libertarian focused organization and you should look to something like the Brookings Institute, a more Democratic leaning organization, as a source to see if you can find something that would agree with the position of the Cato Institute.

· Have a framework for your arguments regardless if you debate LD or PF. You need the structure to be able to position your arguments in a way that can allow me as a judge to fairly flow the debate and determine if your opponents did or did not address your criterion and contentions. Cards should be carefully selected to support your positions and be readily available for your competitors to review when called.

· If you ask for a card, I will not count the time taken to find the card and present as prep time but will start prep time once the card has been given to you to review.

· If you are using an electronic device for opening speeches or to hold your evidence, please make sure you have properly charged it between rounds so you can provide evidence if asked by your competitors.

I appreciate that you are taking your time on weekend to compete and will do my absolute best to fairly judge the debates (or speech events if necessary), provide Reasons for Decisions that are concise but helpful in understanding why you won or lost, and will provide feedback to each person/team as well. I take my role as a judge seriously, but also recognize that these events are also supposed to be fun. So please come into the rounds with a positive attitude about the debate, treat your opponents as you would want them to treat you, and be respectful of me as a judge. I too am investing my Saturdays in you and your “sport”.

I am a parent judge. I try my best to flow however you need to speak slow. If you talk too fast I will put my pen down and stop flowing what you say.

I don't love theory and would really prefer if you not run it. If you still feel compelled to run it, go at your own risk because it has to be well explained.

You have to weigh in summary and the voter issues should be made clear by the end of the round.

Overall, be polite and you will be fine.

Trained first year judge that values a clear and concise communication skillset. Courtesy and respect are required during debates and will be judged accordingly. Crossfire and Grand Crossfire rounds are of particular interest, specifically how teams interact with each other, and provide support. Time keeping is important but not a primary priority as I will let the "flow" of a presenters contention play out within reason of time constraints. Presenting evidence in the forms of links and specific points of topic notes is encouraged.

Hey, I'm Joy (she/her/hers)! Former policy/pf debater. Ask me for my email before the round starts. Also, please try to keep your volume at a reasonable level. Thank you for accommodating me. :)

Check with your opponents for any accessibility requests before the round starts. And don't be a jerk! You can be an excellent communicator without getting aggressive or using demeaning language.

Make my path to the ballot easy. Explicit voters/weighing, resolution of clash, and consistency across the flow will garner you a win. I'm going to call for evidence if you highlight/dispute it. While I'm not a fan of blippy extensions, it's still better than nothing to make sure you don't get lost in the LBL. Content/form/style deviations from the norm aren't an issue for me as long as you do it well - debate is socially constructed to an extent. Buy into the choices you make and make sure your opponents are okay with it too.

Procedurals: Tend to default to C/I unless the reasonability claim is actually fleshed out. Outline immediate consequences for abuse claims and how my ballot plays into that.

Ks: I'm probably not familiar with your literature. Fully articulate the world of the alternative and how the perm can't access it. Usually can be persuaded one way or the other on axiomatic good claims but only if they come early enough in the round - can't be a 2nr hail mary.

I would advise to competitors to define their cases clearly and present their contentions and rebuttals at a pace that is easy to keep up with. If you want to make a very important point, the slower you speak the better. Most of us can think much faster then we can flow. I’m sure over the years I’ve missed points that students would have wanted me to consider. I also value professionalism and courtesy.